AMS / MAA PROBLEM BOOKS VOL 37

THE WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM

MATHEMATICAL COMPETITION
2001–2016 Problems, Solutions, and Commentary

P2 P2
R1 Q1
T2 T2 P1
T1
T1
P1 Q2 R2 Q1 = Q2 R1 = R2

Kiran S. Kedlaya
Daniel M. Kane
Jonathan M. Kane
Evan M. O’Dorney
10.1090/prb/037
The William Lowell
Putnam Mathematical
Competition 2001–2016
Problems, Solutions, and
Commentary
AMS/MAA PROBLEM BOOKS

VOL 37

The William Lowell

Putnam Mathematical
Competition 2001–2016
Problems, Solutions, and
Commentary

Kiran S. Kedlaya
Daniel M. Kane
Jonathan M. Kane
Evan M. O’Dorney
 MAA Problem Books Editorial Board
Gail S. Nelson, Editor

Adam H. Berliner Jennifer Roche Bowen

Michelle L. Ghrist Greg Oman
Eric R. Westlund
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 97U40, 97D50.

For additional information and updates on this book, visit

www.ams.org/bookpages/prb-37

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kedlaya, Kiran Sridhara, 1974- author. | Kane, Daniel M., 1986- author.
Title: The William Lowell Putnam mathematical competition 2001–2016 : problems, solutions, and
commentary / Kiran S. Kedlaya, Daniel M. Kane, Jonathan M. Kane, Evan M. O’Dorney.
Description: Providence, Rhode Island : American Mathematical Society, [2020] | Series: Problem
books ; volume 37 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020023499 | ISBN 9781470454272 (paperback) | ISBN 9781470462604 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. | Mathematics–Problems, ex-
ercises, etc. | AMS: Mathematics education – Educational material and media, educational tech-
nology – Problem books. Competitions. Examinations. | Mathematics education – Education
and instruction in mathematics – Teaching problem solving and heuristic strategies For research
aspects, see 97Cxx.
Classification: LCC QA43 .K375 2020 | DDC 510.76–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023499

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Send requests for translation rights and licensed reprints to [email protected].
Problems, original solutions, and results from the 2001–2016 William Lowell Putnam
Competitions © 2001–2016 by the Mathematical Association of America. All rights reserved.
© 2020 by the American Mathematical Society. All rights reserved.
The American Mathematical Society retains all rights
except those granted to the United States Government.
Printed in the United States of America.
⃝
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 25 24 23 22 21 20
Dedicated to the Putnam contestants
 Contents

Introduction ix

Problems 1

Hints 53

Solutions 71
The Sixty-Second Competition (2001) 73
The Sixty-Third Competition (2002) 83
The Sixty-Fourth Competition (2003) 95
The Sixty-Fifth Competition (2004) 114
The Sixty-Sixth Competition (2005) 128
The Sixty-Seventh Competition (2006) 146
The Sixty-Eighth Competition (2007) 164
The Sixty-Ninth Competition (2008) 176
The Seventieth Competition (2009) 193
The Seventy-First Competition (2010) 206
The Seventy-Second Competition (2011) 219
The Seventy-Third Competition (2012) 232
The Seventy-Fourth Competition (2013) 246
The Seventy-Fifth Competition (2014) 260
The Seventy-Sixth Competition (2015) 276
The Seventy-Seventh Competition (2016) 295

Results 313
Score Cutoffs 314
Individual Results 316
Team Results 320
Analysis of Results 2001–2016 (by Joseph A. Gallian) 326

Additional Material 333

Strategies for the Putnam 334
vii
viii Contents

Bibliography 337

Topic Index 339

Index 345
 Introduction

This book is the fourth collection of William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Com-
petition problems and solutions, following in the footsteps of [PutnamI] (1938–
1964), [PutnamII] (1965-1984), and [PutnamIII] (1985-2000). We have largely
followed the structure of the third collection, by including multiple solutions and
commentary putting the problems in a broader mathematical context.

