What are some simple examples of functions f,g:Z→Z which are bijective and their sum is also bijective?
Unless I am missing something, it is not difficult show that such functions exist by induction. (We simply order Z={zn;n=0,1,2,…} in some way. And we can define f, g, h by induction in such way that we make sure that after n-th step: a) f and g are defined for the integers from some set An; b) f, g and h=f+g are injective on An; c) zn∈An; d) zn belongs to f[An], g[An], h[An]. If needed, I can try to make this more precise and post inductive construction in an answer; of course, if somebody wants to post such an answer, you're more than welcome to do so. Especially if you can suggest some more elegant way than what I sketched here.)
But I have doubts that there is a bijection given by a simple formula. (Although I admit that the words "simple formula" are rather vague.)
So, as an additional question, is there example of bijections f, g such that f+g is also bijection, and these functions are "nice"? (For some reasonable meaning of the word "nice".) Or can we show that such example cannot be found if we restrict f, g to some reasonably behaved class of functions?
Basically the motivation for this question came from a course that I am TA-ing. As an exercise, to help them acquainted with the notion of bijection, the students were asked to find an example of two bijections from Z to Z such that their sum is not a bijection. A colleague, who is also TA at the same course, asked me whether I can think of example where the sum is bijection, since for the most natural examples that one typically thinks for (such as x↦x+d or x↦−x+d′) you never get a bijection.
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