W.L. Putnam



B. Poonen



N. Elkies



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Putnam Seminar
3:00--3:50pm, M
Fall, 2009
 Instructor: Dr. Sungkon Chang
office: UH276
Office hours: M--F, 11:00-11:50am
phone: 344-2889
Announcements
  • Set 5 (Final)
  • The solution for the problem about the Fibonacci sequence in Set 2 is completed here.
  • My ideas on some problems in Set I are available via the link at the right side of this page. (Sep 15, 11am).
  • Welcome! We began this year's Putnam Seminar on Aug 31, meeting every Monday, at UH 107, at 3pm. All faculty members are invited to attend the seminar, or to participate in helping our students by sending us ideas/suggestions about the problems we are working on. You may write a hand-written note about your hint/ideas/suggestions on a piece of paper, and put it in Sungkon's mailbox. The students will access them via this website when they need some help. The first set is found at the right side of this page.
       We have two continuing students, Scott King and Danny Holland, and one new student William Nathan Hack. They will compete in this year's William L. Putnam Mathematical Competition on December 5, 2009. Given below are some announcements for participating students.
  • How to do your best:
    1. Understand the problem using examples.
    2. If a certain method you tried does not seem to work, explain why you think so.
    3. If a certain method you are about to try seems to work, explain why you think so.
    4. If a certain method seems to work but you were unable to finish, neatly summarize what you have so far.
    5. Try to write down a series of statements which you think it's true, and lead to a solution.
    6. Do not do all of the above one hour before the seminar, but spread it over the entire week.
    7. At some point, think outside the box.
    8. If you got nothing, just work out more examples or execute some brute force calculations.

    Summary: Do something about it!
  • Submitting hw is not required, but you may turn them in, and I will be happy to read and comment on your solutions. Other participating faculty members are welcome to share ideas with others; please, write it down on a piece of paper, and put it in my box, and I will upload it here as scanned images. Remember that the joy of solving problems are maximized when the crucial ideas are formed by the solver. I encourage you to do your best, first, on forming solid ideas. Then, you may consult someone else's here if you feel you need one.
  • Putnam Seminar 2008
Problem Sets: I,II,III,
IV,V
Seminar Notes
Ideas: I
Annoucements
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