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Let $f : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ be a Lebesgue measurable function and $D$ be a countable dense subset of $\mathbb{R}$. Suppose that for a.e. $x \in \mathbb{R}$ we have \begin{equation*} f(x + d) = f(x) \qquad \text{for every } d \in D \end{equation*} (notice that, without loss of generality, we can assume that $D$ is a module over the integers).

Does it follow that $f(x) = c$ a.e.?

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3 Answers 3

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The answer is yes.

Indeed, in view of the possible replacement of $f(x)$ by $\min(N,\max(-N,f(x))$ for an arbitrary real $N>0$ and all real $x$, assume without loss of generality that the function $f$ is bounded.

Let then $$F(x):=\int_0^x f(t)\,dt$$ for real $x\ge0$ and $$F(x):=-\int_0^{-x} f(-t)\,dt$$ for real $x<0$. Then for all $d\in D$ and real $x\ge0$ $$F(x)=\int_0^x f(t+d)\,dt=F(x+d)-F(d),$$ so that $$F(x+d)=F(x)+F(d). \tag{1}\label{1}$$ Similarly, \eqref{1} holds for all real $x<0$ and all $d\in D$. Therefore and because $F$ is continuous, \eqref{1} holds for real $x$ and all real $d$. So, $F(x)=cx$ for some real $c$ and all real $x$. So, $f$, being an a.e. derivative of the absolutely continuous function $F$, equals $c$ a.e. $\quad\Box$

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    $\begingroup$ Nice argument; note that there's no need for the second definition of $F(x)$ since $\int_0^x f(t)\,dt$ is still well defined when $x<0$. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 7 at 7:40
  • $\begingroup$ @GregMartin : Thank you for your comment. How is it well defined, if not as in this answer? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 7 at 12:52
  • $\begingroup$ For Riemann integrals the definition is identical (it just happens that $\Delta x < 0$ in the Riemann sums). Lebesgue integrals are typically taken over sets rather than oriented sets. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 7 at 17:29
  • $\begingroup$ @GregMartin : In this case, $f$ may not be Riemann integrable. So, unfortunately, I still don't see how the definition for $x<0$ can be avoided. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 9 at 2:25
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Yes. Suppose that $f(x)$ is not a.e. constant. Then there is some subset $X$ of $\mathbb{R}$ such that $A:=f^{-1}(X)$ has positive measure but not full measure (we can take $X=(-\infty,x]$ for some adequate $x\in\mathbb{R}$).

Note that for all $d\in D$, $\mu(A\mathbin\Delta(A-d))=0$. Also, as $A$ and $\mathbb{R}\setminus A$ have positive measure, by the Lebesgue density theorem there are two points $x,y$ such that, for some small value of $\varepsilon$, $\mu(A\cap(x-\varepsilon,x+\varepsilon))>1.5\varepsilon$ and $\mu(A\cap(y-\varepsilon,y+\varepsilon))<0.5\varepsilon$.

However, there is a sequence $(d_n)_n$ in $D$ such that $x+d_n\to y$. And for all $n$ we have $$\mu(A\cap(x+d_n-\varepsilon,x+d_n+\varepsilon))=\mu((A-d_n)\cap(x-\varepsilon,x+\varepsilon))$$ $$=\mu(A\cap(x-\varepsilon,x+\varepsilon))>1.5\varepsilon.$$

Thus, $\mu(A\cap(y-\varepsilon,y+\varepsilon))=\lim_{n\to\infty}\mu(A\cap(x+d_n-\varepsilon,x+d_n+\varepsilon))\geq1.5\varepsilon$, a contradiction.

Edit: It seems this argument works more generally, e.g. if $G$ is a locally compact group with $\sigma$-finite Haar measure and a measurable function $f:G\to\mathbb{R}$ satisfies that for all $d$ in some subset $D$ dense in $G$ we have $f(dx)=f(x)$ a.e., then $f$ is a.e. constant. To use the argument above in the general case one would need to use some version of the Lebesgue density theorem for locally compact groups, see e.g. Theorem A in the article "Three Results for Locally Compact Groups Connected with the Haar Measure Density", by Mueller.

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Start as in Iosif's answer and observe that it suffices to discuss the case when $f$ is bounded. Then $f$ is locally integrable, so defines a distribution $f\in\mathcal D'$. The distributional derivative may be computed as $f'=\lim_{h\to 0} (f(x+h)-f(x))/h$, with the limit taken in $\mathcal D'$ (that is, we have convergence in $\mathbb C$ after applying both sides to an arbitrary test function). By taking it along a sequence $h\in D$, we see that $f'=0$, hence $f=c$.

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