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Difficulty: 7/102017 IMO 2017 (Q2)

Determine all functions such that, for any real numbers and ,

Options:

  • A.

    for all , or for all , or for all .

  • B.

    for all , or for all , or for all .

  • C.

    for all , or for all , or for all .

  • for all , or for all , or for all .

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Start with and to find a relation between and . Let and derive .

Hint 2: Consider the case separately — it forces . For , try guessing solutions of the form and verify.

Hint 3: To prove uniqueness, use to relate to , establishing that is determined by its value at one point.

Solution

Step 1 (Initial substitutions): Let denote the assertion .

: , so . Let , so .

: , so .

Step 2 (Case ): If , then and from : , giving for all . Check: . ✓

Step 3 (Case ): From , the function satisfies and .

: .

Let . Then .

Step 4 (Trying ): Check: . ✓

Step 5 (Trying ): Check: . ✓

Step 6 (Uniqueness): Through careful substitution analysis (setting , , etc.) and using the relation , one can show these are the only solutions. The key is proving is injective (when ) using the functional equation, then deducing linearity.

Answer: , , or .

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