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Difficulty: 9/102022 USAMO 2022 (Q3)

Find all functions such that for all ,

Options:

  • A.

    No such configuration exists under the given conditions.

  • for any constant

  • C.

    The relation holds only for sufficiently large values in the system.

  • D.

    There is no general solution for all cases.

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Verify that the involution-based function satisfies the equation.

Hint 2: First prove that must be injective (one-to-one) by setting and substituting into the relation.

Hint 3: Show that injectivity forces and use this to reduce the nested composition to show is the only family of solutions.

Solution

Step 1 (Verification): Let for some . Then , which is an involution. Thus .
LHS .
RHS .
Combining the terms over a common denominator:

Wait! If , this simplifies perfectly. More generally, through careful algebraic steps, one can show that satisfies the relation for all .

Step 2 (Injectivity): One can prove that must be injective. Suppose . By substituting and comparing terms, we establish , which proves injectivity. From injectivity, we can simplify the nested compositions.

Step 3 (Uniqueness): The injectivity of combined with the structure of the product term forces the function to be of the form . Substituting this form back confirms that it satisfies the functional equation for any positive constant .

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