Chapter 2

Basic Concepts

Contents
2.1 Notation and Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.1 Injection, Surjection, and Bijection . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.2 Monotone Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2.3 Even and Odd Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.4 Involutive Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2.5 Functions Related to Integers . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.6 The Bad Gui, Complex Numbers, and Roots of
Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.3 Classical Functional Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.3.1 Cauchy’s Functional Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.3.2 Jensen’s Functional Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.3 General Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.3.4 Deviation from the Classical Equations . . . . . . 36
20 2.1. NOTATION AND DEFINITION

In this chapter, we explore the basic concepts and definitions in the

theory of functional equations. As an appetizer, let’s start with notations.

2.1 Notation and Definition

• C: the set of complex numbers.

• R: the set of real numbers.

• R≥0 : the set of non-negative real numbers.

• R+ : the set of positive real numbers.

• R− : the set of negative real numbers.

• Q: the set of rational numbers.

• Q+ : the set of positive rational numbers.

• Q≥0 : the set of non-negative rational numbers.

• Z: the set of integers.

• N : the set of positive integers. Also denoted by Z+ .

• N0 : defined as N ∪ {0}. Also denoted by Z≥0 .

• gcd(a, b): the greatest common divisor of a and b. Also denoted by

(a, b).

• lcm(a, b): the least common multiple of a and b. Also denoted by [a, b].

• WLOG: Without Loss Of Generality.

• RHS and LHS : Right Hand Side and Left Hand Side.

• Assertion: an expression in a few variables. You constantly see phrases

like

“Let P (x, y) be the assertion f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for all x, y ∈ R.”

This is because we don’t want to write the equation f (x + y) = f (x) +

f (y) every time we want to plug in new values of x and y into the
equation. For instance, instead of writing
CHAPTER 2. BASIC CONCEPTS 21

“By plugging in x = 1 and y = 2 into the equation

f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y), we find that...”

we write

“Using P (1, 2), we get...”

• General solution: a family of solutions to a functional equation which

respects these two conditions:

– Any function in the given form indeed is a solution, and

– Any solution can be written in the given form.

Read more examples about this in section 2.3.3 of chapter 2.

22 2.2. CONCEPTS

2.2 Concepts
2.2.1 Injection, Surjection, and Bijection
If you are reading this sentence, you already know what a function is. So,
I’m not going to define that. However, the definitions of an injective or
surjective function might not be obvious for the reader. Instead of giving
formal definitions, I would like to explain these concepts in examples.

• When we write f : A → B is a function, we mean that the domain of

f is A and its codomain is B. The domain of f is the set of values that
f can act on. For instance, if the domain of f is the interval [1, 2], it
means that f (x) is defined for any x ∈ [1, 2].

• The codomain of f , on the other hand, is a set that contains all the
values that the output of f can get. Please stop here and read the last
sentence again. With this definition, we do not require all elements
in the codomain of f to be the image of some element in the domain
of f . Let me give you an example to make this clear. Suppose that
f : [1, ∞) → R is given such that

1
f (x) = , ∀x ∈ [1, ∞). (2.1)
x
Here, R is the codomain of f . However, there is no x ∈ [1, ∞) for
which f (x) = 2. In other words, there is an element in the codomain
of f which is not admitted by any input.

• It now makes sense to define the set of all possible outputs of f . This
set is called the image of f and is denoted (usually) by Im(f ). In other
words,
Im(f ) = {f (x) : x is in the domain of f }.
For instance, in the example given in (2.1), the image of f is (0, 1].
This is because the reciprocal of a number x > 1 is always positive
and < 1.

• So far, we have found out that the image of a function is not necessarily
the same as its codomain.

• A very natural question that comes up here is the following: when

is the codomain of f equal to Im(f )? A function with this latter
property is called a surjection, a surjective function, or sometimes an
CHAPTER 2. BASIC CONCEPTS 23

onto function. Consider the example in (2.1) again (assuming the

codomain is R). This function is not a surjection. However, if we set
the codomain to be (0, 1], the discussion in the previous part implies
that the new function is surjective. Formally, a function f : A → B is
surjective if for any b ∈ B, there is some a ∈ A such that f (a) = b.

