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Given x ⊕ x =5,x ⊕ (y ⊕ z) = (x ⊕ y)+z-5 what is 2009 ⊕ 1949

Mathematica Asked on January 31, 2021

There is an operation "⊕" that satisfies

  1. $x ⊕ x =5$
  2. $x ⊕ (y ⊕ z) = (x ⊕ y)+z-5$

what is 2009 ⊕ 1949?
I think it is feasible to solve with Mathematica, but my code doesn’t give a useful result, am i missing something?

Clear["`*"];
f[2009, 1949] //. {f[x_, y_] :> f[x, f[y, z]] - z + 5, f[x_, x_] :> 5,
  f[x_, f[y_, y_]] :> y + 5}

2 Answers

This is the kind of thing that you can only find out by exploring substitutions. Doing a bit of trial in the 2nd condition I found a couple of relations that can solve the problem by substituting z for y, and then substituting both y and z for x.

x ⊕(y⊕z) == (x⊕y) + z - 5 /. 
  z -> y //. CirclePlus[x_, x_] :> 5
(* x⊕5 == -5 + y + x⊕y *)
x ⊕(y⊕z) == (x⊕y) + z - 5 /. {y ->
     x, z -> x} //. CirclePlus[x_, x_] :> 5
(* x⊕5 == x *)

From the first relation we can easily get that x⊕y==5 - y + x⊕5; from the second sit is clear that this expression can be further simplified into x⊕y==5 - y + x.

Finally using this as a single rule applied to 2009 and 1949

2009⊕1949 /. {x_⊕y_ :> x + 5 - y}
(*65*)

This is the result that Ulrich Neumann has mentioned in the comments, and is the operator that Roman has suggested in the comments as well.

Answered by Ferca on January 31, 2021

There are several possible methods to try. Here is one that I came up with in a few minutes without knowing the answer. It depends on using a range of substitutions which may give the answer and it is possible that it may be improved.

First, I decided to use f instead of CirclePlus and V instead of $5$ for clarity and no loss of generality. The two properties of the operation are given to us. I used the the first as a replacement rule because it is so obvious and simple. I used the second as a template and substituted the three variables with a range of substitutions. My code:

Select[ Flatten[ Table[
   f[i, f[j, k] == f[i, j] + k - V /. f[x_, x_] :> V,
   {i, {x}}, {j, {x,y}}, {k, {x,y,z,V}}], 2],
   FreeQ[#, f[_, f[_, _]]]&]

returns the result

{f[x, V] == x, f[x, V] == -V + y + f[x, y]}

and combining the two equalities it is immediate that $f(x,y) = x - y + V.$.

Answered by Somos on January 31, 2021

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