The William
Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is a national mathematics
competition
for undergraduates sponsored by the MAthematical Association of Maerica
(MAA). Given each year on the first Saturday of December,
it is taken by
more than 3000 undergraduates from more than 450 colleges and
universities.
The problems are difficult (6 hours, 12 problems) and require ingenuity as well
as technical competence.
The MAA's
description of the competition reads:
The
examination will be constructed to test originality
as well as technical competence. It is expected that the contestant
will
be familiar with the formal theories embodied in undergraduate
mathematics.
It is assumed that such training, designed for mathematics and physical
science majors, will include somewhat more sophisticated mathematical
concepts
than is the case in minimal courses. Thus the differential equations
course
is presumed to include some references to qualitative existence
theorems
and subtleties beyond the routine solution devices. Questions will be
included
that cut across the bounds of various disciplines, and self-contained
questions
that do not fit into any of the usual categories may be included. It
will
be assumed that the contestant has acquired a familiarity with the body
of mathematical lore commonly discussed in mathematics clubs or in
courses
with such titles as “survey of the foundations of mathematics.”
It is also expected that the self-contained questions involving
elementary
concepts from group theory, set theory, graph theory, lattice theory,
number
theory, and cardinal arithmetic will not be entirely foreign to the
contestant’s
experience.
Generally,
the exam targets clever problem
solving ability rather than vast knowledge of
mathematics.
Any number of students can take the exam as
individuals,
but
each year three of the students are designated before the competition
as the school's team. (The team score is the sum of the
individual scores; team members do not collaborate during the
competition.)
A
student
may officially take the Putnam Exam at most four times before receiving
a bachelor's degree.
During recent
years,
Washington
University's performance on this exam has been very good. Since
1976, ur
team
has placed among the top ten nationally in 19 of the past 32
competitions, and
in the top five for 11 of those years. In the 16 competitions
1989-2007,
26 different WU students have ranked in the top 100 a total
of 47
times.
(Of those times, 4 students were among the top 10 scorers nationally.)
Copies
of past examinations are available. Practice
problem
sessions
are held weekly in the late afternoon during the fall semester. If you want more
information,
see the information posted on the Undergraduate Web Page, or contact Professor
Richard Rochberg. Also watch for signs
about
the practices near the Undergraduate Math Lounge.
Also, each
Spring
(late March or early April) the Department sends one or more teams to
compete in the Missouri
MAA Collegiate Math Competition. WU teams have won first or second
place (sometimes both: more than one team is allowed!) in each year
since
the contest began in 1996. Two 3-member teams placed first and
second in
the competition in 2008, held at the Missouri State University in
Springfield.
The
next Missouri
MAA Collegiate Mathematics Competition will be held on Thursday evening/Friday morning
April 16-17, 2009, on
the
campus of Truman State
University in Kirksville, MO. The Department will cover
the
teams’ expenses. Mark
your calendars and contact Professor
Ron Freiwald if you’re interested.