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Algebra Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all functions f,gf,g:RRR \to R such that f(x+yg(x))=g(x)+xf(y)f(x+yg(x))=g(x)+xf(y) for x,yRx,y \in R.

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

Solution

We are given the functional equation f(x+yg(x))=g(x)+xf(y) f(x + y g(x)) = g(x) + x f(y) for all x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} . We aim to find all functions f f and g g from RR\mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} that satisfy this equation.

First, assume g(0)=0 g(0) = 0 .

### Fact 1: f(x)=g(x) f(x) = g(x) for every x x .
Proof:
Set y=0 y = 0 in the given equation:
f(x+0g(x))=g(x)+xf(0)    f(x)=g(x)+xf(0). f(x + 0 \cdot g(x)) = g(x) + x f(0) \implies f(x) = g(x) + x f(0).
Rewriting, we get:
g(x)=f(x)xf(0). g(x) = f(x) - x f(0).
In particular, if x=0 x = 0 , then g(0)=f(0) g(0) = f(0) . Since g(0)=0 g(0) = 0 , it follows that f(0)=0 f(0) = 0 . Therefore,
f(x)=g(x). f(x) = g(x).

### Fact 2: Either z=0 z = 0 is the only zero of f(z)=g(z)=0 f(z) = g(z) = 0 , or f(x)=g(x)=0 f(x) = g(x) = 0 for every x x .
Proof:
Assume f(z)=g(z)=0 f(z) = g(z) = 0 for some z z . Then, setting x=z x = z in the original equation, we get:
f(z+yg(z))=g(z)+zf(y)    f(z)=0=zf(y). f(z + y g(z)) = g(z) + z f(y) \implies f(z) = 0 = z f(y).
Since this must hold for every y y , if z0 z \neq 0 , then f(y)=0 f(y) = 0 for all y y . Hence, f(x)=g(x)=0 f(x) = g(x) = 0 for every x x .

Thus, the solutions to the functional equation are:
1. f(x)=g(x)=0 f(x) = g(x) = 0 for all xR x \in \mathbb{R} .
2. f(x)=g(x) f(x) = g(x) for all xR x \in \mathbb{R} , where f f and g g are arbitrary functions satisfying f(0)=0 f(0) = 0 .

The answer is: f(x)\boxed{f(x)} = g(x) = 0 \text{} for all } x R\in \mathbb{R} \text{} or } f(x) = g(x) \text{} with } f(0) = 0}.

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