Algebraic conditions for additive functions over the reals and over finite fields (Q1647762)

Let \(C\) be an affine plane curve. The author considers additive functions \(f: K \to K\) for which \(f(x)f(y) = 0\), whenever \((x, y) \in C\). He shows that if \(K = \mathbb{R},\mathbb{C}\) this is the hyperbola with defining equation \(xy = 1\). Therefore there exist nonzero additive functions with this property. After that, the author shows that there exists an additive function \(f: \mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}\) such that \(f(x)f(\frac{1}{x}) = 0\) (when \(x \neq 0\)) which is not identically zero on \(\mathbb{R}\). Furthermore, he also considers the general problem over finite fields. Let \(\mathbb{C}\) be an absolutely irreducible smooth curve and let \(f: \mathbb{F}_{p^k} \to \mathbb{F}_{p^k}\) be an additive function such that \(f(x)f(y) = 0\) whenever \((x, y)\in \mathbb{C}\). Finally, by using the classical Hasse-Weil bound on the number of points of a smooth absolutely irreducible curve defined over a finite field, he is able to show that if the degree of the curve is small compared to the characteristic of the field, then \(f\) must be identically zero. The approach can be applied to higher-dimensional varieties as well.