The Math Major Vol. 2, No. 11

The Math Major

CSU Fresno Mathematics Department

Vol 2. No. 11

Putnam Results

The Fifty-Eighth annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition was held on December 6, 1997. There were a total of 2510 contestants representing 419 colleges and universities in Canada and the United States. The four CSU Fresno contestants were Anar Ahmedov, Matthew Bourez, David Horn and Bryan Sheldon. The math department would like to express its sincere appreciation to these four students for accepting the Putnam challenge. The top scoring Fresno contestant was Anar Ahmedov. Anar will receive a $100 first place award. The second highest Fresno score was a tie between Matthew Bourez and David Horn. Matthew and David will share a $75 second place award.

Open Meetings for Math Students

As part of the Department of Mathematics Review (done every 5 years) there will be two open meetings for mathematics students to meet with the review panel. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss the undergraduate and graduate programs. The open meeting with undergraduate students will be Monday March 23, 3 - 4 pm, Peters Building Room 390. The meeting for graduate students will be the same day and room at 4 - 5 pm.

Math Club Film Series

The Math Club sponsors a video film showing every other tuesday. Everyone is cordially invited to attend.

Date: Tuesday, March 24, 5 pm
Film: "Fermat's Last Theorem"
Location: PB 428
Description:

A feature length video of the Fermat Fest held July 28, 1993 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco celebrating Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Included are interviews with Andrew Wiles, Robert Osserman, Lenore Blum, Karl Rubin, Ken Ribet, John Conway and Lee Dembart. Songs by Tom Lehrer ("There's a Delta for Every Epsilon" and "That's Mathematics").

The Next Fermat's Last Theorem?

With Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (FLT), the mathematical community has been searching for a problem that might take its place. (That is, a compelling problem that is simple to state but difficult to prove.) Enter Dallas banker Andrew Beal. Beal is an amateur mathematics enthusiast who has come upon a question that he feels is the rightful heir to FLT and is willing to put up a substantial cash prize for its solution. The problem, now called Beal's Conjecture (BC), would be a generalization of FLT. BC says: if A^x + B^y = C^z then A, B and C have a common factor. (Here all the letters represent whole numbers, with x, y, and z bigger than 2.)

To spur mathematicians to solve the problem, Beal has offered a prize of $5,000 for its solution. The prize will increase by $5,000 every year up to the amount of $50,000. (Sharpen your pencils!) For more information on Beal's Conjecture, consult the American Mathematical Society's web page.

Job Postings

Attention students. There is an updated posting of available jobs on the bulletin board outside of the Mathematics Department Office (Peters Building 381).

Web Watch: Take a Chance

Are you looking for good examples of mathematics in the real world? Try the Chance News web site. There you will find many examples of how mathematics can say something about current events (mostly from probability and statistics). In the latest issue there is

How likely is it that a meteorite will strike an airline in flight?
Modeling the climate (both past and present) with computers.
Controversial sampling techniques proposed for the U. S. census.
A misuse of statistics in the gun control debate.
Why should a discussion of mammograms be controversial?
Can we estimate the probability of life on other planets?

Material for the Chance news is drawn from major newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, and science magazines such as Science, Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Problem Corner

Problem 2.10: We can write 1 = 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/6. Write 2 as the sum of no more than twelve distinct (no two the same) fractions in the form 1/N where N can be any whole number larger than 1 but less than 30.

Solution to Problem 2.10: (Solution by Lynday Ng and Okaey Ukachukwu.)

2 = 1/2+ 1/3+ 1/4 + 1/5 +1/6+ 1/8 + 1/9 + 1/10 + 1/15+ 1/18 + 1/20 + 1/24.

Correct solutions were received from Leslie Hatcher, David Heib, Froso Michael, Lynday Ng and Okaey Ukachukwu. There was one incorrect solution turned in.

New Problem

Problem 2.11: (Due Thursday March 26 by 4 pm) The position of a ball on a circular billiard board is given. Describe the triangular path the ball follows in order to pass through its original position after touching the cushion twice.

Solutions may be delivered to the math department office (for Dr. Cusick) or by e-mail at larryc@csufresno.edu. There is a $75 dollar first prize and a $50 second prize to be awarded at the end of the semester to the student(s) who submit the most correct solutions.