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Algebra Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Find the answer

Find all functions f:RRf:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R} such that f(x)f(y)+f(x+y)=xyf(x)f(y)+f(x+y)=xy for all real numbers xx and yy.

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

Solution

We are tasked with finding all functions f:RR f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that for all real numbers x x and y y , the following functional equation holds:

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

Step 1: Plug-in Specific Values

First, let's test for simple values of x x and y y .

1. Set y=0 y = 0 :
f(x)f(0)+f(x+0)=x0f(x)f(0)+f(x)=0f(x)(f(0)+1)=0. f(x)f(0) + f(x+0) = x \cdot 0 \Rightarrow f(x)f(0) + f(x) = 0 \Rightarrow f(x)(f(0) + 1) = 0.
Since this must hold for all x x , we have two possibilities:

- f(x)=0 f(x) = 0 for all x x , which is easily seen not to satisfy the equation for, say, x=y=1 x = y = 1 .
- f(0)=1 f(0) = -1 .

**Step 2: Determine f(x) f(x) Using Another Strategy**

Now let's use the fact that f(0)=1 f(0) = -1 .

2. Set x=y x = y :
f(x)f(x)+f(2x)=x2f(x)2+f(2x)=x2. f(x)f(x) + f(2x) = x^2 \Rightarrow f(x)^2 + f(2x) = x^2.
From this equation, we can solve for f(2x) f(2x) :
f(2x)=x2f(x)2. f(2x) = x^2 - f(x)^2.

Step 3: Consider Another Combination

Consider setting x=1 x = 1 and y=1 y = 1 :
f(1)f(1)+f(2)=1f(1)2+f(2)=1. f(1)f(1) + f(2) = 1 \Rightarrow f(1)^2 + f(2) = 1.

Also note from setting x=1 x = 1 and previously finding f(0)=1 f(0) = -1 :
f(1)f(0)+f(1)=0f(1)+f(1)=0f(1)=0. f(1)f(0) + f(1) = 0 \Rightarrow -f(1) + f(1) = 0 \Rightarrow f(1) = 0.

Using f(1)=0 f(1) = 0 in the above, f(1)2+f(2)=1 f(1)^2 + f(2) = 1 becomes:
02+f(2)=1f(2)=1. 0^2 + f(2) = 1 \Rightarrow f(2) = 1.

Step 4: Propose and Verify a General Form

Given our earlier results and a few trials, let us propose f(x)=x1 f(x) = x - 1 as one solution:

1. Calculate f(x)f(y)+f(x+y) f(x)f(y) + f(x+y) using f(x)=x1 f(x) = x-1 :

(x1)(y1)+(x+y1)=(xyxy+1)+(x+y1)=xy. (x-1)(y-1) + (x+y-1) = (xy - x - y + 1) + (x + y - 1) = xy.

The calculation confirms that f(x)=x1 f(x) = x - 1 satisfies the functional equation.

Additionally, propose f(x)=x1 f(x) = -x - 1 as another solution and check:

2. Calculate f(x)f(y)+f(x+y) f(x)f(y) + f(x+y) using f(x)=x1 f(x) = -x-1 :

(x1)(y1)+((x+y)1)=(xy+x+y+1)(x+y+1)=xy. (-x-1)(-y-1) + (-(x+y)-1) = (xy + x + y + 1) - (x + y + 1) = xy.

Thus, f(x)=x1 f(x) = -x - 1 also satisfies the functional equation.

Conclusion:

The solutions to the functional equation are:
f(x)=x1 or f(x)=x1. \boxed{f(x) = x - 1 \text{ or } f(x) = -x - 1}.

Both forms satisfy the original equation for all real numbers x x and y y .

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