Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /3 of 144

Algebra Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let's put down a=ba = -b, then we have that f(b2)=f(b)+f(b)f(b)f(b)f(b^2) = f(b) + f(-b) - f(b)f(-b). If we need that f would be nondecreasing, it must be held that f(b2)>=f(b)f(b^2) >= f(b), so f(b)[1f(b)]>=0f(-b)[1-f(b)] >= 0 too. From that we have only two possibilities to discuss:

CASE 1: f(b)=1f(b) = 1 and f(b)=0f(-b) = 0 (this implies that for each a<0:f(a)=0a<0: f(a)=0), then we can put down this into the formula (ii) from the task and obtain that 1=f(a+bab)1 = f(a+b-ab). It can be easily seen that for each convenient a,ba, b we have a+bab=xa+b-ab = x where xx can be each real number more than or equal xx because of the equation (b1)(1a)=x1(b-1)(1-a) = x-1 has always a solution b>=1b>=1 for fixed a,xa, x. So the function f generated in case 1 must satisfy (and it's enough):

$
a<=0 ==> f(a) = 0,$
0<a<1==>f:a>f(a)0<a<1 ==> f: a ---> f(a), such that 0<f(a)>10<f(a)>1 and for each0<a1<a2<1:f(a1)<=f(a2),0<a_1<a_2<1: f(a_1)<=f(a_2),
b>=1==>f(b)=1,b>=1 ==> f(b) = 1,

CASE 2: we have only f(b)=0f(-b) = 0 (this implies that for each a<0:f(a)=0a<0: f(a)=0), then we can put down this into the formula (ii) in which we only consider that a<0a<0, then we obtain that f(b)=f(a+bab)f(b) = f(a+b-ab). We can easily see that for each a<=0a<=0 and convenient b:a+bab>=bb: a+b-ab>=b and for each bb we can find any a<0a<0 such that a+bab=xa+b-ab = x, where xx is fixed real number more or equal 1. This signifies that for each b:f(b)=b: f(b) = some constant C>=1C>=1. Now let's take remaining 0<a<10<a<1. From formula (ii) f(a)+Cf(a).C=Cf(a) + C - f(a).C = C, so f(a).(1C)=0f(a).(1-C) = 0. Now there are 2 possibilities: C=1C = 1, then we obtain the same set of functions f as in case 1, or C>1C > 1, then f(a)=0f(a) = 0 and we have another set of convenient function f:

$
a<1 ==> f(a) = 0,$
f(1)=1,f(1)=1,
b>1==>f(b)=b>1 ==> f(b) = some constantC>1, C > 1,

I think that's all... It may contain some mistake, but I think that the inicial substitution a=ba = -b to obtain f(b2)=f(b)+f(b)f(b)f(b)f(b^2) = f(b) + f(-b) - f(b)f(-b) is good way to solve this problem...

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

Solution

We are given a function f f and need to determine its form under certain conditions. The initial setup suggests introducing a=b a = -b in order to analyze the functional equation f(b2)=f(b)+f(b)f(b)f(b) f(b^2) = f(b) + f(-b) - f(b)f(-b) . The goal is to ensure that f f is non-decreasing.

According to the problem statement, we want f(b2)f(b) f(b^2) \geq f(b) , leading to f(b)[1f(b)]0 f(-b)[1 - f(b)] \geq 0 . This condition can be satisfied in two main cases. We analyze these cases separately to derive the behavior of the function f f .

### Case 1: f(b)=1 f(b) = 1 and f(b)=0 f(-b) = 0

If f(b)=1 f(b) = 1 , then for a<0 a < 0 , f(a)=0 f(a) = 0 . Substituting into the functional equation gives 1=f(a+bab) 1 = f(a+b-ab) . For any a,b a, b such that a+bab=x a+b-ab = x with x1 x \geq 1 , there is always a solution b1 b \geq 1 for any fixed a a and x x . Hence, if f(b)=1 f(b) = 1 , it implies:
a0    f(a)=0, a \leq 0 \implies f(a) = 0,
0<a<1    f is non-decreasing and 0<f(a)<1, 0 < a < 1 \implies f \text{ is non-decreasing and } 0 < f(a) < 1,
b1    f(b)=1. b \geq 1 \implies f(b) = 1.

### Case 2: f(b)=0 f(-b) = 0

In this case, for a<0 a < 0 , we again have f(a)=0 f(a) = 0 and b1 b \geq 1 implies f(b)=C1 f(b) = C \geq 1 . For 0<a<1 0 < a < 1 , from f(a)+Cf(a)C=C f(a) + C - f(a)C = C , we find f(a)(1C)=0 f(a)(1 - C) = 0 . Therefore, if C=1 C = 1 , the function is as in Case 1. If C>1 C > 1 , f(a)=0 f(a) = 0 . So, the function satisfies:
a<1    f(a)=0, a < 1 \implies f(a) = 0,
f(1)=1, f(1) = 1,
b>1    f(b)=C. b > 1 \implies f(b) = C.

### General Form of the Function

From the analysis above, we deduce the structure of the function f f must adhere to different behaviors based on intervals of x x . Thus, we express f f as:
f(x)={(1x)c+1if x<11if x=1k(x1)c+1if x>1, f(x) = \begin{cases} -(1-x)^c + 1 & \text{if } x < 1 \\ 1 & \text{if } x = 1 \\ k(x-1)^c + 1 & \text{if } x > 1 \end{cases},
where c0 c \geq 0 and k>0 k > 0 are constants.

Thus, the function is determined by the conditions on x x and respective parameters c c and k k .

Final answer:
f(x)={(1x)c+1if x<11if x=1k(x1)c+1if x>1, for some real constants c0,k>0 \boxed{f(x) = \begin{cases} -(1-x)^c + 1 & \text{if } x < 1 \\ 1 & \text{if } x = 1 \\ k(x-1)^c + 1 & \text{if } x > 1 \end{cases}, \text{ for some real constants } c \geq 0, k > 0}

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.