On the Linear Dependence of a Finite Set of Additive Functions

Abstract

In this note we prove the following: Let n ≥ 2 be a fixed integer. A system of additive functions ${A_{1},A_{2},\ldots,A_{n}:\mathbb{R} \to\mathbb{R}}$ is linearly dependent (as elements of the ${\mathbb{R}}$ vector space ${\mathbb{R}^{\mathbb{R}}}$), if and only if, there exists an indefinite quadratic form ${Q:\mathbb{R}^{n}\to\mathbb{R} }$ such that ${Q(A_{1}(x),A_{2}(x),\ldots,A_{n}(x))\geq 0}$ or ${Q(A_{1}(x),A_{2}(x),\ldots,A_{n}(x))\leq 0}$ holds for all ${x\in\mathbb{R}}$ .