Characterization of field homomorphisms and derivations by functional equations (Q1577682)

Suppose \(K\) and \(\overline K\) are fields containing \(\mathbb{Q}\), and \(f, g\) are additive functions from \(K\) to \(\overline K\). Suppose \(f,g\) satisfy a functional equation \[ g(x^{\ell n})= f(x^\ell)^n \text{ for all }x\in K^\times \tag{*} \] and \(f\) and \(g\) are not identically 0. Then \(e=f(1)\neq 0\), \(e^{-1}f\) is a field homomorphism, and \(g=e^{n-1}f\). If \(f\) and \(g\) satisfy instead of (*) a functional equation \[ g(x^{\ell n}) =Ax^{\ell n}+x^{\ell n-\ell} f (x^\ell) \text{ for all }x\in K^\times, \] then \(F(x)=f(x)-ex\) and \(G(x)= g(x) -(A+e)x\) are both derivations and \(F=nG\). The major tool in the proofs is replacing \(x\) by \(1+tx\), expanding (since \(f\) and \(g\) are additive) and expressing the resulting expressions as polynomials in \(t\).