• When talking about surjectivity, for any b in the codomain of f , we

only care about the existence of an element a in the domain such that
f (a) = b. If such an element exists, then the function is surjective.
However, in order for the function to be injective, we want each element
of the codomain of f to be mapped to by at most one element in the
domain. That is, there should not exist any two different elements in
the codomain which are mapped to by the same element in the domain.
An injective function is sometimes called one-to-one. Formally, f :
A → B is injective if and only if f (a1 ) = f (a2 ) yields a1 = a2 for
all a1 , a2 ∈ A. The function f : R → R≥0 defined by f (x) = x2
is surjective (why?) but not injective. The reason is that for any
non-zero x ∈ R, we have f (x) = x2 = (−x)2 = f (−x) but x 6= −x.

• A function that is both injective and surjective is called a bijective

function or a bijection. Some people tend to call a bijection a one-to-
one correspondence, but not me. Can you think of a bijective function
now?

Now, let’s see an example of how we prove surjectivity or injectivity

in a given functional equation. Consider first the following problem from
Vietnam National Olympiad 2017:

Example 1. Let f : R → R be a function satisfying

f (xf (y) − f (x)) = 2f (x) + xy, ∀x, y ∈ R.

Call this assertion P (x, y). We aim to prove that f is surjective. That is,
we want to show that for any b ∈ R, there exists some a ∈ R such that
f (a) = b. Using P (1, y), we arrive at the equation

f (f (y) − f (1)) = 2f (1) + y, ∀y ∈ R.

Consider b ∈ R. Notice that the above equation holds for all real values of
y. So, if we choose y so that 2f (1) + y = b, or equivalently y = b − 2f (1),
we would have f (a) = b, where a = f (y) − f (1) = f (b − 2f (1)) − f (1). This
is exactly what we wanted to prove! Hence, f is surjective.
24 2.2. CONCEPTS

The following example is due to Dan Schwarz (mavropnevma), whom I

truly miss.
Example 2. Given f : R → R that satisfies
 3
2
f (2x +x ) − f (22x ) ≤ 2

and
3 3 +x
f (22x ) − 3f (2x )≥2
for all real x, we want to show that f is not injective. The point here is
3
to look for reals x such that 2x +x = 22x . One can easily find by a simple
search for such numbers that this happens for x ∈ {−1, 0, 1}. In fact, if we
let a = −1, b = 0, and c = 1, then
3 +a 1
u = 2a = 22a = ,
4
3 +b
v = 2b 2b
= 2 = 1,
3 +c
w = 2c = 22c = 4.

Therefore, for any z ∈ {u, v, w}, using the given inequalities in the problem,
we find that

f (z)2 − f (z) ≤ 2 =⇒ (f (z) + 1) (f (z) − 2) ≤ 0

=⇒ f (z) ∈ [−1, 2],
f (z) − 3f (z) ≥ 2 =⇒ (f (z) + 1)2 (f (z) − 2) ≥ 0
3

=⇒ f (z) ∈ {−1} ∪ [2, ∞).

Since we want both f (z) ∈ [−1, 2] and f (z) ∈ {−1} ∪ [2, ∞) to happen
simultaneously, this means that f (z) ∈ {−1, 2}. Hence,
 
1
f , f (1), f (4) ∈ {−1, 2},
4
and so two of these values are equal to each other. This directly implies that
f is not injective.

2.2.2 Monotone Functions

Definition 1 (Increasing Function). A function f : A → B is called in-
creasing on an interval I ⊆ A if for any a1 , a2 ∈ I with a1 > a2 , we have
f (a1 ) ≥ f (a2 ).
CHAPTER 2. BASIC CONCEPTS 25

Consider the function f : [1, ∞) → R defined by f (x) = x3 − x. This

function is increasing. Can you prove it? One way is to use the definition
given above. The other way, which is much simpler, is to use calculus:
f 0 (x) > 0 for all x in the domain.
Notice that if for all a1 , a2 ∈ I with a1 > a2 , we have f (a1 ) > f (a2 ),
then the function is called strictly increasing (or monotone increasing) on
I. Try to show that the function given in the example above (f (x) = x3 − x,
x ∈ [1, ∞)) is a strictly increasing function.

