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Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all functions f:Q\plusQ\plus f: \mathbb{Q}^{\plus{}} \mapsto \mathbb{Q}^{\plus{}} such that:
f(x)\plusf(y)\plus2xyf(xy)\equalf(xy)f(x\plusy). f(x) \plus{} f(y) \plus{} 2xy f(xy) \equal{} \frac {f(xy)}{f(x\plus{}y)}.

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

Solution

Let f:Q+Q+ f: \mathbb{Q}^{+} \to \mathbb{Q}^{+} be a function such that:
f(x)+f(y)+2xyf(xy)=f(xy)f(x+y) f(x) + f(y) + 2xy f(xy) = \frac{f(xy)}{f(x+y)}
for all x,yQ+ x, y \in \mathbb{Q}^{+} .

First, we denote the assertion of the given functional equation as P(x,y) P(x, y) .

1. From P(1,1) P(1, 1) , we have:
f(1)+f(1)+211f(1)=f(1)f(2) f(1) + f(1) + 2 \cdot 1 \cdot 1 \cdot f(1) = \frac{f(1)}{f(2)}
4f(1)=f(1)f(2) 4f(1) = \frac{f(1)}{f(2)}
f(2)=14 f(2) = \frac{1}{4}

2. From P(n,1) P(n, 1) , we get:
f(n)+f(1)+2nf(n)=f(n)f(n+1) f(n) + f(1) + 2n f(n) = \frac{f(n)}{f(n+1)}
f(n+1)=f(n)(2n+1)f(n)+f(1) f(n+1) = \frac{f(n)}{(2n+1)f(n) + f(1)}

3. Using the above recurrence relation, we find:
f(3)=f(2)(22+1)f(2)+f(1)=14514+f(1)=15+4f(1) f(3) = \frac{f(2)}{(2 \cdot 2 + 1)f(2) + f(1)} = \frac{\frac{1}{4}}{5 \cdot \frac{1}{4} + f(1)} = \frac{1}{5 + 4f(1)}
f(4)=f(3)(23+1)f(3)+f(1)=15+4f(1)715+4f(1)+f(1)=17+5f(1)+4f(1)2 f(4) = \frac{f(3)}{(2 \cdot 3 + 1)f(3) + f(1)} = \frac{\frac{1}{5 + 4f(1)}}{7 \cdot \frac{1}{5 + 4f(1)} + f(1)} = \frac{1}{7 + 5f(1) + 4f(1)^2}

4. From P(2,2) P(2, 2) , we have:
f(2)+f(2)+222f(4)=f(4)f(4) f(2) + f(2) + 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot f(4) = \frac{f(4)}{f(4)}
2f(2)+8f(4)=1 2f(2) + 8f(4) = 1
214+8f(4)=1 2 \cdot \frac{1}{4} + 8f(4) = 1
8f(4)=12 8f(4) = \frac{1}{2}
f(4)=116 f(4) = \frac{1}{16}

5. Equating the two expressions for f(4) f(4) , we get:
17+5f(1)+4f(1)2=116 \frac{1}{7 + 5f(1) + 4f(1)^2} = \frac{1}{16}
7+5f(1)+4f(1)2=16 7 + 5f(1) + 4f(1)^2 = 16
4f(1)2+5f(1)9=0 4f(1)^2 + 5f(1) - 9 = 0
f(1)=1 f(1) = 1

6. Substituting f(1)=1 f(1) = 1 into the recurrence relation, we get:
f(n+1)=f(n)(2n+1)f(n)+1 f(n+1) = \frac{f(n)}{(2n+1)f(n) + 1}

By induction, we can show that f(n)=1n2 f(n) = \frac{1}{n^2} for all nN n \in \mathbb{N} .

7. Now, we claim that f(x)=1x2 f(x) = \frac{1}{x^2} for all xQ+ x \in \mathbb{Q}^{+} .

Using the functional equation and induction, we can extend this result to all positive rational numbers.

Thus, the function that satisfies the given functional equation is:
f(x)=1x2 f(x) = \frac{1}{x^2}

The answer is: \boxed{\frac{1}{x^2}}.

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