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Baltic Way 2023 algebra
Problem
Find all (not necessarily strictly) monotonic functions with
Solution
By substituting we see that which implies . This means that , or .
By substituting we get .
1) Let's first investigate the case : in this case, , so , in which case is a Cauchy functional equation and due to function being monotonic must be of the form for some . This means that the solution must be . Here is a function defined on the entire set of real numbers . Substituting this to the original equation we get which implies , so and must be , or . From this we get solutions , and .
2) Let's then investigate the case : By substituting and we get and . is a solution, so this can be modified to . The latter part doesn't have real roots, so the only option is . Now, substituting in the original equation we get . For we get . This means that also .
Substituting and we get and substituting we get , from which we get . Let us now use induction and assume that for all . Now let's substitute : then , from which , since when , which is true when . Because is monotonic, also all real values between positive integer values must have .
Let's then substitute and in the original equation: we get . From here we can use the same deductions as before to prove that also for all negative .
3) Let's then investigate the case : By substituting and we get which implies . is a solution, so this can be modified to . The latter part doesn't have real roots, so the only option is . Now, substituting in the original equation we get . For we get . This means that also . Proving that goes similarly to 2). Similarly to case 2) we can also use induction to first prove that then use the similar deductions to 2) to prove it also for all negative .
It's easy to see that constant functions , and fulfill the original functional equation. So in the end we get solutions , , , and .
By substituting we get .
1) Let's first investigate the case : in this case, , so , in which case is a Cauchy functional equation and due to function being monotonic must be of the form for some . This means that the solution must be . Here is a function defined on the entire set of real numbers . Substituting this to the original equation we get which implies , so and must be , or . From this we get solutions , and .
2) Let's then investigate the case : By substituting and we get and . is a solution, so this can be modified to . The latter part doesn't have real roots, so the only option is . Now, substituting in the original equation we get . For we get . This means that also .
Substituting and we get and substituting we get , from which we get . Let us now use induction and assume that for all . Now let's substitute : then , from which , since when , which is true when . Because is monotonic, also all real values between positive integer values must have .
Let's then substitute and in the original equation: we get . From here we can use the same deductions as before to prove that also for all negative .
3) Let's then investigate the case : By substituting and we get which implies . is a solution, so this can be modified to . The latter part doesn't have real roots, so the only option is . Now, substituting in the original equation we get . For we get . This means that also . Proving that goes similarly to 2). Similarly to case 2) we can also use induction to first prove that then use the similar deductions to 2) to prove it also for all negative .
It's easy to see that constant functions , and fulfill the original functional equation. So in the end we get solutions , , , and .
Final answer
All such functions are: f(x) = 0 for all x; f(x) = cube_root(x); f(x) = -cube_root(x); f(x) = sqrt(2) for all x; f(x) = -sqrt(2) for all x.
Techniques
Functional Equations