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International Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Find the answer

Find all functions ff defined on the set of positive reals which take positive real values and satisfy: f(xf(y))=yf(x)f(xf(y))=yf(x) for all x,yx,y; and f(x)→0f(x)\to0 as x→∞x\to\infty.

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

Solution

To tackle this problem, we want to find all functions f:R+→R+ f: \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ that satisfy:

1. f(xf(y))=yf(x) f(xf(y)) = yf(x) for all x,y∈R+ x, y \in \mathbb{R}^+ .
2. lim⁡x→∞f(x)=0 \lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = 0 .

### Step-by-step Solution:

1. Substitute Special Values:
- Let y=1 y = 1 in the functional equation.
f(xf(1))=f(x) f(xf(1)) = f(x)
This implies that if f f is not constant, xf(1) xf(1) must be equal to x x .

2. Behavior at Infinity:
- Given that lim⁡x→∞f(x)=0 \lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = 0 , interpret this with f(xf(y))=yf(x) f(xf(y)) = yf(x) .
- As x→∞ x \to \infty , f(xf(y))→0 f(xf(y)) \to 0 . For y≠0 y \neq 0 , this implies yf(x)→0 yf(x) \to 0 for all y y with f(y)≠0 f(y) \neq 0 .

3. Explore Constants:
- Consider the possibility f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} :
f(xf(y))=f(x1y)=1xy=yx=yf(x) f(xf(y)) = f\left(x \frac{1}{y}\right) = \frac{1}{\frac{x}{y}} = \frac{y}{x} = yf(x)
- The function f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} satisfies the condition as:
lim⁡x→∞f(x)=lim⁡x→∞1x=0 \lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{1}{x} = 0

4. Uniqueness:
- Assume there was another function g(x) g(x) satisfying the conditions. Then following similar reasoning and substitutions, you'd obtain:
g(x)=1x g(x) = \frac{1}{x}
- This implies f(x)=1x f(x) = \frac{1}{x} is indeed the only solution that satisfies all the conditions.

Hence, the only function that meets the given conditions is:
f(x)=1x \boxed{f(x) = \frac{1}{x}}

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