Problem in solving a functional equation












1












$begingroup$


I have the following functional equation with me:



$f(x-y)=f(x)f(y)+g(x)g(y)$



$f(x)=cos x $ and $g(x)=sin x$ is an obvious solution but I have some trouble proving it. I have obtained the following simple results by simple substitutions



Firstly interchanging $x$ and $y$ tells me that the function is an even function.



Furthermore $x=y$ gives me



$f(0) = f(x)^2 + g(x)^2$.



Setting $y=0$ in the original equation gives me



$f(x) = f(x)f(0) + g(x)g(0)$.



Now from here I can clearly note that if $f(0)=0$ then both $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are equal to zero. However I am unable to proceed from here. How do I proceed from here? My book just mentions that since $f(x)[1-f(0)]=g(x)g(0)$, $f(0) = 1$ and $g(0)=0$. How do I conclude this?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
    $endgroup$
    – Joey Zou
    Dec 1 '18 at 19:16
















1












$begingroup$


I have the following functional equation with me:



$f(x-y)=f(x)f(y)+g(x)g(y)$



$f(x)=cos x $ and $g(x)=sin x$ is an obvious solution but I have some trouble proving it. I have obtained the following simple results by simple substitutions



Firstly interchanging $x$ and $y$ tells me that the function is an even function.



Furthermore $x=y$ gives me



$f(0) = f(x)^2 + g(x)^2$.



Setting $y=0$ in the original equation gives me



$f(x) = f(x)f(0) + g(x)g(0)$.



Now from here I can clearly note that if $f(0)=0$ then both $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are equal to zero. However I am unable to proceed from here. How do I proceed from here? My book just mentions that since $f(x)[1-f(0)]=g(x)g(0)$, $f(0) = 1$ and $g(0)=0$. How do I conclude this?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
    $endgroup$
    – Joey Zou
    Dec 1 '18 at 19:16














1












1








1





$begingroup$


I have the following functional equation with me:



$f(x-y)=f(x)f(y)+g(x)g(y)$



$f(x)=cos x $ and $g(x)=sin x$ is an obvious solution but I have some trouble proving it. I have obtained the following simple results by simple substitutions



Firstly interchanging $x$ and $y$ tells me that the function is an even function.



Furthermore $x=y$ gives me



$f(0) = f(x)^2 + g(x)^2$.



Setting $y=0$ in the original equation gives me



$f(x) = f(x)f(0) + g(x)g(0)$.



Now from here I can clearly note that if $f(0)=0$ then both $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are equal to zero. However I am unable to proceed from here. How do I proceed from here? My book just mentions that since $f(x)[1-f(0)]=g(x)g(0)$, $f(0) = 1$ and $g(0)=0$. How do I conclude this?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




I have the following functional equation with me:



$f(x-y)=f(x)f(y)+g(x)g(y)$



$f(x)=cos x $ and $g(x)=sin x$ is an obvious solution but I have some trouble proving it. I have obtained the following simple results by simple substitutions



Firstly interchanging $x$ and $y$ tells me that the function is an even function.



Furthermore $x=y$ gives me



$f(0) = f(x)^2 + g(x)^2$.



Setting $y=0$ in the original equation gives me



$f(x) = f(x)f(0) + g(x)g(0)$.



Now from here I can clearly note that if $f(0)=0$ then both $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are equal to zero. However I am unable to proceed from here. How do I proceed from here? My book just mentions that since $f(x)[1-f(0)]=g(x)g(0)$, $f(0) = 1$ and $g(0)=0$. How do I conclude this?







functional-equations






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Dec 1 '18 at 21:36









the_fox

2,57711432




2,57711432










asked Dec 1 '18 at 6:30









saisanjeevsaisanjeev

947212




947212












  • $begingroup$
    The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
    $endgroup$
    – Joey Zou
    Dec 1 '18 at 19:16


















  • $begingroup$
    The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
    $endgroup$
    – Joey Zou
    Dec 1 '18 at 19:16
















$begingroup$
The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
$endgroup$
– Joey Zou
Dec 1 '18 at 19:16




$begingroup$
The equation also admits the constant solutions $f(x) = c$ and $g(x) = sqrt{c-c^2}$ with $0le cle 1$.
$endgroup$
– Joey Zou
Dec 1 '18 at 19:16










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

Assume that $g(0)$ is not zero. Then $g(x) = dfrac{1 - f(0)}{g(0)}f(x) = Cf(x)$, so $f(x-y) = (1 + C) f(x)f(y)$.



