How many functions f : Z → Z are there such that
f ( m + f ( n ) ) = f ( m ) − n ?
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I thought in the following way.Not sure it is right or wrong.
f ( m + f ( n ) ) = f ( m ) − n
Putting − n in place of n equation becomes:
f ( m + f ( − n ) ) = f ( m ) + n
Subtracting two equations :
f ( m + f ( − n ) ) − f ( m + f ( n ) ) = 2 n .
Putting m − 0
f ( f ( − n ) ) − f ( f ( n ) ) = 2 n
It is clear that f ( n ) is a polynomial function.Let f ( n ) has degree l .Then f ( f ( n ) ) has degree 2 l The above equation gives a residue of degree 1 polynomial.The even will cancels out in subtraction.So f ( f ( n ) ) can have maximum powers of 2 then f ( n ) can have degree 1
After checking it may be seen that there exists no function.
There is no reason (yet) for why f ( n ) must be a polynomial function. Thus, unfortunately the last part of the solution doesn't work. It is true that there is no polynomial of degree k that satisfies the conditions, but what about other non-polynomial functions?
Note: Do not let your notation do double duty. If the problem has m and n , avoid saying "degree m ".
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Let P ( m , n ) be the statement f ( m + f ( n ) ) = f ( m ) − n .
P ( 0 , n ) ⟹ f ( f ( n ) ) = f ( 0 ) − n . If for some a , b we have f ( a ) = f ( b ) , then a = f ( 0 ) − f ( f ( a ) ) = f ( 0 ) − f ( f ( b ) ) = b , so f is injective.
P ( m , 0 ) ⟹ f ( m + f ( 0 ) ) = f ( m ) . Since f is injective, m + f ( 0 ) = m , so f ( 0 ) = 0 .
P ( − f ( n ) , f ( n ) ) ⟹ f ( 0 ) = f ( − f ( n ) ) − n or f ( − f ( n ) ) = n .
P ( m , − f ( n ) ) ⟹ f ( m + f ( − f ( n ) ) ) = f ( m ) + f ( n ) , or f ( m + n ) = f ( m ) + f ( n ) . This is the well known Cauchy functional equation, whose solution is f ( x ) = a x for some integer a . However, plugging this back, we find that this doesn't satisfy the equation for any a : f ( m + f ( n ) ) = a ( m + a ( n ) ) = a m + a 2 n , while f ( m ) − n = a m − n , which means we need a 2 = − 1 . So there is no solution.