The 74th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition Saturday, December 7, 2013
The 74th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition Saturday, December 7, 2013
The 74th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition Saturday, December 7, 2013
for every S ∈ P?
2
B4 For any continuous real-valued function f defined on ing first. The playing area consists of n spaces, arranged
the interval [0, 1], let in a line. Initially all spaces are empty. At each turn, a
Z 1 Z 1 player either
µ( f ) = f (x) dx, Var( f ) = ( f (x) − µ( f ))2 dx, – places a stone in an empty space, or
0 0
M( f ) = max | f (x)| . – removes a stone from a nonempty space s, places
0≤x≤1 a stone in the nearest empty space to the left of
s (if such a space exists), and places a stone in
Show that if f and g are continuous real-valued func-
the nearest empty space to the right of s (if such a
tions defined on the interval [0, 1], then
space exists).
Var( f g) ≤ 2Var( f )M(g)2 + 2Var(g)M( f )2 . Furthermore, a move is permitted only if the resulting
position has not occurred previously in the game. A
B5 Let X = {1, 2, . . . , n}, and let k ∈ X. Show that there player loses if he or she is unable to move. Assuming
are exactly k · nn−1 functions f : X → X such that for that both players play optimally throughout the game,
every x ∈ X there is a j ≥ 0 such that f ( j) (x) ≤ k. [Here what moves may Alice make on her first turn?
f ( j) denotes the jth iterate of f , so that f (0) (x) = x and
f ( j+1) (x) = f ( f ( j) (x)).]
B6 Let n ≥ 1 be an odd integer. Alice and Bob play the fol-
lowing game, taking alternating turns, with Alice play-