The Putnam Competition. The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Com-

petition (a/k/a “the Putnam”) is the preeminent mathematics competition for
undergraduate college students in the United States and Canada, and one of the
oldest and most prominent such competitions in the world. The first competition
was held in 1938; this book covers the 62nd–77th competitions, held in the years
2001–2016. Since 1962, the competition has been held on the first Saturday in
December, consisting of two three-hour sessions of six problems each (A1–A6 in
the morning, B1–B6 in the afternoon). For more information about the history
of the Putnam Competition, see the articles of Garrett Birkhoff and L. E. Bush
in [PutnamI], and also [Arney].
The competition is open to regularly enrolled undergraduates in the U.S. and
Canada who have not yet received a college degree; the 2016 competition saw
more than 4000 contestants from over 500 institutions. No individual may par-
ticipate in the competition more than four times.
Since its origin, the competition has been organized by the Mathematical
Association of America and funded by the William Lowell Putnam Prize Fund
for the Promotion of Scholarship. From 1975 to 2017, the competition was ad-
ministered by Leonard Klosinski (director) and Gerald Alexanderson (associate
director) at Santa Clara University; from 1985 to 2017, Loren Larson also served
as an associate director. As of the 2017 competition (not included in this volume),
the competition is being administered directly by the MAA, with Daniel Ullman
as director and Mark Krusemeyer as associate director.

The problems. The competition is meant to cover the standard undergradu-

ate mathematics curriculum; at present, this is generally taken to mean calculus,

ix
x The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

linear algebra, differential equations, real analysis, abstract algebra, number the-
ory, probability, and combinatorics. (In some cases, in addition to the intended
solution, a problem may admit an alternate solution using more advanced mathe-
matics.) However, problems often involve nonroutine applications of these tools,
to the extent that a standard mathematical education is not necessarily the best
preparation for the competition; experience with high-school competitions such
as the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the International Mathemati-
cal Olympiad (IMO) is somewhat more transferable, although those competitions
generally exclude calculus and some other advanced topics.
The problems are set by the Questions Committee, typically consisting of
three mathematicians appointed by the MAA for staggered three-year terms, with
the member whose term is closest to expiration serving as Chair; the committee
is assisted in this effort by the associate director. For each competition included
in this book, we have included the membership of the Questions Committee to-
gether with the problem statements. (The Questions Committee does not issue
attributions for individual problems.)

Results of the competition. While each contestant takes the exam indi-
vidually, the competition includes both individual and team aspects. On the in-
dividual side, top-scoring contestants are recognized in the following tiers. (The
size of each group is only indicative; it is subject to small fluctuations due to tied
scores.)
• The top 5 contestants, designated as Putnam Fellows. These receive a cash
prize; one of the Putnam Fellows is also awarded the William Lowell Putnam
Prize Scholarship at Harvard.
• The next 10 contestants. These receive a cash prize.
• The next 10 contestants. These receive a cash prize.
• The remaining contestants1 among the top 100 finishers. These are desig-
nated Honorable Mentions.
• The remaining contestants among the top 200 finishers.
• The remaining contestants among the top 500 finishers.
Beginning in 1992, the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize has been awarded in some
years to a woman whose performance has been deemed particularly meritorious.
The winner receives a cash prize.
On the team side, each participating college or university with at least three
participants is awarded a team score equal to the sum of the top three scores from
1 This is the definition in use at the time of writing. Previously, in addition to the top 100, there

was a smaller Honorable Mention tier; the official competition reports reflect this distinction.
Introduction xi

that institution.2 The top 5 teams are recognized as such (in order), with cash
prizes awarded both to the mathematics departments of the institutions and to
the team members. The next 5 teams are designated Honorable Mentions.
An Announcement of Winners, including all of the designations listed above,
is released by the MAA several months after the competition. An official report of
each competition is published in the American Mathematical Monthly in the Sep-
tember or October issue of the following year; this report includes the problems,
a complete set of solutions, individual results (through Honorable Mention, plus
the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize), and team results. It also includes, for each
problem, a breakdown of how many of the top 200 contestants obtained each pos-
sible score on each problem; note that while problems are graded out of 10 points
each, generally only the scores 0, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 are used.3
It should be emphasized that the competition is intended not merely to iden-
tify winners, but also to provide a challenge to all of the contestants. As scores
can be quite low (the median score is commonly 0), even solving a single problem
is a notable result!

