Finding an inverse for a function with floor I have the function $f:\mathbb{N}\to \mathbb{N}$ defined by
$$f(i) = i\cdot a + \left\lfloor\frac{i\cdot a}{b-1}\right\rfloor$$
for integers $a,b\geq2$, and I'm trying to find an inverse, so that given $f(i)$ I will be able to extract $i$.
My best progress so far was rewriting as
$$\lfloor f(i)\rfloor = \left\lfloor i\cdot\frac{b\cdot a}{b-1}\right\rfloor$$
and then attempting to divide both sides by $b\cdot a / (b-1)$, which I thought I found a simple proof for, but was actually wrong, and the counter example of $\lfloor 1 \rfloor=\lfloor1\cdot 1.5\rfloor$. Now I'm stuck, not sure how to proceed (or if it's even possible). Any advice?
 A: Note that we can express
$$f(i)= \left\lfloor i\cdot\frac{b\cdot a}{b-1}\right\rfloor;$$
i.e. the floor function is unnecessary on the left hand side. More generally, we have a function
$$f(i) = \lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor$$
where $r > 1$. This makes for a strictly increasing function, as
$$f(n + 1) = \lfloor (n + 1) \cdot r \rfloor \ge \lfloor n \cdot r \rfloor + \lfloor r \rfloor \ge f(n) + 1 > f(n).$$
Therefore $f$ is injective, and hence it is invertible on its range (it won't be invertible more generally, unless $r = 1$). It also means we can find a left-inverse $g : \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$, that is, a function such that $g \circ f$ is the identity on $\mathbb{N}$ (but not necessarily $f \circ g$).
In particular, the following is such a $g$:
$$g : \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N} : i \mapsto \left\lceil\frac{i}{r}\right\rceil.$$
Suppose $i \in \mathbb{N}$. Then
$$(g \circ f)(i) = g(\lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor) = \left\lceil\frac{\lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor}{r}\right\rceil \le \left\lceil\frac{i \cdot r}{r}\right\rceil = i.$$
If $(g \circ f)(i) \le i - 1$, then
\begin{align*}\left\lceil\frac{\lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor}{r}\right\rceil \le i - 1 &\implies i - \left\lceil\frac{\lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor}{r}\right\rceil \ge 1 \\
&\implies i + \left\lfloor-\frac{\lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor}{r}\right\rfloor \ge 1 \\
&\implies \left\lfloor\frac{i \cdot r - \lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor}{r}\right\rfloor \ge 1 \\
&\implies {i \cdot r - \lfloor i \cdot r \rfloor} \ge r > 1,
\end{align*}
which is a contradiction. Hence $(g \circ f)(i) = i$ for all $i$.
