Let be an odd integer. Determine all functions from the set of integers to itself, such that for all integers and the difference divides
[i]
Let be an odd integer. Determine all functions from the set of integers to itself, such that for all integers and the difference divides
[i]
Given the problem, we want to determine all functions such that for all integers and , the expression divides , where is an odd integer.
Let us reason through the problem step by step:
1. Initial observation:
Suppose . Then the condition becomes , which is trivially true since both sides are zero.
2. **Considering **:
The key constraint given by the problem is:
This indicates that the difference must be a divisor of all pairwise differences .
3. **Special case **:
Consider the equation:
This implies that for each , there exists an integer such that:
where divides .
4. **Form of **:
Since the constraint holds for all integers , consider , where is and . This is because can be expressed as a product involving itself, and any divisor term of a power where divides .
5. **Solution form of **:
Thus, has to be of the form:
where divides and , with some constant .
The correct form of the function that satisfies the given conditions is therefore:
This formula accounts for the divisibility condition by ensuring only differs up to powers of that respect the given condition for all integer inputs.