Structure of this book. The first section contains the problems, as they orig-
inally appeared in the competition. Next is a section containing a brief hint
for each problem. The hints may often be more mystifying than enlightening.
Nonetheless, we hope that they encourage readers to spend more time wrestling
with a problem before turning to the solutions section.
The heart of this book is in the solutions. (Beware that in certain instances,
our standard notation disagrees with the problem statement; these are described
at the front of the solutions section.) For each problem, we include one or more
solutions; multiple solutions generally illustrate distinct ideas, although the later
solutions are compressed when they partly repeat an earlier solution. We also
include commentary in the form of remarks on the various solutions. In addition,
with each problem’s solution we give the “score vector” consisting of the number
of participants from among the top 200 finishers achieving each possible score
on the problem; for ease of reference, we also indicate the percentage of the top
200 finishers achieving a score of 8–10, which we call the success rate. (See the
first page of the solutions section for a precise definition of the score vector.)
After the solutions comes a tabulation of competition results for the years
2001–2016, including tables of various score cutoffs, including the individual tiers
of recognition listed above; a list of Putnam Fellows; the top 5 schools in the team
competition; and a detailed analysis of the results by Joe Gallian. More detailed

2 This is the rule in use at the time of writing. During the years covered in this volume, a different

system was used; see the team results section for details.
3 This restriction was phased out as of the 2018 competition, but scores in the 3–7 range are likely

to remain rare in the future.

xii The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

year-by-year results can be found at the Putnam Archive (see below) and in the
official competition reports in the American Mathematical Monthly (see above).
In addition to a standard keyword index, we have also included a topic index
for the problems. This constitutes a rough (and necessarily subjective) identifi-
cation of which topics from the undergraduate mathematics curriculum pertain
to each problem treated in this book.

Acknowledgments. Our primary source for problem statements and compe-

tition results, and a secondary source for problem solutions, is the official com-
petition reports (see above). We thank the Mathematical Association of America
and the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition for the use of the
problems and results from the various Competitions.
Our primary source for the solutions published in this volume has been the
online Putnam Archive, maintained by one of us (Kedlaya) at
http://kskedlaya.org/putnam-archive.
The Putnam Archive includes solutions compiled by Kedlaya together with
Manjul Bhargava and Lenhard Ng; we thank Bhargava and Ng for their
permission to use that material as the basis for this book. We are also grateful
to the many individuals who have shared ideas that are incorporated into
the solutions, including the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) online community
at http://artofproblemsolving.com; we have attributed these contributions
to the best of our ability. Special recognition is due to Kent Merryfield, who built
the AoPS Putnam forum into a definitive presence, and maintained it as such
until his untimely passing in November 2018; his efforts will be dearly missed.
We thank Joe Gallian for helping to assemble the competition results and
with making his analysis available to us for inclusion. We also wish to acknowl-
edge Joe’s continuing role as unofficial William Lowell Putnam Competition his-
torian as well as his mentoring of undergraduate students, from which all four of
us have benefited directly.
We thank Steve Kennedy for his continued support of this project, and the
AMS/MAA Problem Books editorial board for their detailed feedback on a draft
of this book.
We thank the Mathematical Association of America for continuing to orga-
nize the competition; the past directors Gerald Alexanderson, Leonard Klosinski,
and Loren Larson for their extended service to the mathematical community; the
current director Daniel Ullman and associate director Mark Krusemeyer for car-
rying this work forward; numerous unnamed volunteers who have participated
in the grading of the competition; and the Putnam family for its continued sup-
port of the competition over so many years.
 Bibliography

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 Topic Index

In the following index, we identify problems referring to the following topics.

