Introduction to Functional Equations: Theory and Problem-solving Strategies for Mathematical Competitions and Beyond (MSRI Mathematical Circles Library)

Functions and their properties have been part of the rigorous precollege curriculum for decades. And functional equations have been a favorite topic of the leading national and international mathematical competitions. Yet the subject has not received equal attention by authors at an introductory level. The majority of the books on the topic remain unreachable to the curious and intelligent precollege student. The present book is an attempt to eliminate this disparity. The book opens with a review chapter on functions, which collects the relevant foundational information on functions, plus some material potentially new to the reader. The next chapter presents a working definition of functional equations and explains the difficulties in trying to systematize the theory. With each new chapter, the author presents methods for the solution of a particular group of equations. Each chapter is complemented with many solved examples, the majority of which are taken from mathematical competitions and professional journals. The book ends with a chapter of unsolved problems and some other auxiliary material. The book is an invaluable resource for precollege and college students who want to deepen their knowledge of functions and their properties, for teachers and instructors who wish to enrich their curricula, and for any lover of mathematical problem-solving techniques. Titles in this series are co-published with the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI).