Retrospective of the IMO 2015-56th INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD -THAILAND

The fragrant white jasmine garland draped around the collar is a distinctive symbol of ‘Thai hospitality’ declaring IMO 2015 participants’ arrival to Thailand. Our attentive local guides welcomed the teams right at Chiang Mai Airport arrival gate and escorted them to the traditionally lavish and pleasant Pang Suan Kaew Hotel. The formal opening ceremony at Chiang Mai university kindled a grand overture to the vigorously intensive competitions days followed by eye-opening excursions to the most popular sites in Chiang Mai.

57th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)-HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (HKUST) CAMPUS

What explains the Chinese domination at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) ?

The direct reason is that the China team has the best students who are really good at solving math contest problems in the world. But how this team if formed deserves more explanations. 

1. Motivation

A student who could become a team member for IMO in China is not just an honor: the student will receive all top universities' admissions, money awards, tuition waiver, and tremendous media reports. 

There are several rounds before National Mathematical Olympiad (Winter Camp), so the students who enter the NMO are really good at math, I mean insanely good. 

In China, if you could win a National Mathematical Olympiad medal, you are guaranteed to have the admission of the best universities in China. After National Mathematical Olympiad, the China team are formed by selecting the best students in National Mathematical Olympiad. At the same time, the professors from the best universities in China come to the camp and start talking with the students who participates the National Mathematical Olympiad to persuade them to accept the admissions. So, all China team members in China have their college admissions at that time, and in the next several months, the only thing for them to do is to prepare the contest. 

The policy may be changed recently. But in last 20 years, this policy is the motivation of so many kids working on mathematical olympics, also other similar olympics contests. Because you just need to work on one or two subjects, and if you are good, you do not need to take Gaokao (Chinese university entrance exams). It is the only way for kids who are really good at some subjects but also bad at the others to get admissions to top universities. In Gaokao, there is no way for such kids to survive, because there will be at lease 5 subjects exams.  

2. Population

Like what Jessica Su says, China has a large population, which means the absolute number of high intelligent kids is also large. And Chinese families pay more attentions to their children's education. What Jessica Su may not know: the training of the kids for participating IMO in China typically starts at  middle schools, sometimes may even starts at elementary schools. 

3. Training

There are many kids who are trained in Math at different stage of education in China. If you go to a bookstore in China, go to the education section, you will find more than 100 books are just written for training students on mathematical contests. And in high schools or middle schools, especially the best ones, there are teachers who are hired just for teaching students how to solve the problems in such contests. If the kid is smart enough and the teacher believe the kid will win a medal, the kid is allowed to just work on the contest, and no need to attend any other classes.  The bad side is obvious, the kid is only trained in one subject, and all other subject are completely omitted, which in some level, affect the education of the kid. Even in middle school, some kids are allowed to spend most of the time to work on one or two subjects, because typically the best high schools are also give admissions to the kids who scored well in mathematical contests at middle school level.

LINK FULL PAPER:

https://www.quora.com/What-explains-the-Chinese-domination-at-the-IMO

Euclidean Geometry in Mathematical Olympiads Evan Chen

DEMO GOOGLE BOOK


LINK
https://books.google.com.br/books?id=47UaDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&hl=pt-BR&pg=PR8#v=onepage&q&f=true

TEAM BRAZIL DE MATEMATICAS 57th International Mathematical Olympiad - IMO 2016-“A corrida do ouro”, por Monica Weinberg (Revista Veja, 29/06/2016)

Team Brazil: Em pé, da esq. para a dir., Andrey Jhen Shan, Pedro Henrique Sacramento e Daniel Braga. Agachados, da esq. para a dir., George Lucas Alencar, Gabriel Vercelli e João César Vargas. Depois de passarem por uma peneira estreita, eles se preparam para brigar pelo pódio com 600 jovens do mundo inteiro naquela que é considerada a olimpíada das olimpíadas.

