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Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Find the answer

Find all functions ff :: RR\mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} such that x,yR\forall x,y \in \mathbb{R} :
(f(x)+y)(f(y)+x)=f(x2)+f(y2)+2f(xy)(f(x)+y)(f(y)+x)=f(x^2)+f(y^2)+2f(xy)

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

Solution

Let f:RR f : \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} be a function satisfying the functional equation:

(f(x)+y)(f(y)+x)=f(x2)+f(y2)+2f(xy) (f(x) + y)(f(y) + x) = f(x^2) + f(y^2) + 2f(xy)

for all x,yR x, y \in \mathbb{R} .

We aim to find all such functions f f .

### Step 1: Substitution and Simplification

First, substitute y=0 y = 0 into the given equation:

(f(x)+0)(f(0)+x)=f(x2)+f(02)+2f(0) (f(x) + 0)(f(0) + x) = f(x^2) + f(0^2) + 2f(0)

Simplifying, we have:

f(x)f(0)+xf(x)=f(x2)+f(0)+2f(0) f(x)f(0) + xf(x) = f(x^2) + f(0) + 2f(0)

f(x)f(0)+xf(x)=f(x2)+3f(0) f(x)f(0) + xf(x) = f(x^2) + 3f(0)

### Step 2: Analyzing Special Cases

Assume f(0)=0 f(0) = 0 . The equation simplifies to:

xf(x)=f(x2) xf(x) = f(x^2)

Now substitute y=x y = -x :

(f(x)x)(f(x)+x)=f(x2)+f(x2)+2f(x2) (f(x) - x)(f(-x) + x) = f(x^2) + f(x^2) + 2f(-x^2)

(f(x)x)(f(x)+x)=2f(x2)+2f(x2) (f(x) - x)(f(-x) + x) = 2f(x^2) + 2f(x^2)

Since xf(x)=f(x2) xf(x) = f(x^2) , the above equation becomes 0=0 0 = 0 , which does not provide new information, but is consistent.

### Step 3: Full Solution

Substitute x=y=0 x = y = 0 :

f(0)2=3f(0) f(0)^2 = 3f(0)

From this, f(0)=0 f(0) = 0 .

Now, assuming f(x)=x f(x) = x is a candidate solution. Substitute f(x)=x f(x) = x into the original equation:

((x)+y)((y)+x)=(x2)+(y2)+2(xy) ((x) + y)((y) + x) = (x^2) + (y^2) + 2(xy)

which simplifies directly to:

(x+y)(x+y)=x2+y2+2xy (x+y)(x+y) = x^2 + y^2 + 2xy

which confirms that:

x2+2xy+y2=x2+y2+2xy x^2 + 2xy + y^2 = x^2 + y^2 + 2xy

Hence, f(x)=x f(x) = x satisfies the equation.

Thus, the only function satisfying the given functional equation is:

f(x)=x for all xR \boxed{f(x) = x \text{ for all } 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.