Mathematical Olympiads throughout the worldPrepared by – Shreet Mishra ( class – XI) roll no. - 47

INTRODUCTION • A general Mathematical Olympiad is an

exam in which questions of only mathematics is asked. The person who scores first rank gets gold medal, the person who scores second position gets silver medal and the person who scores third rank gets bronze medal. Today, there are thousands of mathematical Olympiads going throughout the world.

INTRODUCTIONToday, there are thousands of mathematical Olympiads going throughout

the world some of them are -:

• International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

• AITMO (Asian Inter-city Teenagers Mathematics Olympiad) — for junior secondary students around the Eastern Asian region

• APMO (Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad) — Pacific rim

• APMCM (Asian Pacific Mathematics Contest in Modeling)

• The Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO)

• The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO)

• The British Mathematical Olympiad 

• William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition — USA and Canada

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

• The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an annual six-problem, 42-point mathematical Olympiad for pre-collegiate students and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except in 1980. About 100 countries send teams of up to six students plus one team leader, one deputy leader, and observers. Ever since its inception in 1959, the Olympiad has developed a rich legacy and has established itself as the pinnacle of mathematical competition among high school students.

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

• The content ranges from precalculus problems that are extremely difficult to problems on branches of mathematics not conventionally covered at school and often not at university level either, such as projective and complex geometry, functional equations and well-grounded number theory, of which extensive knowledge of theorems is required. Calculus, though allowed in solutions, is never required, as there is a principle at play that anyone with a basic understanding of mathematics should understand the problems, even if the solutions require a great deal more knowledge. Supporters of this principle claim that this allows more universality and creates an incentive to find elegant, deceptively simple-looking problems which nevertheless require a certain level of ingenuity.

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

• The selection process differs by country, but it often consists of a series of tests which admit fewer students at each progressing test. Awards are given to a top percentage of the individual contestants. Teams are not officially recognized—all scores are given only to individual contestants, but team scoring is unofficially compared more so than individual scores. Contestants must be under the age of 20 and must not be registered at any tertiary institution. Subject to these conditions, an individual may participate any number of times in the IMO.

The Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO)

• The Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) is a high school mathematics competition held annually in India since 1989. It is the second tier in the Indian team selection procedure for the International Mathematical Olympiad and is conducted by the Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) under the aegis of the National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM).

The Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO)

• The INMO is conducted by the MO Cell in February of every year. Prospective candidates first need to write the Regional Mathematical Olympiad of their respective state or region, usually held on the first Sunday of December of the previous year. Around thirty students are selected from each region, to write the INMO, which is usually held on the first Sunday of February. Among these 500 or more students, a total of around thirty qualify the INMO. Students qualifying the INMO are automatically eligible for admission to the B.Sc. (Hons) Mathematics course in the [Chennai Mathematical Institute]. Since 2008, INMO awardees applying for B. Stat or B. Math courses of the Indian Statistical Institute are directly called for the interview without having to write the written test.

The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO)

• The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) is a highly selective high school mathematics competition held annually in the United States. Since its debut in 1972, it has served as the final round of the AMC series of contests. The United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) was introduced in 2010 to recognize top scorers based on their AMC10-based index. Qualifying for the USAMO is considered one of the most prestigious awards for high school students in the United States, with only 264 students qualifying in 2013 out of over 350,000 students competing. Top scorers on the USAMO are invited to the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program and represent the United States at the International Mathematical Olympiad.

The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO)

• In 2011 we will have slightly revised qualification rules for the USA Mathematical Olympiad and USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad. The goal is to select approximately 500 students total for the two Olympiads, split approximately 270 for the USAMO and 230 for the USAJMO respectively.

The British Mathematical Olympiad 

• The British Mathematical Olympiad forms part of the selection process for the UK International Mathematical Olympiad team. It is organised by the British Mathematical Olympiad Sub trust, which is part of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. There are two rounds, the BMO1 and the BMO2.

• The first round of the BMO is held in December, and from 2006 is an open entry competition, costing £17 to enter. However, this fee is waived for those who (1) achieve the qualifying mark in the Senior Mathematical Challenge and (2) are British citizens, or will have studied for 3 full years of full-time secondary education in the UK by the time they leave school. The paper lasts 3½ hours, and consists of six questions (from 2005), each worth 10 marks.

The British Mathematical Olympiad 

• Candidates are encouraged to write full proofs to the questions they attempt, as a full answer to a question is worth many more marks than incomplete answers to several questions. This is because of the marking scheme: an answer is marked on either a "0+" or a "10-" mark scheme, depending on whether the answer looks generally complete or not. So if an answer is judged incomplete or unfinished, it is awarded a few marks for progress and relevant observations, whereas if it is presented as complete and correct, marks are deducted for faults, poor reasoning, or unproven assumptions. As a result, it is quite uncommon for an answer to score a middling mark (e.g. 4–6).

The Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO)

• The Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO) starting from 1989 is a regional mathematics competition which involves countries from the Asian Pacific region. The USA also takes part in the APMO. Every year, APMO is held in the afternoon of the second Monday of March for participating countries in the North and South Americas, and in the morning of the second Tuesday of March for participating countries on the Western Pacific and in Asia.

APMO's Aims -:• the discovering, encouraging and challenging of

mathematically gifted school students in all Pacific-Rim countries

• the fostering of friendly international relations and cooperation between students and teachers in the Pacific-Rim Region

• the creating of an opportunity for the exchange of information on school syllabi and practice throughout the Pacific Region

• The encouragement and support of mathematical involvement with Olympiad type activities, not only in the APMO participating countries, but also in other Pacific-Rim countries.

The Southeast Asian Mathematics Olympiad

• The Southeast Asian Mathematics Olympiad, or SEA-MO, is the Regional Mathematics Competition in Southeast Asia. This competition is organised by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM), which bases its operations in Penang, Malaysia. Unlike the International Mathematical Olympiad, the venue for this competition is not rotated from country to country and it has been held in Penang, Malaysia since its conception.

The Southeast Asian Mathematics Olympiad

• Each participating country is represented by four participants, a team leader and deputy leader. Participation in this event is strictly by invitation only. Competitors have to sit for three papers: the Short Answer test consisting of twenty questions; the Individual Power Test which spans three hours and comprises five questions; and the Team Test.

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

• The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to the Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students enrolled at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada (regardless of the students' nationalities). It awards a scholarship and cash prizes ranging from $250 to $2,500 for the top students and $5,000 to $25,000 for the top schools, plus one of the top five individual scorers (designated as Putnam Fellows) gets graduate tuition waived at Harvard (Putnam Fellow Prize Fellowship), and the top 100 individual scorers have their names mentioned in the American Mathematical Monthly's October issue (alphabetically ordered within rank).

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

• It is considered by many to be the most prestigious university-level mathematics examination in the world, and its difficulty is such that the median score is often zero or one (out of 120) despite being attempted by students specializing in mathematics.

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