September 28, 2013 – Dr. Branislav Kisačanin – Did the NSA Really Break the RSA Code?

In this talk we will learn about the art of protecting information, some incredible (but true) stories from the history of cryptography, and how the all-important RSA code works. To get there, we will need a bit of Number Theory, in particular Fermat’s Little Theorem and Euler’s Theorem. In the process we will also learn how to solve a class of problems that might be seen at AMC competitions, such as:

• What is the remainder when 2^1000 is divided by 997?
• Determine the last digit of 1^1 + 2^2 + 3^3 + … + 2009^2009.

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Why Math on a Saturday Afternoon? — Solutions

Dr. Andreescu has provided the solutions to the problems from the most recent math circle: A_Medley_of_Algebra_Problems_Handout.

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AwesomeMath Resource Spotlight

The AwesomeMath newsletter, The Gold Standard has published a series of important dates and useful resources:

Starting with the first round of USAMTS (USA Mathematial Talent Search) due on October 15 and culminating with the IMO (International Mathematics Olympiad) in July, 2014, the season of math competitions is right around the corner.  Are you prepared?  Do you have the resources to help you excel?   With over 30 years of experience teaching, coaching, and mentoring the brightest mathematical minds of our age, Dr. Andreescu’s books are essential for every math enthusiast’s library.  Here are just a few highlights from his distinguished career:

• Authored, co-authored, and edited more than 40 math books and publications
• Head coach and leader of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) for 8 years
• Director of the Mathematical Association of American (MAA) American Mathematics Competitions for 5 years
• Has contributed hundreds of problems to various math competitions including up to and including the IMO
• Co-founder of the Purple Comet! Math Meet, the first international team based math competition
• Founder and Director of AwesomeMath, an organization that provides enriching experiences in mathematics to intellectually curious learners

Following is a chart of important dates and resources which will enrich the mathlete’s competition experience:

Date	Competition	Resource
October 15, 2013 Round 1	USAMTS	Mathematical Olympiad Challenges, Mathematical Olympiad Treasures, Mathematical Reflections – all volumes
November 18, 2013 Round 2	USAMTS	Mathematical Olympiad Challenges, Mathematical Olympiad Treasures, Mathematical Reflections – all volumes
November 19, 2013	AMC 8	Purple Comet! Math Meet:  All Ten Years, 105 Algebra Problems
December 7, 2013	Putnam	Problems from the Book, Straight from the Book, Putnam and Beyond
January 6, 2014 Round 3	USAMTS	Mathematical Olympiad Challenges, Mathematical Olympiad Treasures, Mathematical Reflections – all volumes
10A:  February 4, 2014 10B:  February 19, 2014	AMC 10	105 Algebra Problems, 106 Geometry Problems, 107 Geometry Problems,108 Algebra Problems (coming soon)
12A:  February 4, 2014 12B:  February 19, 2014	AMC 12	Mathematical Reflections – all volumes, 105 Algebra Problems, 106 Geometry Problems, 107 Geometry Problems,108 Algebra Problems (coming soon)
AIME I:  March 13, 2014 AIME II: March 26, 2014	AIME	Purple Comet! Math Meet: All Ten Years, Mathematical Reflections – all volumes
April 1-10, 2014	Purple Comet! Math Meet	Purple Comet! Math Meet:  All Ten Years
April 29-30, 2014	USAMO	Problems from the Book, Straight from the Book, Topics in Functional Equations, Math Olympiad Challenges, Math Olympiad Treasures
July 2014	IMO (South Africa)	Math Olympiad Challenges, Mathematical Olympiad Treasures, Mathematical Reflections – all volumes

 

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September 21, 2013 – Dr. Titu Andreescu – “Why Math on a Saturday Afternoon?”

This Saturday, Dr. Andreescu will be answering the eternal question:  “Why Math on a Saturday Afternoon?”

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September 14, 2014 – Pólya-Burnside Enumeration in Combinatorics — Adithya Ganesh

We are pleased to announce that the first topic of our 2013-2014 Metroplex Math Circle will be Pólya-Burnside Enumeration in Combinatorics, presented by our own Adithya Ganesh on September 14, 2013.

Burnside’s lemma from group theory has a broad scope of application in combinatorial enumeration problems.  Pólya’s enumeration theorem, which generalizes Burnside’s lemma using generating functions, provides a remarkable framework to easily solve counting problems in which we want to regard two entities as equivalent under some symmetry.

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