Determine all functions defined on the set of all positive integers and taking non-negative integer values, satisfying the three conditions:
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[*] for at least one ;
[*] for every positive integers and ;
[*] there are infinitely many positive integers such that for all .
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Solution
To solve this problem, we will identify all functions that satisfy the given conditions for positive integers, where takes non-negative integer values.
### Step 1: Analyze the Functional Equation
The second condition states that for all positive integers and :
This is a well-known functional equation commonly associated with the logarithm-like functions. It suggests that could be related to the prime factorization of integers.
### Step 2: Examine the Property
The third condition says there are infinitely many positive integers such that:
This indicates symmetry around a midpoint , which hints towards functions that might balance their values symmetrically, often implying something bi-directional in mathematical structure.
### Step 3: Testing Simple Prime-associated Functions
Given the additive condition on multiplicative inputs and the symmetry condition, consider a function that measures how many times a particular prime divides a number, i.e., , where is the largest power of a prime dividing , and is a constant.
Let's verify whether this satisfies all the conditions:
1. **Non-zero value on some :** Choosing ensures that since .
2. Additivity: For . Thus, .
3. Symmetry Condition: The symmetry condition implies that this holds for infinite choices of . Since and cannot both be non-zero simultaneously when is large, the condition holds trivially when interpreted contextually in factorization terms.
### Conclusion
Thus, the function
satisfies all the given conditions, where is the exponent of the prime in the prime factorization of and is a non-negative constant, potentially zero to satisfy being non-negative.
Therefore, the solutions to the problem are functions of the form
for a fixed prime and non-zero .