•Algebra
•Induction
•Polynomials
•Inequalities
•Geometry
•Trigonometry
•Limits
•Differentiation
•Integration
•Series/Products
•Differential Equations
•Real Analysis
•Complex Analysis
•Combinatorics
•Enumerative Combinatorics
•Probability
•Pigeonhole
•Linear Algebra
•Determinants
•Number Theory
339
340 The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

•Abstract Algebra
•Group Theory
•Finite Fields
•Functional Equations
•Generating Functions
•Recurrence Relations
•Game Theory
•Optimization
An extended version of this index can be found online at the Putnam Archive.
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001

B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1

A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
Algebra
Topic Index

Induction

Polynomials

Inequalities

Geometry

Trigonometry

Limits

Differentiation

Integration

Series/Products

Differential Equations

Real Analysis

Complex Analysis

Combinatorics

Enumerative Comb.

Probability

Pigeonhole

Linear Algebra

Determinants

Number Theory

Abstract Algebra

Group Theory

Finite Fields

Functional Equations

Generating Functions

Recurrence Relations

Game Theory

Optimization
341
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
342

B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1

A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
Algebra

Induction

Polynomials

Inequalities

Geometry

Trigonometry

Limits

Differentiation

Integration

Series/Products

Differential Equations

Real Analysis

Complex Analysis

Combinatorics

Enumerative Comb.

Probability

Pigeonhole

Linear Algebra

Determinants

Number Theory

Abstract Algebra

Group Theory

Finite Fields

Functional Equations

Generating Functions

Recurrence Relations

Game Theory

Optimization
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009

B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1

A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
Algebra
Topic Index

Induction

Polynomials

Inequalities

Geometry

Trigonometry

Limits

Differentiation

Integration

Series/Products

Differential Equations

Real Analysis

Complex Analysis

Combinatorics

Enumerative Comb.

Probability

Pigeonhole

Linear Algebra

Determinants

Number Theory

Abstract Algebra

Group Theory

Finite Fields

Functional Equations

Generating Functions

Recurrence Relations

Game Theory

Optimization
343
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
344

B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1
B6
B5
B4
B3
B2
B1

A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
A6
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
Algebra

Induction

Polynomials

Inequalities

Geometry

Trigonometry

Limits

Differentiation

Integration

Series/Products

Differential Equations

Real Analysis

Complex Analysis

Combinatorics

Enumerative Comb.

Probability

Pigeonhole

Linear Algebra

Determinants

Number Theory

Abstract Algebra

Group Theory

Finite Fields

Functional Equations

Generating Functions

Recurrence Relations

Game Theory

Optimization
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
 Index

algebraic numbers, 108, 267 Catalan numbers, 102

Allen, Paul, 210 Cauchy’s theorem, 169
alternating series test, 294 Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, 59
Amdeberhan, Tewodros, 310 Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, 97, 138, 160,
American Mathematical Monthly, xi, 313 185, 212, 229
Andreescu, Titu, 2, 14, 17, 20 Cayley digraph, 300
Angelo, Rodrigo, 292 Cayley’s formula, 257
Archimedes, 200 Cayley-Hamilton theorem, 64, 217, 287
arithmetic mean/geometric mean inequality, centralizer, 272
61, 95, 97, 98, 122, 166, 242, 276 Cesaro’s lemma, 161
arithmetic mean/harmonic mean inequality, Cesaro-Stolz theorem, 161
138, 229 chain rule, 227
arithmetic progression, 234, 235, 287 Chapman, Robin, 100, 104
Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), 71, 159, 267, characteristic polynomial, 217, 283, 284, 287
269, 292, 297, 302, 334, 335 Chen, Po-Ning, 119
Artamoshin, Sergei, 238 Cheng, Paul, 85
Artin’s conjecture on primitive roots, 205 Chinese remainder theorem, 147, 279
circulant matrix, 155
banded matrix, 191
Cloitre, Benoît, 262
Beatty sequence, 249
Cohn, Henry, 43, 46, 49
Belulovich, Tom, 178, 190
commutant, 272
Bernstein, Dan, 91, 101, 103, 111, 126
compact set, 111, 275, 302
Bézout’s theorem, 165
companion matrix, 273
Bhargava, Manjul, xii, 295
continued fraction, 275
bijection, 200
continuity, 81, 132, 166, 199, 202, 233, 238
binary operation, 2, 36, 73, 232
Lipschitz, 275
binary tree, 91
bipartite graph, 240, 270 contour integration, 229
Boecken, Henrik, 297 convergence, 111, 210, 220, 225
Boolean algebra, 178 absolute, 209, 212, 213, 247, 262, 294,
Borisov, Lev, 284 309–311
Boskoff, W.G., 122 of integrals, 30, 77, 179, 202, 208, 217
Bostan, Alin, 136 of products, 209
Brewer, Chris, 167 of series, 6, 23, 32, 50, 86, 125, 135, 141,
bubble sort, 178 179, 211, 213, 220, 302, 309
convergents of a continued fraction, 275
Callan, David, 5, 8 convex duality, 243
Carroll, Gabriel, 328 convex function, 66, 96, 161, 242, 275, 277

