{"id":2409,"date":"2025-01-09T13:36:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T21:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2025-01-09T13:40:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T21:40:28","slug":"recruitment-advertisements-for-the-2024-putnam-competition-at-san-francisco-state-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/2025\/01\/recruitment-advertisements-for-the-2024-putnam-competition-at-san-francisco-state-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Recruitment Advertisements for the 2024 Putnam Competition at San Francisco State University"},"content":{"rendered":"

From<\/strong>: Zack M Davis <zmd@sfsu.edu<\/em>>
\nSent<\/strong>: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 5:02 PM
\nTo<\/strong>: math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu <math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu<\/em>>
\nSubject<\/strong>: Putnam prep session for eternal mathematical glory, 4 p.m. Thu 19 September<\/p>\n

One must make a distinction however: when dragged into prominence by half-poets, the result is not poetry, nor till the poets among us can be \u201cliteralists of the imagination\u201d\u2014above insolence and triviality and can present for inspection \u201cimaginary gardens with real toads in them\u201d, shall we have it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand the raw material of poetry in all its rawness, and that which is on the other hand genuine, then you are interested in poetry.<\/p>\n

\u2014Marianne Moore<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the renowned annual math examination for undergraduates with cash prizes for top performers, is to be held on Saturday, 7 December 2024. Registration details will be available soon, but for now, potential competitors are invited to come to an initial preparatory\/training session<\/strong> at 4 p.m. on Thursday, September 19th<\/strong> in the math department conference room TH 935<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To get the most out of it, try struggling with some of the problems from the 2010 competition<\/a> beforehand: we\u2019ll discuss solutions and strategies together at the meeting. (The problems are numbered A1\u2013A6 and B1\u2013B6, corresponding to the morning and afternoon sessions of the competition; the earlier-numbered problems within each are supposed to be easier.) If you can\u2019t make this time but are interested in the endeavor, I want to hear from you: email me at zmd@sfsu.edu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFREQUENTLY\u201d ASKED QUESTIONS<\/h2>\n

Q:<\/strong> Did you say \u201ccash prizes\u201d? I\u2019m pretty good at math: I got an \u201cA\u201d in MATH 228. Should I participate in hopes of winning?<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> No. No one who goes to SF State is going to win any prizes. The Putnam is an elite competition designed to test the abilities of the finest young mathematical minds in the world. The graders are notoriously stingy about awarding partial credit: the median score is often zero points out of 120. Last year seems to have been a bit easier: the median score was 9.1<\/sup> Of the top sixteen scorers, thirteen went to MIT.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Wait, this sounds awful. I\u2019m already spending way too much of my life shuffling formul\u00e6 around just to keep up with my classes. You\u2019re asking me to spend even more of my precious time attempting insanely difficult problems, to prepare for a six-hour exam three months from now that I have no hope of doing well on, and it wouldn\u2019t even earn credit for my degree? Why would I do that?<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Because<\/em> it doesn\u2019t earn credit for your degree. The Putnam isn\u2019t an obedience test where a designated bureaucratic authority figure commands you to use a fixed set of methods to solve a fixed set of problems in exchange for a piece of paper with an \u201cA\u201d written on it. It\u2019s a challenge of your creativity, breadth of knowledge, and determination\u2014a Schelling point for those who demand the raw material of mathematics and that which is on the other hand genuine<\/a> to prove to ourselves and the world what we\u2019re capable of. If you\u2019re afraid of what you\u2019ll learn about yourself by trying, then don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

1<\/sup>: The Duke Research Blog<\/em> reports that<\/a> there were 3,857 competitors in 2023, and the official results<\/a> report that 2,200 contests scored higher than 9 and 1,610 scored higher than 10.<\/p>\n

\n

From<\/strong>: Zack M Davis <zmd@sfsu.edu<\/em>>
\nSent<\/strong>: Sunday, September 29, 2024 11:17 PM
\nTo<\/strong>: math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu <math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu<\/em>>
\nSubject<\/strong>: Putnam prep session #2 for eternal mathematical glory \u2026 and donuts, 2 p.m. Fri 4 October<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Goofusia,\u201d said Gallantina. \u201cDid you see this post on the math_majors list? Someone\u2019s trying to organize a team for the Putnam competition<\/a>\u2014here, at SFSU! There\u2019s going to be a prep session in Thornton 935 on Friday at 2 p.m.<\/strong> The organizer sounds really desperate\u2014there should be free donuts<\/strong>. Want to come?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraternal twins, the sisters looked so much alike that strangers who didn\u2019t know them often asked if they were identical. People who knew them for any length of time never asked.<\/p>\n

