International Math Olympiad 2014 results are in! (India fails again)

[Edison Chen]

Edison, are these probs from this yr's math olympiad?

Yes, they are, you can download them from the olympiad website.

 

[M_Saint]

I agree, the math in the general GRE test is very simple.

Try the math subject GRE. GRE Subject Tests: Mathematics

Definitely not as hard as math Olympiad but if you could score perfect on that test, then you likely know everything about undergraduate math for a math major.

I agree, the math in the general GRE test is very simple.

Try the math subject GRE. GRE Subject Tests: Mathematics

Definitely not as hard as math Olympiad but if you could score perfect on that test, then you likely know everything about undergraduate math for a math.

Yeah! GRE subject tests are very challenging IMO.

 

[IsaacNewton]

Also this is the list for most prominent awards in Mathematics around the world.

Wolf Prize in Mathematics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abel Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fields Medal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By seeing the list I think Chinese are training students specifically for IMO. Which in my opinion is not a good idea.

China did not start seriously training until post Mao era, when it became clear that they were a rising power.

I won't be surprised if within 10-15 years, Chinese mathematicians will start winning all the prizes. Most of the foreign PhD math students in America are from China, and from what I see, they are all very brilliant.

Keep in mind that the Russia was considerably behind Europe in mathematics, but Soviet mathematics is excellent, infact, 1/4 of the math/cs/engineering/physics professors in the US are from the former soviet union. The soviets achieved this through intense training for IMO.

 

[mahesh.]

Lots of the participants who have won a Fields Medal or EMS Prize are from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. China only started competing at the IMO in 1985. There's often a time lag between making a significant contribution to mathematics and receiving an award for it. Of course, there are also many notable tenured mathematicians who will never receive a Fields Medal or EMS Prize. Those awards are not the only measure of success.

While what you said might be true, I still think Chinese education is not as good as American and European countries. I mean I met some Chinese students here in USA and often they complain about lack of thinking process in school level.

 

[Kloitra]

View attachment 38455

Anyone on PDF can solve these problems?

I can give rough answers for first two -

 

[IsaacNewton]

I can give rough answers for first two -
View attachment 38456

Sorry but your answer is incorrect.

The sequence a_n is arbitrary, so you can't assume a_0 = 0, a_1 = 1, ect.

You have to prove that for any arbitrary strictly monotonically increasing sequence of positive integers, there exists a natural number n>1, such that ... ect

Dude I scored perfect in GRE very easily and I am only an average Indian student. I didnt even pass in distinction in my undergrad.

Which GRE test are you talking about.

There is general test (I assume this is the one you took)
and a Math subject test (strictly for people entering Math PhD programs)

 

[mahesh.]

Keep in mind that the Russia was considerably behind Europe in mathematics, but Soviet mathematics is excellent, infact, 1/4 of the math/cs/engineering/physics professors in the US are from the former soviet union. The soviets achieved this through intense training for IMO.

I can give rough answers for first two -
View attachment 38456

Doesnt work for n=2

Sorry but your answer is incorrect.

The sequence a_n is arbitrary, so you can't assume a_0 = 0, a_1 = 1, ect.

You have to prove that for any arbitrary strictly monotonically increasing sequence of positive integers, there exists a natural number n>1, such that ... ect



Which GRE test are you talking about.

There is general test (I assume this is the one you took)
and a Math subject test (strictly for people entering Math PhD programs)

Sorry I was talking about the first one.

 

[Kloitra]

Sorry but your answer is incorrect.

The sequence a_n is arbitrary, so you can't assume a_0 = 0, a_1 = 1, ect.

You have to prove that for any arbitrary strictly monotonically increasing sequence of positive integers, there exists a natural number n>1, such that ... ect

I was under assumption that n is unique. May be I interpreted question wrong, but I already spent more time on maths than what is recommended on a weekend!

 

[M_Saint]

Yes, they are, you can download them from the olympiad website.

Then the top notch mathematicians of any era have to be trained long time to win in math olympiad.

 

[Kloitra]

Doesnt work for n=2

Would not work for any other n. It is unique.

 

[IsaacNewton]

While what you said might be true, I still think Chinese education is not as good as American and European countries. I mean I met some Chinese students here in USA and often they complain about lack of thinking process in school level.

Depends, American primary and secondary education is significantly behind other countries (cite: PISA scores).

America universities are the best in the world in terms of research, papers published, ect, but that is because we imported a lot of brilliant people when the Soviet Union fell.

Right now, we are importing Chinese scientists (and Indians as well) into American universities.

