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Algebra Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to\mathbb{R} such that f(0)0f(0)\neq 0 and
f(f(x))+f(f(y))=f(x+y)f(xy),f(f(x)) + f(f(y)) = f(x + y)f(xy),
for all x,yRx, y \in\mathbb{R}.

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

Solution

To find all functions f:RR f : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that f(0)0 f(0) \neq 0 and

f(f(x))+f(f(y))=f(x+y)f(xy), f(f(x)) + f(f(y)) = f(x + y)f(xy),

for all x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} , we proceed as follows.

- Step 1: Initial Substitution

Start by substituting x=0 x = 0 and y=0 y = 0 into the original functional equation:

f(f(0))+f(f(0))=f(0+0)f(00). f(f(0)) + f(f(0)) = f(0 + 0) f(0 \cdot 0).

This simplifies to:

2f(f(0))=f(0)2. 2f(f(0)) = f(0)^2.

Since f(0)0 f(0) \neq 0 , we can solve this to find that

f(f(0))=f(0)22. f(f(0)) = \frac{f(0)^2}{2}.

- Step 2: Explore Further Substitution

Let y=0 y = 0 and rewrite the equation:

f(f(x))+f(f(0))=f(x)f(0). f(f(x)) + f(f(0)) = f(x)f(0).

Substitute the value from Step 1:

f(f(x))+f(0)22=f(x)f(0). f(f(x)) + \frac{f(0)^2}{2} = f(x)f(0).

Rearrange to obtain:

f(f(x))=f(x)f(0)f(0)22. f(f(x)) = f(x)f(0) - \frac{f(0)^2}{2}.

This equation will be useful in confirming specific solutions.

- Step 3: Consider a Constant Function Solution

Evaluate the possibility of constant solutions by letting f(x)=c f(x) = c for some constant c c .

Substitute f(x)=c f(x) = c into the functional equation:

c+c=cc. c + c = c \cdot c.

This simplifies to:

2c=c2. 2c = c^2.

Solve this quadratic equation:

c22c=0, c^2 - 2c = 0,

which factors to:

c(c2)=0. c(c - 2) = 0.

Therefore, c=0 c = 0 or c=2 c = 2 . Since f(0)0 f(0) \neq 0 , c=0 c = 0 is not valid, leaving c=2 c = 2 .

Thus, f(x)=2 f(x) = 2 for all xR x \in \mathbb{R} is a potential solution.

- Step 4: Verification

Verify that f(x)=2 f(x) = 2 satisfies the functional equation:

f(f(x))+f(f(y))=f(x+y)f(xy). f(f(x)) + f(f(y)) = f(x + y)f(xy).

Substituting f(x)=2 f(x) = 2 yields:

2+2=22. 2 + 2 = 2 \cdot 2.

Which simplifies to 4=4 4 = 4 , confirming it is a solution.

Thus, the only function satisfying all the conditions is the constant function:
f(x)=2xR. \boxed{f(x) = 2 \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{R}}.

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