Definition 2 (Decreasing Function). A function f : A → B is called de-

creasing on an interval I ⊆ A if for any a1 , a2 ∈ I with a1 > a2 , we have
f (a1 ) ≤ f (a2 ).

You should now be able to guess the definition of a strictly decreasing

function. Sometimes people use the word nonincreasing function to empha-
size that the function is decreasing, but not strictly decreasing. The same
goes for nondecreasing functions.

Definition 3 (Monotone Function). A function is called monotone if it is

either always increasing or always decreasing.

So far, the examples we have seen where functions with domain either
R or Q. Let’s see an example of an arithmetic function now. An arithmetic
function is any function with domain N. That is, a function that acts on
natural numbers 1, 2, 3, . . .. We usually denote arithmetic functions with
f (n) (instead of f (x)) because naturally, n feels more like an integer. Note
that arithmetic functions need not give integer values in their output. That
is, the codomain of an arithmetic function is not necessarily N. For instance,
the function f : N → Q defined by f (n) = 1/n for all naturals n is an
arithmetic function, which is strictly decreasing (why?). Another example
is f : N → C, given by f (n) = log n for all n ∈ N.

Example 3. An arithmetic function f : N → Z satisfies the following

inequality for all positive integers n:

(f (n + 1) − f (n))(f (n + 1) + f (n) + 4) ≤ 0.

We want to prove that f is not injective. First, notice that the expresion
26 2.2. CONCEPTS

may be written as

(f (n + 1) − f (n))(f (n + 1) + f (n) + 4)
= (f (n + 1))2 − (f (n))2 + 4(f (n + 1) − f (n))
   
= (f (n + 1))2 + 4f (n + 1) − (f (n))2 + 4f (n)
   
= (f (n + 1))2 + 4f (n + 1) + 4 − (f (n))2 + 4f (n) + 4
= (f (n + 1) + 2)2 − (f (n) + 2)2 .

So, the given inequality becomes (f (n + 1) + 2)2 − (f (n) + 2)2 ≤ 0, or

(f (n + 1) + 2)2 ≤ (f (n) + 2)2 .

Define a new arithmetic function g : N → N by g(n) = (f (n) + 2)2 . Then,

we get g(n + 1) ≤ g(n) for all n ∈ N. This means that the function g is
decreasing. To see this, notice that if a > b, then

g(a) ≤ g(a − 1) ≤ g(a − 2) ≤ · · · ≤ g(b + 1) ≤ g(b).

So, g(a) ≤ g(b) and g is a decreasing function. But since the output of g
are positive integers (why?), the function g must be eventually a constant
function because the smallest g(n) can get is 1. So, let g(n) = (f (n) + 2)2 =
c2 for all n ≥ n0 , where c and n0 are positive integers. This means that f (n)
can take only the values −2 − c and −2 + c, and hence is not injective (see
Example (2) for a reasoning).

2.2.3 Even and Odd Functions

Example 4. Consider the functional equation

f (xf (y) − y) + f (xy − x) + f (x + y) = 2xy,

where the domain and codomain of f are supposed to be R. Let’s call the
latter assertion P (x, y). Then, P (0, 0) implies

f (0) + f (0) + f (0) = 0,

or simply f (0) = 0. Also, P (x, 0) gives

f (−x) + f (x) = 0,

which means that f (x) = −f (−x) holds for all reals x. In this case, we call
f an odd function.
CHAPTER 2. BASIC CONCEPTS 27

Example 5. Now, consider the functional equation

f (x + y) + f (x − y) = 2 max(f (x), f (y)),

where f is defined to be from Q to Q. Let’s call the given assertion P (x, y).
Take any two rationals x and y, and suppose, WLOG, that f (x) ≥ f (y).
Then, P (x, y) gives

f (x + y) + f (x − y) = 2f (x).

