Doubt in an alternate solution to an IMO problem from 1987

60 Views Asked by At

Consider the following problem from 1987 IMO Show that there is no function $f:\mathbb N→\mathbb N$ Such that

$f(f(n))=n+1987$

In the book that I was referring the solution is given as follows:

" We show that infact there is no function that satisfies this condition

$f(f(n))=n+k$ where k is odd

Assume such an $f$ exists. Then $f(n+k)=f(n)+k$ for all n in N and $f(n-k)=f(n)-k$ for all $n\geq k$ Consider $g(n)=f(n)-k$

Verify that $g(f(n))=n$ for all n and $f(g(n))=n$ for all $f(n) \geq k$

Consider the sets $A=${$n|0\leq n<k$ and $f(n)<k$} and $B=${$n|0\leq n<k$ and $f(n)\geq k$}

Show that there is a bijection between A and B and conclude

$|A|=|B|$

This implies $2|A|=k$ and this forces a contradiction "

The only part I am having trouble is finding such a bijection

Can someone please help

Here $\mathbb{N}$ is the set of all natural numbers and 0