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        riddles >> putnam exam (pure math) >> what exactly is this category for anyways?
        
(Message started by: william wu on Nov 3^rd, 2003, 6:14pm)

Title: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by william wu on Nov 3^rd, 2003, 6:14pm

I'm not sure anymore what criteria a problem must satisfy to belong in this section.

The criterion I was hoping to use for determining whether puzzles belong in this section is if the *problem statement contains* mathematical terminology that isn't well known. I wasn't really thinking about putnam exam level problems specifically, but just any sort of math problem in general whose statement absolutely depends on terminology that isn't freshman/sophomore college-level "common knowledge" (e.g. dyads, eigenvectors). I hoped to make life easier for puzzlers who were browsing the site and didn't have this sort of background.

Originally I would have said that any problem which *relies on not well-known mathematical concepts" would have gone here, but I realize that this hopeless. Many of the best problems delve into topics few know about (e.g. 5 card magic trick --> stable marriage theorem). And when solving puzzles, there are often alternative, unnecessarily complex solutions which may use concepts few have heard of -- but these solutions are still correct in their right. Anyways, I think it is actually a good thing that some of these problems can have so much depth, because it can encourage exploration of topics one may be unfamiliar with.

Conclusively, I was thinking that if you can dress up your mathy problem into a cute story that anyone can understand, then the problem can go in some other section. If the solution requires higher math concepts, then the puzzler will either find him or herself simply unable to solve it, or will independently figure what math is needed to solve the problem. The former case isn't that bad, because after struggling and seeing the solution, he or she will probably have a great appreciation for the required tools that he or she did not previously know. However, if you just can't demathematize the problem statement for whatever reason (e.g. the terms refer to very deep concepts and you'd have to tell a really, really long story), then I guess it would go into this section.

What do you guys think of this decision rule? I am not claiming this is the way the administrator says it must be, but rather am asking what you guys think about how it should be. I am having second thoughts about this section and considering dumping all its problems into easy/medium/hard.

Title: Re: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by Icarus on Nov 3^rd, 2003, 6:30pm

My own thought would be to pull some of the more strictly mathematical problems out of Hard/Medium/Easy and put them in here.

My feeling for this category is that it should be for problems whose appeal is strictly mathematical, and which really appeal only to math wonks. Also, it should mostly be, as you said, college junior level or above. Having them in their own category means that those with no taste for serious mathematics don't have to bother with them. Those who like mathematics but don't have the background yet to follow the discourse can find them whenever they want to be really challenged. And those of us who are so whacked that we get off on this sort of thing can find a friendly home to escape the madding crowd of the more general forums!

Title: Re: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by Braincramps on May 10^th, 2004, 9:15pm

How about combining this section and the complex analysis one into one Math section?

Title: Re: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by Avo on Apr 18^th, 2005, 3:02pm

on 05/10/04 at 21:15:52, Braincramps wrote:

How about combining this section and the complex analysis one into one Math section?

I agree: this and other boards should be deleted and you need to make one "Math" board. This makes for less confusion.

Title: Re: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by yaniv on Nov 23^rd, 2007, 8:19am

Hi,

I hope this is the right place to post this kind of comment (I couldn't find a better location).

First of all - great site!

I wanted to let you know of my site, in which I discuss many riddles and various math topics. I put a lot of effort into it, and I am sure serious riddle lovers (or mathematicians) will like it:
http://yaniv.leviathanonline.com

Please let me know what you think.

Thank you,
Enjoy,

Yaniv

Title: Re: what exactly is this category for anyways?
Post by ecoist on Nov 23^rd, 2007, 10:18am

I think things are just fine as they are. At first the meanings of the sections confused me. Later I settled on using easy, medium, and hard for non-mathematical riddles and putnam exam for pure math problems. I like your idea of putting problems of general interest in easy, medium, and hard, whether or not they have math content, and setting putnam exam for math having a more specialized appeal. No objection to seperating out complex analysis to its own section. That's a big specialty.