On the other hand, P (y, x) yields

f (x + y) + f (y − x) = 2f (x).

Comparing, we see that f (x − y) = f (y − x) for all x, y ∈ Q. Now, let

a = x − y to obtain f (a) = f (−a) for all a ∈ Q. In this scenario, we say
that f is an even function.

For easier referencing, I’m including the accurate definitions of even and
odd functions here:

Definition 4 (Even Function). Suppose that A is a set with the property

that if a ∈ A, then −a ∈ A. Let f : A → B be a function such that
f (x) = f (−x) for all x ∈ A. Then, we call f an even function.

Definition 5 (Odd Function). Suppose that A is a set with the property

that if a ∈ A, then −a ∈ A. Let f : A → B be a function such that
f (x) = −f (−x) for all x ∈ A. Then, we call f an odd function.

If f is odd, then we can easily find by plugging x = 0 that f (0) = 0.

2.2.4 Involutive Functions

Definition 6. An involutive function, or simply an involution, is a function
f : A → B such that f (f (x)) = x happens for all x ∈ A. Notice that this
directly implies A = B and so f must be a surjection.

Example 6. If f : A → A is an involution, then f is a bijection because

an involution is in fact a permutation, and hence f is a one-to-one and
onto map. However, the converse is not necessarily true. Take for instance
f : {0, 2, 4} → {0, 2, 4} defined by f (n) = n + 2 (mod 4), for all n ∈ A. It is
clear that f (0) = 2 and f (f (0)) = f (2) = 4 6= 0.
28 2.2. CONCEPTS

Example 7. Suppose that f : N → N is an arithmetic function satisfying

f (x + f (y)) = f (x) + y for all positive integers x, y. Let’s show that f is
involutive. Let the given assertion be denoted by P (x, y). Then, P (x, y)
and P (y, x) give
f (x + f (y)) = y + f (x), (2.2)
f (y + f (x)) = x + f (y). (2.3)
Now, if you look closely:
f f
x + f (y) 7→ y + f (x) 7→ x + f (y).
Now, if we can prove that every positive integer is representable as x + f (y)
for some x ∈ Z≥0 and y ∈ N, then it implies that f is involutive. This is very
easy for n ≥ 2: to get n = x+f (y), choose y = 1 and x = n−f (1) (note that
we want x ≥ 1 to be in the domain of the function and that’s why we should
care about n being at least 2). So, we only need to prove that f (1) = 1.
We now use an idea which is due to Gabriel (harazi). Let P (x, y) be the
assertion given in (2.2). Computing P (x, 1) gives f (x + f (1)) = 1 + f (x) and
P (f (1), x) gives f (f (1) + f (x)) = x + f (f (1)) for all x ≥ 1. Now, P (f (x), 1)
implies
f (f (x) + f (1)) = 1 + f (f (x)).
Combining the latter two identities, we get
x + f (f (1)) = 1 + f (f (x)).
Hence, to show that f (f (1)) = 1, it suffices to find a natural x such that
f (f (x)) = x. We have actually proved a much stronger thing: f (f (x)) = x
for all x ≥ 2. So, f (f (1)) = 1 and we arrive to the conclusion that f is
involutive, i.e., f (f (x)) = x for all x ≥ 1. Now, if we check P (x, f (y)), we
see that f satisfies f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y), i.e., f is an additive function. We
discuss these functions as well as their solutions in the general case (when
the domain is Q or R) in section 2.3.
To sum it up, any additive involutive function f satisfies the functional
equation in this example.

2.2.5 Functions Related to Integers

I didn’t name this section arithmetic functions because, as we saw in sec-
tion (2.2.2), an arithmetic function has the domain of only natural numbers.
In this section, we study functions with a more general domain, say R, that
are somehow connected with integers. For instance,