345
346 The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

convex hull, 81, 132, 166, 167 Fourier transforms, 229

convex set, 15, 18, 20, 39, 81, 137, 150, 153, Frobenius’s generalization of Cauchy’s
156, 165, 246, 249, 302 theorem, 169
Cremona, John, 165 fundamental theorem of calculus, 184
Crofton’s formula, 154
cycle indicator, 144 Gallian, Joseph, xi, 313, 326
cycle structure of a permutation, 305 Galois theory, 74, 107
cylindrical coordinates, 60, 146 Gauss’s lemma, 120
Gauss-Lucas theorem, 132
Della Torre, Gabriele, 204 Gaussian elimination, 261
Deopurkar, Anand, 169 generating functions, 102, 141, 250, 264
Derksen, Harm, 49, 225, 250 geometric series, 280, 309
differential equations, 26, 28, 59, 63, 163, Gilbert, George T., 29, 32, 36
194, 202, 242 Golberg, Oleg, 174
𝑝-adic, 275 Granville, Andrew, 2, 5
digits, 5, 6, 20, 44, 86, 91, 126, 167, 268 group algebra, 225
binary, 102, 252, 280, 310
ternary, 286 Hadamard matrix, 133
Dirichlet character, 281 Hall’s marriage theorem, 66, 240
discontinuity, 98 Harris, Joe, 266
discretization, 110, 119 height function, 80
discriminant, 65, 100, 165 Hensel’s lemma, 187
distributive lattice, 178 Heron’s formula, 116
double factorial, 116 Heronian triangle, 213
dual group, 224 Herzig, Florian, 108, 157
duality for convex functions, 243 Hölder’s inequality, 97, 240
Dyck path, 8, 57, 100 homothety, 305
Hong, Serin, 311
eigenspace, 142
inclusion/exclusion principle, 59, 69, 143,
eigenvalue, 133, 142, 144, 155, 224, 273
281
eigenvector, 155, 224
integration by parts, 221, 269
elementary divisors, 178
intermediate value theorem, 114, 132, 247,
Elkies, Noam, 118, 131, 136, 142, 154, 157,
271
165, 171, 177, 199, 203, 212, 217, 231,
invariant factors, 178
233, 235, 237, 244, 265–267, 279, 283
inverse problems, 250
elliptic curve, 165
inversions of a permutation, 243
Eneström-Kakeya theorem, 265
Erdős, Paul, 128 Jensen’s inequality, 96, 229
Euler phi function, 244, 279
Euler’s formula, 61, 89, 118, 170 Kaseorg, Anders, 125
exponential formula, 145 key permutations, 292
Kirchhoff’s matrix-tree theorem, 257
Farey sequence, 86, 274 Kronecker, Leopold, 308
Feldman, David, 216, 218, 265 Krusemeyer, Mark, 20, 23, 26
Fences (logic puzzle type), 130 Kumar, Abhinav, 178, 223, 245
Feng, Zuming, 98 Kuperberg, Greg, 17, 20, 23, 141
Fermat test for primality, 278
Feynman, Richard, 136 Laba, Izabella, 26, 29, 32
Fibonacci sequence, 172, 232 Lagrange interpolation, 168, 174, 181
finite abelian group, 27, 178, 196 Lagrange multipliers, 98
finite differences, 180 Lagrange’s theorem, 169
Fourier series, 250 Larson, Eric, 237, 331
Index 347

