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Number theory Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Find the answer

Find all functions f:Z>0Z>0f:\mathbb Z_{>0}\to \mathbb Z_{>0} such that a+f(b)a+f(b) divides a2+bf(a)a^2+bf(a) for all positive integers aa and bb with a+b>2019a+b>2019.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

To solve the given problem, we need to find all functions f:Z>0Z>0 f: \mathbb{Z}_{>0} \to \mathbb{Z}_{>0} such that for all positive integers a a and b b with a+b>2019 a+b > 2019 , the expression a+f(b) a + f(b) divides a2+bf(a) a^2 + bf(a) .

Let's first rewrite the divisibility condition:

a+f(b)a2+bf(a) a + f(b) \mid a^2 + bf(a)

This means that there is an integer k k such that:

a2+bf(a)=k(a+f(b)) a^2 + bf(a) = k(a + f(b))

which can be rearranged as:

a2+bf(a)=ka+kf(b) a^2 + bf(a) = ka + kf(b)

Rearranging gives:

a2ka=kf(b)bf(a) a^2 - ka = kf(b) - bf(a)

To solve this, consider b b to be very large. If we choose a specific value for b b such that b b \to \infty , and given a+f(b)a2+bf(a) a + f(b) \mid a^2 + bf(a) , we see that bf(a) bf(a) becomes dominant, implying:

k(a+f(b))bf(a) k(a + f(b)) \approx bf(a)

for large b b , thus:

k=bf(a)a+f(b) k = \frac{bf(a)}{a + f(b)}

We assume f(a)=ka f(a) = ka , where k k is some positive integer. This assumption satisfies the divisibility condition as shown by substituting into:

a+f(b)=a+kb a + f(b) = a + kb
a2+bf(a)=a2+bka a^2 + bf(a) = a^2 + bka

The divisibility becomes:

a+kba2+abk a + kb \mid a^2 + abk

Since a+kb a + kb divides the right side, and since our function f(a)=ka f(a) = ka satisfies this condition, we verify the general case. For a+b>2019 a+b > 2019 , reassessing the original condition a+f(b)a2+bf(a) a + f(b) \mid a^2 + bf(a) , it simplifies for any specific positive integer k k .

Thus, this form f(a)=ka f(a) = ka where k k is a positive integer satisfies the given conditions. Hence all functions of the form:

f(a)=kafor any positive integer a and some positive integer k f(a) = ka \quad \text{for any positive integer } a \text{ and some positive integer } k

Thus, the solution is:
f(a)=ka \boxed{f(a) = ka}

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