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Solving for $f$ when $f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)+axy$ where $a$ is a real number

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This question has been asked before here but I have followed a different approach

We have:

$$f(0) = 0$$

$$f(x) = f(\frac{x}{2}+\frac{x}{2}) = 2f(\frac{x}{2})+a\frac{x^2}{4}$$

$$f(\frac{x}{2}) = 2f(\frac{x}{4})+a\frac{x^2}{16}$$

$$f(\frac{x}{2^n}) = 2f(\frac{x}{2^{n+1}})+a\frac{x^2}{4^{n+1}}$$

Multiplying the equations by 2 (except the first) and adding, we have

$$f(x) = 4f(\frac{x}{2^{n+1}})+ a\frac{x^2}{4} + 2(a\frac{x^2}{16})(\frac{1-\frac{1}{4^{n+1}}}{1-\frac{1}{4}})$$

Taking $n \to \infty$, the first term vanishes and we get,

$$ f(x) = \frac{5}{12}ax^2$$

Clearly, this is a very different result. What am I doing wrong?


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