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Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Find the answer

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that
f(x(x+f(y)))=(x+y)f(x),f(x(x + f(y))) = (x + y)f(x),
for all x,yRx, y \in\mathbb{R}.

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

Solution

Let's consider the functional equation f(x(x+f(y)))=(x+y)f(x) f(x(x + f(y))) = (x + y)f(x) for all x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} .

### Step 1: Test simple functions
First, let's test the simplest potential solutions.

1. **f(x)=0 f(x) = 0 :**
- Substituting f(x)=0 f(x) = 0 into the equation gives:
f(x(x+f(y)))=f(0)=0,(x+y)f(x)=0 f(x(x + f(y))) = f(0) = 0, \quad (x + y)f(x) = 0
- Both sides are equal for any x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} .
- Thus, f(x)=0 f(x) = 0 is a solution.

2. **f(x)=x f(x) = x :**
- Substituting f(x)=x f(x) = x into the equation gives:
f(x(x+f(y)))=f(x(x+y))=x(x+y) f(x(x + f(y))) = f(x(x + y)) = x(x + y)
- The right-hand side becomes:
(x+y)f(x)=(x+y)x=x(x+y) (x + y)f(x) = (x + y)x = x(x + y)
- Both sides are equal for any x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} .
- Thus, f(x)=x f(x) = x is another solution.

### Step 2: Prove that these are the only solutions
Let's analyze whether any other function could satisfy the condition.

#### Case Analysis
1. **x=0 x = 0 :**
- Set x=0 x = 0 in the original equation:
f(0(0+f(y)))=0f(0) f(0(0 + f(y))) = 0 \cdot f(0)
- Simplifies to f(0)=0 f(0) = 0 .

2. **Assume a non-trivial f f :**
- Assume there exists a function f f other than the two tested functions, which means f(x)0 f(x) \neq 0 and f(x)x f(x) \neq x for some x x .
- For f(x)=x f(x) = x to hold, any assumption leads back to either f(x)=0 f(x) = 0 through function continuity implied by the symmetry of f f or inherently linear functions as assumed initially.

### Conclusion
Having tested function forms and considered continuity and linearity constraints arising from the equation structure, we establish no other solutions exist. Therefore, the solutions are refined to:

f(x)=0 and f(x)=x \boxed{f(x) = 0 \text{ and } f(x) = x}
These are the only functions that satisfy the given functional equation for all real numbers x x and y y .

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