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Algebra Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Find the answer

Determine all functions f:ZZf: \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{Z} such that f(f(a)b)+bf(2a)f(f(a)-b)+b f(2 a) is a perfect square for all integers aa and bb.

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Solution

There are two families of functions which satisfy the condition: (1) f(n)={0 if n is even, and  any perfect square  if n is odd f(n)= \begin{cases}0 & \text { if } n \text { is even, and } \\ \text { any perfect square } & \text { if } n \text { is odd }\end{cases} (2) f(n)=n2f(n)=n^{2}, for every integer nn. It is straightforward to verify that the two families of functions are indeed solutions. Now, suppose that f is any function which satisfies the condition that f(f(a)b)+bf(2a)f(f(a)-b)+b f(2 a) is a perfect square for every pair (a,b)(a, b) of integers. We denote this condition by ()\left(^{*}\right). We will show that ff must belong to either Family (1) or Family (2). Claim 1. f(0)=0f(0)=0 and f(n)f(n) is a perfect square for every integer nn. Proof. Plugging (a,b)(0,f(0))(a, b) \rightarrow(0, f(0)) in ()\left(^{*}\right) shows that f(0)(f(0)+1)=z2f(0)(f(0)+1)=z^{2} for some integer zz. Thus, (2f(0)+12z)(2f(0)+1+2z)=1(2 f(0)+1-2 z)(2 f(0)+1+2 z)=1. Therefore, f(0)f(0) is either -1 or 0 . Suppose, for sake of contradiction, that f(0)=1f(0)=-1. For any integer aa, plugging (a,b)(a,f(a))(a, b) \rightarrow(a, f(a)) implies that f(a)f(2a)1f(a) f(2 a)-1 is a square. Thus, for each aZa \in \mathbb{Z}, there exists xZx \in \mathbb{Z} such that f(a)f(2a)=x2+1f(a) f(2 a)=x^{2}+1 This implies that any prime divisor of f(a)f(a) is either 2 or is congruent to 1(mod4)1(\bmod 4), and that 4f(a)4 \nmid f(a), for every aZa \in \mathbb{Z}. Plugging (a,b)(0,3)(a, b) \rightarrow(0,3) in ()\left(^{*}\right) shows that f(4)3f(-4)-3 is a square. Thus, there is yZy \in \mathbb{Z} such that f(4)=y2+3f(-4)=y^{2}+3. Since 4f(4)4 \nmid f(-4), we note that f(4)f(-4) is a positive integer congruent to 3(mod4)3(\bmod 4), but any prime dividing f(4)f(-4) is either 2 or is congruent to 1(mod4)1(\bmod 4). This gives a contradiction. Therefore, f(0)f(0) must be 0 . For every integer nn, plugging (a,b)(0,n)(a, b) \rightarrow(0,-n) in ()\left(^{*}\right) shows that f(n)f(n) is a square. Replacing bb with f(a)bf(a)-b, we find that for all integers aa and bb, f(b)+(f(a)b)f(2a) is a square. \begin{equation*} f(b)+(f(a)-b) f(2 a) \text { is a square. } \tag{**} \end{equation*} Now, let SS be the set of all integers nn such that f(n)=0f(n)=0. We have two cases: - Case 1: SS is unbounded from above. We claim that f(2n)=0f(2 n)=0 for any integer nn. Fix some integer nn, and let kSk \in S with k>f(n)k>f(n). Then, plugging (a,b)(n,k)(a, b) \mapsto(n, k) in ()\left({ }^{* *}\right) gives us that f(k)+(f(n)k)f(2n)=(f(n)k)f(2n)f(k)+(f(n)-k) f(2 n)=(f(n)-k) f(2 n) is a square. But f(n)k<0f(n)-k<0 and f(2n)f(2 n) is a square by Claim 1. This is possible only if f(2n)=0f(2 n)=0. In summary, f(n)=0f(n)=0 whenever nn is even and Claim 1 shows that f(n)f(n) is a square whenever nn is odd. - Case 2: SS is bounded from above. Let TT be the set of all integers nn such that f(n)=n2f(n)=n^{2}. We show that TT is unbounded from above. In fact, we show that p+12T\frac{p+1}{2} \in T for all primes pp big enough. Fix a prime number pp big enough, and let n=p+12n=\frac{p+1}{2}. Plugging (a,b)(n,2n)(a, b) \mapsto(n, 2 n) in ()\left(^{* *}\right) shows us that f(2n)(f(n)2n+1)f(2 n)(f(n)-2 n+1) is a square for any integer nn. For pp big enough, we have 2nS2 n \notin S, so f(2n)f(2 n) is a non-zero square. As a result, when pp is big enough, f(n)f(n) and f(n)2n+1=f(n)pf(n)-2 n+1=f(n)-p are both squares. Writing f(n)=k2f(n)=k^{2} and f(n)p=m2f(n)-p=m^{2} for some k,m0k, m \geq 0, we have (k+m)(km)=k2m2=pk+m=p,km=1k=n,m=n1(k+m)(k-m)=k^{2}-m^{2}=p \Longrightarrow k+m=p, k-m=1 \Longrightarrow k=n, m=n-1 Thus, f(n)=k2=n2f(n)=k^{2}=n^{2}, giving us n=p+12Tn=\frac{p+1}{2} \in T. Next, for all kTk \in T and nZn \in \mathbb{Z}, plugging (a,b)(n,k)(a, b) \mapsto(n, k) in ()\left({ }^{* *}\right) shows us that k2+(f(n)k)f(2n)k^{2}+(f(n)-k) f(2 n) is a square. But that means (2kf(2n))2(f(2n)24f(n)f(2n))=4(k2+(f(n)k)f(2n))(2 k-f(2 n))^{2}-\left(f(2 n)^{2}-4 f(n) f(2 n)\right)=4\left(k^{2}+(f(n)-k) f(2 n)\right) is also a square. When kk is large enough, we have f(2n)24f(n)f(2n)+1<2kf(2n)\left|f(2 n)^{2}-4 f(n) f(2 n)\right|+1<|2 k-f(2 n)|. As a result, we must have f(2n)2=4f(n)f(2n)f(2 n)^{2}=4 f(n) f(2 n) and thus f(2n){0,4f(n)}f(2 n) \in\{0,4 f(n)\} for all integers nn. Finally, we prove that f(n)=n2f(n)=n^{2} for all integers nn. Fix nn, and take kTk \in T big enough such that 2kS2 k \notin S. Then, we have f(k)=k2f(k)=k^{2} and f(2k)=4f(k)=4k2f(2 k)=4 f(k)=4 k^{2}. Plugging (a,b)(k,n)(a, b) \mapsto(k, n) to ()\left(^{* *}\right) shows us that f(n)+(k2n)4k2=(2k2n)2+(f(n)n2)f(n)+\left(k^{2}-n\right) 4 k^{2}=\left(2 k^{2}-n\right)^{2}+\left(f(n)-n^{2}\right) is a square. Since TT is unbounded from above, we can take kTk \in T such that 2kS2 k \notin S and also 2k2n>f(n)n2\left|2 k^{2}-n\right|>\left|f(n)-n^{2}\right|. This forces f(n)=n2f(n)=n^{2}, giving us the second family of solution.

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