Goofusia grimaced. \u201cOh, God, is that that super-hard math competition that guys from MIT win every year, where the median score is zero?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, someone not from MIT won as recently as 2018<\/a>, and last year the median score was nine. But yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-huh. What school was the 2018 winner from?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, Harvard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll pass. You should, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon, it\u2019ll be fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGallantina, you don\u2019t know what fun is. You\u2019re so caught up in your delusional self-image of pro-sociality that you can\u2019t even notice what you actually enjoy.\u201d Goofusia spoke with a firm emphasis and cadence, \u201cI<\/em>, am learning math, in order to get grades, in order to get a degree, in order to get a job. So is everyone else in our major. So are you. That\u2019s the only possible reason\u2014the only human reason. You just can\u2019t admit it to yourself\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not true!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014and you\u2019re so fanatically devoted to maintaining your false self-image as some intrinsically motivated student of the cosmos that you\u2019re willing to torture yourself with more schoolwork that doesn\u2019t even benefit you<\/em>. You are not going to score points on the Putnam\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI might!\u201d said Gallantina steadfastly, suddenly turning away from three walls of the room to face the remaining one and looking past Goofusia as if to speak to someone else. \u201cWith dedication and practice, and with the help of all the lifelong friends I\u2019ll make in TH 935 at 2 p.m.<\/em> this Friday October fourth<\/strong>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpare me. What does prepping for an impossible exam even look like?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the idea is that before the meeting, I and others will prepare at home by trying problems from the 2011 competition<\/a> with however much time we choose to spare for the task, and then at the meeting, we\u2019ll compare answers and discuss the published solutions.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any of you losers even come up with any answers to compare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might! I\u2019ve already made some partial progress on the first problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell m\u2014\u201d Goofusia tried to say, but Gallantina had already begun to read:<\/p>\n

A1. Define a growing spiral<\/em> in the plane to be a sequence of points with integer coordinates P0 = (0, 0), P1, \u2026, Pn such that n \u2265 2 and:
\n\u2022 the directed line segments P0\u2013P1, P1\u2013P2, \u2026, P(n\u22121)\u2013Pn are in the successive coordinate directions east (for P0\u2013P1), north, west, south, east, etc<\/em>.;
\n\u2022 the lengths of these line segments are positive and strictly increasing.<\/p>\n

How many of the points (x, y) with integer coordinates 0 \u2264 x \u2264 2011, 0 \u2264 y \u2264 2011 cannot be the last point, Pn of any growing spiral?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTwo thousand and eleven?\u201d Goofusia asked disdainfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to work the competition year into one of the problem statements. I think it\u2019s cute,\u201d said Gallantina. \u201cAnyway, I started thinking about the minimal growing spiral\u2014one step east, two steps north, three steps west, &c<\/em>. The x-co\u00f6rdinate steps are 1, -3, 5, -7 \u2026, the y-co\u00f6rdinate steps are 2, -4, 6, -8 \u2026, the x-co\u00f6rdinate net endpoints are 1, -2, 3, -4, 5 \u2026 and the y-co\u00f6rdinate net endpoints are 2, -2, 4, -4, \u2026 There are more possible spirals besides the minimal one, of course, but we can already see there are patterns in what endpoints are possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re wasting your time,\u201d said Goofusia. \u201cPrecisely because the question asks about all possible growing spirals, you\u2019re not going to learn anything by examining particular cases. You can immediately see that any point with an x-co\u00f6rdinate less than the y-co\u00f6rdinate will do: just take x steps east and y steps north.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallantina was beaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWh\u2014what are you smiling at?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallantina nodded, still beaming.<\/p>\n

Goofusia scowled. \u201cWhatever,\u201d she said, and turned to leave, then stopped. \u201cSo \u2026 what\u2019s the answer?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallantina shrugged. \u201cWe haven\u2019t finished solving it yet. But if it turns out to be beyond us, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll tell us in TH 935 at 2 p.m.<\/em> this Friday October fourth<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goofusia shook her head. \u201cI couldn\u2019t possibly. I have an exam this week, and a lot of homework.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t specifically have anything else going on at 2 on Friday? They\u2019re notoriously hard problems, and everyone is busy. There\u2019d be no shame in showing up and eating a donut without having successfully solved anything at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I mean that\u2019s not who I am<\/em>. I\u2019m not like you<\/em>. I\u2019m a student at SF State, not\u2014not the cosmos!\u201d<\/p>\n

Goofusia left. Alone, Gallantina addressed the fourth wall again. \u201cIs that who you are?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From: Zack M Davis <zmd@sfsu.edu> Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 5:02 PM To: math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu <math_majors@lists.sfsu.edu> Subject: Putnam prep session for eternal mathematical glory, 4 p.m. Thu 19 September One must make a distinction however: when dragged into prominence by half-poets, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2409"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2413,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions\/2413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zackmdavis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}