Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /85 of 144

Combinatorics Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Find the answer

Let T T denote the set of all ordered triples (p,q,r) (p,q,r) of nonnegative integers. Find all functions f:TR f: T \rightarrow \mathbb{R} satisfying
f(p,q,r)={0if  pqr=0,1+16(f(p+1,q1,r)+f(p1,q+1,r)+f(p1,q,r+1)+f(p+1,q,r1)+f(p,q+1,r1)+f(p,q1,r+1))otherwise f(p,q,r) = \begin{cases} 0 & \text{if} \; pqr = 0, \\ 1 + \frac{1}{6}(f(p + 1,q - 1,r) + f(p - 1,q + 1,r) & \\ + f(p - 1,q,r + 1) + f(p + 1,q,r - 1) & \\ + f(p,q + 1,r - 1) + f(p,q - 1,r + 1)) & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}
for all nonnegative integers p p, q q, r r.

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

Solution

Given the set T T of all ordered triples (p,q,r) (p,q,r) of nonnegative integers, we need to find all functions f:TR f: T \rightarrow \mathbb{R} that satisfy the following conditions:

f(p,q,r)={0if pqr=0,1+16(f(p+1,q1,r)+f(p1,q+1,r)+f(p1,q,r+1)+f(p+1,q,r1)+f(p,q+1,r1)+f(p,q1,r+1))otherwise. f(p,q,r) = \begin{cases} 0 & \text{if } pqr = 0, \\ 1 + \frac{1}{6}(f(p + 1,q - 1,r) + f(p - 1,q + 1,r) \\ \quad + f(p - 1,q,r + 1) + f(p + 1,q,r - 1) \\ \quad + f(p,q + 1,r - 1) + f(p,q - 1,r + 1)) & \text{otherwise}. \end{cases}

### Step-by-Step Solution

1. Initial Condition:
- If any of p,q, p, q, or r r is zero, then f(p,q,r)=0 f(p, q, r) = 0 . This establishes that the function evaluates to zero when any product factor is zero.

2. Recursive Condition:
- For p,q,r>0 p, q, r > 0 , the function is recursively defined as the average of six specific functional values plus one.

3. Assumption and Derivation:
- Consider a candidate function in the form of f(p,q,r)=3pqrp+q+r f(p, q, r) = \frac{3pqr}{p+q+r} . Let's verify if this satisfies both the base and recursive conditions.

4. Verification (Base Case):
- If any of p,q, p, q, or r r is zero, f(p,q,r)=3×0p+q+r=0 f(p, q, r) = \frac{3 \times 0}{p + q + r} = 0 , which matches the initial condition.

5. Verification (Recursive Case):
- Substitute f(p,q,r)=3pqrp+q+r f(p, q, r) = \frac{3pqr}{p+q+r} into the recursive equation and check consistency:
f(p,q,r)=1+16(3(p+1)(q1)rp+q+r+3(p1)(q+1)rp+q+r+) f(p, q, r) = 1 + \frac{1}{6} \left( \frac{3(p+1)(q-1)r}{p+q+r} + \frac{3(p-1)(q+1)r}{p+q+r} + \cdots \right)
- Simplifying each component and verifying reveals that this function indeed satisfies the condition due to symmetry and linearity of the recursive formula.

6. Conclusion:
- The function f(p,q,r)=3pqrp+q+r f(p, q, r) = \frac{3pqr}{p+q+r} satisfies the recursive functional conditions outlined in the problem.

Thus, the function f f that satisfies the conditions is:

f(p,q,r)=3pqrp+q+r \boxed{f(p,q,r) = \frac{3pqr}{p+q+r}}
```

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.