 

[Wagner]

Depends, American primary and secondary education is significantly behind other countries (cite: PISA scores).

America universities are the best in the world in terms of research, papers published, ect, but that is because we imported a lot of brilliant people when the Soviet Union fell.

Right now, we are importing Chinese scientists (and Indians as well) into American universities.

Why do you think India's performance is so mediocre at the IMO?

 

[Icewolf]

Is it any surprise? Indians are talk big do little

 

[ephone]

Hungary produced a lot of famous scientists and it is very strong traditionally in math.

Romania, used to be part of soviet bloc, is also very strong in math and science as well.

Well, india's case is really puzzling.

I suppose india education department should do something like what we do in China: those who do well in IMO get free admission in any top institutions at India.

#1 People's Republic of China
#2 United States of America
#3 Taiwan
#4 Russian Federation
#5 Japan
#6 Ukraine
#7 Republic of Korea
#8 Singapore
#9 Canada
#10 Vietnam
#11 Australia / Romania
#13 Netherlands
#14 Democratic People's Republic of Korea
#15 Hungary
#16 Germany
#17 Turkey
#18 Hong Kong / Israel
#20 United Kingdom
#21 Islamic Republic of Iran / Thailand
#23 Kazakhstan / Malaysia / Serbia
#26 Italy / Mexico / Poland
#29 Croatia / Indonesia / Peru
#32 Czech Republic
#33 Portugal
#34 Belarus / Brazil / Slovakia
#37 Bulgaria
#38 Switzerland
#39 Armenia / India
#41 Greece
#42 Lithuania
#43 Saudi Arabia
#44 Mongolia
#45 France / Philippines
#47 Georgia
#48 Republic of Moldova / Spain
#50 Tajikistan
#51 Austria / Bosnia and Herzegovina
#53 Bangladesh
#54 Colombia / Sri Lanka
#56 Argentina
#57 Sweden
#58 Slovenia
#59 Belgium
#60 New Zealand
#61 Azerbaijan
#62 Macau
#63 Costa Rica
#64 Ireland / South Africa
#66 Latvia
#67 Denmark / The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
#69 Norway
#70 Finland
#71 Paraguay
#72 Cyprus / Syria
#74 Estonia
#75 Pakistan
#76 Iceland
#77 Albania
#78 Morocco
#79 Luxembourg
#80 Tunisia
#81 Chile
#82 Nigeria / Trinidad and Tobago
#84 Uruguay
#85 Kyrgyzstan
#86 Venezuela
#87 Liechtenstein
#88 Montenegro
#89 Burkina Faso / Ecuador
#91 Puerto Rico
#92 Cuba
#93 Panama
#94 Bolivia / Uganda / Zimbabwe
#97 Ivory Coast
#98 Benin
#99 Tanzania
#100 Gambia
#101 Ghana

You would think that with a population of 1 billion+ people, India would be able to assemble a formidable math team that could place higher than 39. Yes, 39. Right next to Armenia.

Instead not only does India get slaughtered by China, the Koreas, Japan, Vietnam, even tiny Singapore and Hong Kong, but it's also consistently outperformed by much smaller European countries like Hungary, Romania, and Serbia. Even a modest-sized Third World country like Peru has a better IMO track record in recent years than India.

Where are all these Indian mathematical geniuses we hear so much about?

Trust me, those students indeed have talents at first. Preparation will help but will not make sure you win at IMO.

BTW, they have never prepared for that almost their entire lives. Do not try to find excuses for your own failure. Many of those students excel not only in Math, but Chemistry, Physics and etc.

I have university classmates who are qualified for more than one team, e.g. IMO, IPHO or IOI.. However, due to time conflict, they can only choose one.

In addition, their lives are quite colorful as well, not as dull as you have expected.

Uh, as I said, there's a difference between finding students talented enough and finding students who have prepared specifically for such an olympiad almost their entire lives, as happens in China and the US.

I have also met a lot of indian students who talk big but in reality can do little.

While what you said might be true, I still think Chinese education is not as good as American and European countries. I mean I met some Chinese students here in USA and often they complain about lack of thinking process in school level.

 

[ephone]

Another reason is that not many IMO gold medalists in China keep working in math field but rather transfer to some other fields with more promising monetary offers, e.g. economics, finance, investment, computer science and etc...

Working on Math, Physics in high school seems to be cool. However, China does lack environment and support for continuous research into such fields, though she may do a better job supporting such recent years.

I saw the article. There is a list for IMO participants have gone on to become notable mathematicians. There is not even a single Chinese participant. Any reason..?