Let be given positive real number, find all the functions such that holds for any positive integers , satisfying .
Solution
Let be a given positive real number. We aim to find all functions such that holds for any positive integers and satisfying .
To solve this, we first note that the given functional equation resembles Cauchy's functional equation. However, the condition restricts the values of and .
We will show that the only solution to this functional equation under the given condition is a linear function of the form for some constant .
1. Step 1: Prove separability for large integers
An integer is called separable if there exist integers and such that and . We need to show that all sufficiently large integers are separable.
Given the condition , we can rewrite it in terms of as:
This implies:
By starting with and adding at each step, we ensure that remains within the interval . Hence, such an integer is separable.
2. **Step 2: Represent as a linear combination**
Since all sufficiently large integers are separable, can be expressed as a linear combination of for some fixed . Let us consider the smallest subset such that the linear representation is unique:
where .
By the uniqueness of the linear representation, the problem condition carries over to the functions. Since are functions from integers to rationals, and every rational can be represented as a linear combination of other rationals, it follows that must be linear functions of the form for some constants .
3. **Step 3: Conclude the form of **
Therefore, we can represent as:
where is a constant. This representation holds for all .
4. **Step 4: Verify for all **
For , we have . By induction, choosing a sufficiently large , we get .
For , choose an integer such that . We have . By choosing in the interval , we extend to all .
Thus, the only function satisfying the given conditions is:
where is a constant.
The answer is: \boxed{f(n) = cn}.