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Difficulty: 7/102022 IMO 2022 (Q2)

Find all functions such that for each , there is exactly one satisfying

Options:

  • A.

    for all .

  • for all .

  • C.

    for all .

  • D.

    for all .

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Check : then by AM-GM, with equality iff .

Hint 2: For the unique , argue that the inequality must be tight (equality), otherwise nearby values also satisfy it.

Hint 3: Show for all , and use the equality condition to force , hence .

Solution

Step 1 (Verify ): If , then by AM-GM, with equality iff . So for each , the unique with is . This works.

Step 2 (Uniqueness implies equality): For general , let . The condition says: for each , exactly one satisfies . Call this .

Step 3: At , we must have (equality, since if strict inequality held, nearby values would also satisfy the condition, violating uniqueness). Also is an involution: .

Step 4: Setting : , so , i.e., . If for all , then , giving .

Step 5: Show for all . If for some , the equality combined with and leads to a contradiction via AM-GM applied to the cross terms.

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