Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /99 of 115

Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let Z\mathbb{Z} be the set of integers. Find all functions f :ZZf : \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{Z} such that xf(2f(y)x)+y2f(2xf(y))=f(x)2x+f(yf(y))xf(2f(y)-x)+y^2f(2x-f(y))=\frac{f(x)^2}{x}+f(yf(y)) for all x,yZx, y \in \mathbb{Z} with x0x \neq 0 .

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

Solution

Note: This solution is kind of rough. I didn't want to put my 7-page solution all over again. It would be nice if someone could edit in the details of the expansions.
Lemma 1: f(0)=0f(0) = 0 .
Proof: Assume the opposite for a contradiction. Plug in x=2f(0)x = 2f(0) (because we assumed that f(0)0f(0) \neq 0 ), y=0y = 0 . What you get eventually reduces to: 4f(0)2=(f(2f(0))f(0))24f(0)-2 = \left( \frac{f(2f(0))}{f(0)} \right)^2 which is a contradiction since the LHS is divisible by 2 but not 4.
Then plug in y=0y = 0 into the original equation and simplify by Lemma 1. We get: x2f(x)=f(x)2x^2f(-x) = f(x)^2 Then:
x6f(x)=x4(x2f(x))=x4((x)2f((x)))=x4(x)2f((x))=x4f(x)2=f(x)4\begin{align*} x^6f(x) &= x^4\bigl(x^2f(x)\bigr)\\ &= x^4\bigl((-x)^2f(-(-x))\bigr)\\ &= x^4(-x)^2f(-(-x))\\ &= x^4f(-x)^2\\ &= f(x)^4 \end{align*}
Therefore, f(x)f(x) must be 0 or x2x^2 .
Now either f(x)f(x) is x2x^2 for all xx or there exists a0a \neq 0 such that f(a)=0f(a)=0 . The first case gives a valid solution. In the second case, we let y=ay = a in the original equation and simplify to get: xf(x)+a2f(2x)=f(x)2xxf(-x) + a^2f(2x) = \frac{f(x)^2}{x} But we know that xf(x)=f(x)2xxf(-x) = \frac{f(x)^2}{x} , so: a2f(2x)=0a^2f(2x) = 0 Since aa is not 0, f(2x)f(2x) is 0 for all xx (including 0). Now either f(x)f(x) is 0 for all xx , or there exists some m0m \neq 0 such that f(m)=m2f(m) = m^2 . Then mm must be odd. We can let x=2kx = 2k in the original equation, and since f(2x)f(2x) is 0 for all xx , stuff cancels and we get: y2f(4kf(y))=f(yf(y))y^2f(4k - f(y)) = f(yf(y)) for . Now, let y=my = m and we get: m2f(4km2)=f(m3)m^2f(4k - m^2) = f(m^3) Now, either both sides are 0 or both are equal to m6m^6 . If both are m6m^6 then: m2(4km2)2=m6m^2(4k - m^2)^2 = m^6 which simplifies to: 4km2=±m24k - m^2 = \pm m^2 Since k0k \neq 0 and mm is odd, both cases are impossible, so we must have: m2f(4km2)=f(m3)=0m^2f(4k - m^2) = f(m^3) = 0 Then we can let kk be anything except 0, and get f(x)f(x) is 0 for all x3(mod4)x \equiv 3 \pmod{4} except m2-m^2 . Also since x2f(x)=f(x)2x^2f(-x) = f(x)^2 , we have f(x)=0f(x)=0f(x) = 0 \Rightarrow f(-x) = 0 , so f(x)f(x) is 0 for all x1(mod4)x \equiv 1 \pmod{4} except m2m^2 . So f(x)f(x) is 0 for all xx except ±m2\pm m^2 . Since f(m)0f(m) \neq 0 , m=±m2m = \pm m^2 . Squaring, m2=m4m^2 = m^4 and dividing by mm , m=m3m = m^3 . Since f(m3)=0f(m^3) = 0 , f(m)=0f(m) = 0 , which is a contradiction for m1m \neq 1 . However, if we plug in x=1x = 1 with f(1)=1f(1) = 1 and yy as an arbitrary large number with f(y)=0f(y) = 0 into the original equation, we get 0=10 = 1 which is a clear contradiction, so our only solutions are f(x)=0f(x) = 0 and f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2 .

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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