Online Events
Online Math
Introduction
Galileo is oft quoted as having said, "Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe."
All engineers, regardless of their branch or location, speak that very language.
Online Math Events are all about exploring mathematics and testing the participant\'s ingenuity and creativity at solving problems. Mathematics has always been considered the sacred pattern which describes all of the wonders of nature. We hope to carry on that tradition and invite you to take part in these events and enjoy "The Queen of the Sciences".
To cater to the hardcore mathematician in you we present the Online Math Contest.
For those of you inclined towards programming and getting your hands dirty, we present the Online Math Coding Competition.
Event Format
- Online Math Contest
There will be 4-5 sets of problems. Each set will comprised of as many questions with simple but elegant solutions. The problem sets will be posted at regular intervals, starting from the end of August or early September. The participants can attempt these problems and post their solutions via e-mail or send in a hard copy.
Each set will be based on a particular theme, which could be an idea, an approach or a tool to solve the problems, and not on the problem domains. At the beginning of each set will be a small introduction to the theme, with small examples for elucidation. The emphasis will be on how some idea can potentially cut across established practices or methods in mathematics. Though the problems will be challenging to the mathematically inclined, the focus will remain on familiarity and understanding of mathematical rigour/ proofs.
- Online Math Coding Competition
There will be 10-15 questions of varying difficulty chosen from a variety of mathematical topics. These questions essentially have some mathematics behind them and will usually be calculative in nature. Hence they will require one to code (in some fixed subset of languages) in order to arrive at the final answer. Writing the code will require ingenuity and some knowledge of efficient algorithms (or techniques).
Please note here that the focus will be on the mathematical techniques and theory and not on the programming aspect of it.
Rules and Regulations
- Online Math Contest
- This is an individual event. No prior registration is necessary.
- The problem sets will be posted on the web site. Solutions may be mailed to the coordinators, or presented in hard copy.
- The solutions will be graded based on the correctness, clarity and elegance.
Further rules will be posted along with the problem sets. Keep checking the web-site for updates.
- Online Math Coding Competition
- This is an individual event. Registrations will open a few weeks before the event, and all participants must register themselves.
- Languages to be submitted in are (currently) C, C++. We might be adding more languages to the list.
- Detailed rules and regulations will be up when the registrations open, so do check back.
FAQ
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Online Math Contest
- What is the focus of the event?
The event is meant to test your \"mathematical thinking\" and focusses on a number of elementary (but not run-of-the-mill) problems, for which you are expected to come up with complete and elegant solutions. Each problem set will revolve around on some common theme, like a problem solving strategy or a useful tool.
- What will be the level of problems that I am expected to solve?
The problems will typically be simple to understand, but will surely contain some \"tricks\" to challenge your brains. Roughly speaking, the problems will be similar to the various Olympiads (mainly the IMO) in spirit, but easier. We plan to provide sufficient background to solve the problems, so you will not be totally in the dark for most of the problems.
- What topics will the problem sets cover?
You will need to know a little bit of geometry, number theory, algebra, combinatorics and inequalities. Also, do brush up your calculus and probability! We plan to include aspects of both pure and applied mathematics in our sets to strike a balance.
- When will be the problem sets be posted?
The sets will be posted at regular intervals starting some time late August (or early September). Keep checking the web site for updates.
- How/When do I submit my solutions?
Your solutions may be hand-written or type-set using LaTeX (believe us, that\'s a nice experience!). The solutions need to reach us by the deadlines specified in the corresponding problem. The official solution and other good solutions provided by the participants will be put up in the web-site.
- Online Math Coding Competition
- How is this different from the programming contest at Shaastra?
Well for starters, the participants here are expected have some mathematical background, although the problems posed are aimed at both the demographics. But more importantly, we are testing out the mathematics and not coding skills so we will not be running extensive test cases and checking for boundary values. Rather, the coding aspect is to aid you in computations and perhaps arrive at shorter, and more ingenious solutions to the problems and does not constitute the heart of the competition.
- What am I expected to submit?
Questions will usually expect either formulaes or numerical answers, so we will expect you to solve the problem and submit the solution. In order to counter plagiarism, we will also be asking any code that aided you in calculations or arriving at the final result. So make sure that along with the correct answer you also convince the co-ordinators that you indeed arrived at the solution with a brief explanation and supporting code (if any).
- How long will the contest be?
We haven\'t fixed the time yet, but it can be approx 8-12 hrs long along the lines of the programming contest.
- I am a mathematics student and do not know how to program in C or C++. Will this event be too tough for me?
As far as we can, we will try to make the solutions depend very little on actual extensive coding. We will try to support languages like Matlab (depending on resources) so that a larger audience is involved. But more importantly if you arrive at the answer, or a technique let us know. Sometimes we might be impressed with a neat trick and a correct formula and award points suitably. As mentioned earlier, the focus is more on solving the problem rather than coding it to get the numerical answer. Even a nice algorithm will fetch points.
