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Algebra Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Find the answer

Find all functions g:NNg:\mathbb{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{N} such that (g(m)+n)(g(n)+m)\left(g(m)+n\right)\left(g(n)+m\right) is a perfect square for all m,nN.m,n\in\mathbb{N}.

[i]

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

Solution

Let g:NN g: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N} be a function such that for all m,nN m, n \in \mathbb{N} , the expression

(g(m)+n)(g(n)+m) \left(g(m) + n\right)\left(g(n) + m\right)

is a perfect square. Our goal is to find all such functions g g .

### Step 1: Analysis of the Condition

Consider specific values of m m and n n . Setting m=n m = n , we get:

(g(m)+m)(g(m)+m)=(g(m)+m)2 \left(g(m) + m\right)\left(g(m) + m\right) = \left(g(m) + m\right)^2

Clearly, this is a perfect square by construction of the square (g(m)+m)2 \left(g(m) + m\right)^2 .

### Step 2: Exploring Generality

Now, consider mn m \neq n . The condition is:

(g(m)+n)(g(n)+m)=k2 \left(g(m) + n\right)\left(g(n) + m\right) = k^2

for some integer k k . A productive approach is to try simple forms for g g .

### Step 3: Choosing a Function Form

Suppose g(n)=n+c g(n) = n + c for some constant cZ0 c \in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0} . Let's verify this form:

1. Substitute into the condition:
((n+c)+m)((m+c)+n)=(n+m+c)(m+n+c) \left((n + c) + m\right)\left((m + c) + n\right) = (n + m + c)(m + n + c)

2. Simplifying, we have:
=(n+m+c)2 = (n + m + c)^2
which is clearly a perfect square since it is the square of (n+m+c) (n + m + c) .

### Step 4: Verification and Generalization

We found that g(n)=n+c g(n) = n + c satisfies the condition for \emph{any} non-negative integer c c .

### Conclusion

Therefore, the functions of the form g(n)=n+c g(n) = n + c where cZ0 c \in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0} are indeed all possible solutions that satisfy the given condition that the expression is a perfect square for all m,nN m, n \in \mathbb{N} .

The complete set of functions is:

g(n)=n+cfor somecZ0. g(n) = n + c \quad \text{for some} \quad c \in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0}.

Thus, the solution to the problem is:
g(n)=n+c for some cZ0. \boxed{g(n) = n + c \text{ for some } c \in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 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.