Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all pairs of real numbers (x,y)(x, y) that satisfy
{x+sin⁡x=y,y+sin⁡y=x. \begin{cases} x + \sin x = y, \\ y + \sin y = x. \end{cases}

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

By adding the equations and simplifying we get sin⁡x=−sin⁡y\sin x = -\sin y. Thus y=−x+2kπy = -x + 2k\pi or y=π+x+2kπ=x+(2k+1)πy = \pi + x + 2k\pi = x + (2k + 1)\pi. In the second case we get that ∣y−x∣=∣(2k+1)π∣≥π|y - x| = |(2k + 1)\pi| \ge \pi, but from the first equality ∣y−x∣=∣sin⁡x∣≤1<π|y - x| = |\sin x| \le 1 < \pi, a contradiction. Therefore y=−x+2kπy = -x + 2k\pi, where kk is an integer. By plugging this into the first equation we get 2x+sin⁡x=2kπ2x + \sin x = 2k\pi after simplifying. We see that this is satisfied in case of any integer kk by the value x=kπx = k\pi; then also y=−kπ+2kπ=kπy = -k\pi + 2k\pi = k\pi. As f(x)=2x+sin⁡xf(x) = 2x + \sin x is an increasing function, there cannot be any other solutions to 2x+sin⁡x=2kπ2x + \sin x = 2k\pi.

Solution 2

Function f(z)=z+sin⁡zf(z) = z + \sin z is strictly increasing, because its derivative f′(z)=1+cos⁡zf'(z) = 1 + \cos z is positive everywhere, except for some isolated points. Therefore if x<yx < y in case of some solution (x,y)(x, y) to the system of equations, then y=x+sin⁡x<y+sin⁡y=xy = x + \sin x < y + \sin y = x, a contradiction. Analogously y<xy < x gives a contradiction. In conclusion x=yx = y is the only option. By substituting it in we get sin⁡x=sin⁡y=0\sin x = \sin y = 0, from where x=y=kπx = y = k\pi for any integer kk. All pairs (kπ,kπ)(k\pi, k\pi) indeed satisfy the given system of equations.

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