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Number theory Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Find the answer

Let n≥1n \geq 1 be an odd integer. Determine all functions ff from the set of integers to itself, such that for all integers xx and yy the difference f(x)−f(y)f(x)-f(y) divides xn−yn.x^n-y^n.

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A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Given the problem, we want to determine all functions f:Z→Z f : \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z} such that for all integers x x and y y , the expression f(x)−f(y) f(x) - f(y) divides xn−yn x^n - y^n , where n n is an odd integer.

Let us reason through the problem step by step:

1. Initial observation:
Suppose x=y x = y . Then the condition becomes f(x)−f(x)∣xn−xn f(x) - f(x) \mid x^n - x^n , which is trivially true since both sides are zero.

2. **Considering x≠y x \neq y **:
The key constraint given by the problem is:
f(x)−f(y)∣xn−yn. f(x) - f(y) \mid x^n - y^n.
This indicates that the difference f(x)−f(y) f(x) - f(y) must be a divisor of all pairwise differences xn−yn x^n - y^n .

3. **Special case y=0 y = 0 **:
Consider the equation:
f(x)−f(0)∣xn. f(x) - f(0) \mid x^n.
This implies that for each x x , there exists an integer k(x) k(x) such that:
f(x)=f(0)+k(x)⋅g(x), f(x) = f(0) + k(x) \cdot g(x),
where g(x) g(x) divides xn x^n .

4. **Form of g(x) g(x) **:
Since the constraint holds for all integers x x , consider g(x)=exa g(x) = e x^a , where e e is ±1\pm 1 and a∣n a \mid n . This is because xn x^n can be expressed as a product involving x x itself, and any divisor term of a power xa x^a where a a divides n n .

5. **Solution form of f(x) f(x) **:
Thus, f(x) f(x) has to be of the form:
f(x)=exa+c, f(x) = e x^a + c,
where a a divides n n and ∣e∣=1 |e| = 1 , with some constant c c .

The correct form of the function that satisfies the given conditions is therefore:
f(x)=exa+c where a∣n and ∣e∣=1. \boxed{f(x) = e x^a + c \text{ where } a \mid n \text{ and } |e| = 1.}
This formula accounts for the divisibility condition by ensuring f(x) f(x) only differs up to powers of x x that respect the given condition for all integer inputs.

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