Setting $x = 2y$ gives $$f(y) = (1 + C) f(2y) f(y)$$ that is $f(2y)$ would be a constant (as long as $f(y)$ is not $0$).



So to get an interesting solution we must assume that $g(0) = 0$. $f(0) = 1$ follows.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
    $endgroup$
    – saisanjeev
    Dec 2 '18 at 7:04











Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3021063%2fproblem-in-solving-a-functional-equation%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









2












$begingroup$

Assume that $g(0)$ is not zero. Then $g(x) = dfrac{1 - f(0)}{g(0)}f(x) = Cf(x)$, so $f(x-y) = (1 + C) f(x)f(y)$.



Setting $x = 2y$ gives $$f(y) = (1 + C) f(2y) f(y)$$ that is $f(2y)$ would be a constant (as long as $f(y)$ is not $0$).



So to get an interesting solution we must assume that $g(0) = 0$. $f(0) = 1$ follows.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
    $endgroup$
    – saisanjeev
    Dec 2 '18 at 7:04
















2












$begingroup$

Assume that $g(0)$ is not zero. Then $g(x) = dfrac{1 - f(0)}{g(0)}f(x) = Cf(x)$, so $f(x-y) = (1 + C) f(x)f(y)$.



Setting $x = 2y$ gives $$f(y) = (1 + C) f(2y) f(y)$$ that is $f(2y)$ would be a constant (as long as $f(y)$ is not $0$).



So to get an interesting solution we must assume that $g(0) = 0$. $f(0) = 1$ follows.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
    $endgroup$
    – saisanjeev
    Dec 2 '18 at 7:04














2












2








2





$begingroup$

Assume that $g(0)$ is not zero. Then $g(x) = dfrac{1 - f(0)}{g(0)}f(x) = Cf(x)$, so $f(x-y) = (1 + C) f(x)f(y)$.



Setting $x = 2y$ gives $$f(y) = (1 + C) f(2y) f(y)$$ that is $f(2y)$ would be a constant (as long as $f(y)$ is not $0$).



So to get an interesting solution we must assume that $g(0) = 0$. $f(0) = 1$ follows.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$



Assume that $g(0)$ is not zero. Then $g(x) = dfrac{1 - f(0)}{g(0)}f(x) = Cf(x)$, so $f(x-y) = (1 + C) f(x)f(y)$.



Setting $x = 2y$ gives $$f(y) = (1 + C) f(2y) f(y)$$ that is $f(2y)$ would be a constant (as long as $f(y)$ is not $0$).



So to get an interesting solution we must assume that $g(0) = 0$. $f(0) = 1$ follows.







share|cite|improve this answer












share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer










answered Dec 1 '18 at 20:34









user58697user58697

1,829512




1,829512












  • $begingroup$
    Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
    $endgroup$
    – saisanjeev
    Dec 2 '18 at 7:04


















  • $begingroup$
    Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
    $endgroup$
    – saisanjeev
    Dec 2 '18 at 7:04
















$begingroup$
Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
$endgroup$
– saisanjeev
Dec 2 '18 at 7:04




$begingroup$
Thanks for the help. Could you please help me in solving the equation further to prove that cosx and sinx are the only possibilities for f(x) and g(x)?
$endgroup$
– saisanjeev
Dec 2 '18 at 7:04


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3021063%2fproblem-in-solving-a-functional-equation%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Quarter-circle Tiles

build a pushdown automaton that recognizes the reverse language of a given pushdown automaton?

Mont Emei