Determine all functions satisfying
for all , , and . (Here, denotes the set of positive integers.)
Problem 1861
Official solution
We are tasked with finding all functions that satisfy the functional equation:
for all , , and .
### Step 1: Consider Constant Functions
Assume that is a constant function. This means for some fixed for all .
Substitute into the equation:
Since is constant, the left-hand side simplifies to . Thus, the equation holds because the right-hand side simplifies to as well.
Therefore, any constant function for is a solution.
### Step 2: Consider Floor and Ceiling Functions
Next, consider the functions and .
#### For :
Substitute into the equation:
The floor function generally satisfies properties that make these quantities equal because the operation of flooring "rounds down" to the nearest integer, preserving the integer status of both sides of the equation when is a rational number.
#### For :
Similarly, substitute:
The ceiling function rounds up to the nearest integer, another transformation that keeps the equality intact due to consistent rounding in both the numerator and arguments of the floor and ceiling functions for rational inputs.
### Conclusion
Thus, the solutions to the functional equation are the following functions:
The complete set of solutions can be expressed as: