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Algebra Difficulty 8.5 Shortlist Find the answer

Denote by Q+\mathbb{Q}^+ the set of all positive rational numbers. Determine all functions f:Q+Q+f : \mathbb{Q}^+ \mapsto \mathbb{Q}^+ which satisfy the following equation for all x,yQ+:x, y \in \mathbb{Q}^+: f(f(x)2y)=x3f(xy).f\left( f(x)^2y \right) = x^3 f(xy).

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A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

To solve the functional equation for all functions f:Q+Q+ f : \mathbb{Q}^+ \to \mathbb{Q}^+ such that for all x,yQ+ x, y \in \mathbb{Q}^+ ,

f(f(x)2y)=x3f(xy), f(f(x)^2 y) = x^3 f(xy),

we proceed with the following steps:

Step 1: Simplify the equation using a special substitution.

First, consider setting y=1 y = 1 . The equation becomes:

f(f(x)2)=x3f(x). f(f(x)^2) = x^3 f(x).

This relationship will help us understand how f f behaves when applied to inputs derived from f(x) f(x) .

Step 2: Making another strategic substitution.

Let us choose x=1 x = 1 and substitute it back into the original equation:

f(f(1)2y)=f(y). f(f(1)^2 y) = f(y).

This implies that for any positive rational number y y , f f is periodic in respect to an argument of the form f(1)2y f(1)^2 y .

**Step 3: Inferring a potential form of the function f f .**

Consider the function f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} . Check if this satisfies the given functional equation:

Calculate f(f(x)2y) f(f(x)^2 y) with f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} :

- f(x)2=1x2 f(x)^2 = \frac{1}{x^2} ,
- f(f(x)2y)=f(1x2y)=11x2y=x21y=x2y f(f(x)^2 y) = f\left(\frac{1}{x^2} y\right) = \frac{1}{\frac{1}{x^2} y} = x^2 \cdot \frac{1}{y} = \frac{x^2}{y} .

Now, calculate x3f(xy) x^3 f(xy) :

- f(xy)=1xy f(xy) = \frac{1}{xy} ,
- x3f(xy)=x31xy=x3xy=x2y x^3 f(xy) = x^3 \cdot \frac{1}{xy} = \frac{x^3}{xy} = \frac{x^2}{y} .

The two expressions are equal, thus confirming that f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} is indeed a valid solution.

Step 4: Conclude the findings.

Based on the exploration, the only function satisfying the given functional equation is:

f(x)=1x \boxed{f(x) = \frac{1}{x}}

for all xQ+ x \in \mathbb{Q}^+ .

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.