Quatro alunos do Colégio Etapa integram a equipe de seis estudantes selecionados para representar o Brasil na 57ª Olimpíada Internacional de Matemática (IMO, sigla em inglês), que será realizada em Hong Kong no período de 6 a 16 de julho: Andrey Jhen Shan Chen, João César Campos Vargas, Pedro Henrique Sacramento de Oliveira, os três da 3ª série do Ensino Médio, e Gabriel Toneatti Vercelli, que se formou em 2015 e no segundo semestre ingressará na Universidade Princeton, nos Estados Unidos. Veja matéria na íntegra da Revista Veja, edição 2484 (29 de junho de 2016), sobre a equipe olímpica que representará o país na IMO: Você não gosta de matemática? Pois existe uma turma que não só adora como está estudando o dia inteiro para ganhar uma medalha na olimpíada mundial da disciplina.

O time da foto ao lado é escolado. Desde os 12, 13 anos foi apresentado no colégio às olimpíadas – não só de matemática, mas de química, física, computação – junto com centenas de milhares de alunos. Grande parte dessa multidão seguiu outro rumo na vida. Eles, não. Às vezes empurrados pela família, outras por um professor além da curva, aos poucos foram afiando o raciocínio lógico e especializando-se em competir. Primeiro, brigaram pelo pódio nacional na Olimpíada Brasileira de Matemática (OBM); depois, enfrentaram disputas internacionais. A IMO é a meca para esses meninos. “Para vencer lá, você precisa ter boas ideias. Nada a ver com a matemática da escola”, diz o cearense Daniel Braga, 18 anos, com sete de estrada olímpica e passaporte na mão para muito em breve estudar computação na Universidade de Princeton, nos Estados Unidos.

 Nas primeiras posições, figuram chineses (exemplos de esforço obsessivo), russos (com sua tradição de estímulo ao pensamento abstrato) e americanos (que aliam a competição à cultura do estudo).

 O Brasil vem na turma de trás, mas avançando: em 2010, ficou em 35º lugar. Em 2015, foi 22º, atrás apenas do Peru e do México entre os países da América Latina. Isso é o resultado de um investimento contínuo nas olimpíadas brasileiras, organizadas pelo Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada (Impa). Elas têm o mérito de garimpar talentos e de incentivá-los a cultivar o pendor para os números – algo tão raro quanto essencial em um país conhecido por se arrastar entre os últimos. “A matemática exigida numa olimpíada não é a fórmula maçante, mas a que desafia o raciocínio lógico”, diz Edmilson Motta, diretor pedagógico do Colégio Etapa, em São Paulo, e técnico veterano. Treinador da equipe brasileira, Motta tem no currículo 22 anos de IMO e coordenará sua próxima edição, em 2017, no Rio de Janeiro.

FONTE ORIGINAL DO ARTIGO COMPLETO:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/col%C3%A9gio-etapa/a-corrida-do-ouro-por-monica-weinberg-revista-veja-29062016/1150287138367027

String Theory Ph.D. Barton Zwiebach Lecture 1

Barton Zwiebach (born October 4, 1954) is a string theorist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, born in Lima, Perú. His undergraduate work was in Electrical Engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Peru, from which he graduated in 1977. His graduate work was in physics at the California Institute of Technology. Zwiebach obtained his Ph.D. in 1983, working under the supervision of Murray Gell-Mann. He has held postdoctoral positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and at MIT, where he became an assistant professor of physics in 1987, and a permanent member of the faculty in 1994. He is one of the world's leading experts in string field theory. He wrote the textbook, "A First Course in String Theory" (2004, ISBN 0-521-83143-1), meant for undergraduates.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS MATHEMATICAL COMPETIONS BALTIC WAY 2013

LINK ORIGINAL EN LA WEB
http://www.bw2013.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/lu_portal/projekti/baltic_way_2013/BW_problems_solutions/PROBSOLS.pdf

Conferencia "Mecánica Cuántica, todavía sorprende" del Ph.D. Barton Zwiebach - UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE INGENIERIA-LIMA -PERÚ.

Conferencia "Mecánica Cuántica, todavía sorprende" del Ph.D. Barton Zwiebach - UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE INGENIERIA-LIMA -PERÚ. PROGRAMA ENCUENTRO CON LA CIENCIA-DR. MODESTO MONTOYA-LIMA-PERÚ.