A functional equation with a symmetric binary operation (Q657825): Difference between revisions

Let \(X\) be a set with a binary symmetric operation \(\circ\), let \(A,B,C\) be real constants and \(f,g: X\to \mathbb{R}_{+}\) unknown functions satisfying the functional equation \[ f(x\circ y)[Ag(y)-Bg(x)]=(A+C)f(x)g(y)-(B+C)f(y)g(x),\qquad x,y\in X. \] Some results have been already obtained for special cases of the above equation, in particular with the operation \(\circ\) being an arithmetic mean, with or without additional regularity assumptions on \(f\) and \(g\). The purpose of the present paper is to solve the equation, not assuming any particular form of \(\circ\). It is proved that if \(AC\neq 0\), \(A+B+C\neq 0\), \(A+B\neq 0\), \(A+C+B+C\neq 0\) and \(A\neq B\), then the only solutions are constant functions \(f(x)=k_1\), \(g(x)=k_2\), \(x\in X\). In remaining cases, the solutions are also given. They are described using the Jensen-type functions with respect to \(\circ\), i.e., mappings satisfying \[ h(x\circ y)=\frac{h(x)+h(y)}{2},\qquad x,y\in X. \]