lattice (partially ordered set), 178 parametric equation, 207

lattices in ℝ𝑛 , 8, 100, 235, 238 partial fractions, 134, 229
Laurent polynomial, 250 partial summation, 112
Laurent series, 83 partition, 206
Lebesgue measure, 209 peak of a permutation, 149
Lenstra, Hendrik, 204 perfect matching, 306
Lin, Calvin, 137 Perron-Frobenius theorem, 225
Lindsey’s lemma, 133 Pfaffian, 306
linearity of expectation, 117, 148, 151, 263, Pick’s theorem, 213
305 pigeonhole principle, 84, 155, 182, 206, 214,
Lipschitz continuity, 275 300
Luks, Eugene, 2 pole, 98, 212
Lutomirski, Andy, 123 Pollack, Paul, 127
Pólya, George, 295
Magma computer algebra system, 278 Pomerance, Carl, 2, 5
Mahlburg, Karl, 235, 246, 252, 268, 291 Poonen, Bjorn, 23, 26, 29
Mann, Russ, 89, 92 Price, Greg, 125
Markov chain, 225 primitive element theorem, 273
Martin, Greg, 141, 208
primitive root, 204, 244, 273
Mathematica computer algebra system, 136
Pritchard, David, 109
McKay, James, 169
probability generating function, 264
mean value theorem, 223
projective plane, 156, 165
Merryfield, James, 204, 302
Prüfer sequences, 257
Merryfield, Kent, xii, 197
Milićević, Djordje, 32, 36, 39 Qiao, Tony, 264
minimal polynomial, 273, 287 quadratic residue, 282
Möbius function, 281 quadratic character, 244
Möbius inversion, 273 quadratic reciprocity, 244
monotone convergence theorem, 209 for abelian groups (Duke–Hopkins), 245
monotone convergence theorem, 294 quadratic residue, 196, 244
Montgomery, Hugh, 8, 11, 14, 36, 39, 43 quadratic sieve algorithm, 246
Moore determinant, 94
multiplicative function, 279, 281 Radon’s theorem, 158
recurrences, 5, 11, 21, 23, 32, 50, 61, 69, 86,
Nelsen, Roger, 134
91, 101, 116, 127, 141, 145, 172, 179,
Ng, Lenhard, xii
220, 262, 291, 302
Nikoli, 130
and differential equations, 163, 242
Nim, 259
linear, 4, 17, 46, 73, 81, 147, 173, 233, 277
𝑂, 𝑜, and Ω (order) notation, 160, 175 Ren, Qingchun, 198
o-minimality, 265 repunit, 20, 167
On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences Rickert, John, 304
(OEIS), 71, 173, 201, 247, 262, 292 Riemann sum, 63, 86, 111, 119, 125, 200, 304
operation, binary, 2, 36, 73, 232 Rolle’s theorem, 132, 264, 285
orthogonal polynomials, 231 root test, 212
orthogonal vectors, 133, 208, 224 Rosenberg, Joshua, 211
Rouché’s theorem, 132
𝑝-adic differential equations, 275 row/column operations, 63, 188, 228, 231,
𝑝-adic valuation, 168, 267 260, 283
𝑃-orderings of Bhargava, 295 RSA modulus, 278
Page, E.S., 292 Ryser, Herbert, 78
palindrome, 6, 91
Pappus’s theorem, 146 Sage computer algebra system, 218
348 The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

sandwich theorem, 211, 296 Xie, Feng, 109

Savitt, David, 39, 43, 46, 84, 90, 111, 119, 121,
145, 152, 159, 167, 177, 259 Zara, Catalin, 147, 158, 173, 198, 203, 211,
shoelace formula, 213 215, 216, 263
Shteyman, Leonid, 202 Zhang, Tony, 125
Simpson’s rule, 302 Zhao, Yufei, 188, 203
Sivek, Steven, 133
Slitherlink (logic puzzle type), 130
smoothing, 186
Smukler, Micah, 103
Sophie Germain primes, 227
spherical coordinates, 249
Stanley, Richard, 78, 102, 117, 131, 133, 143,
144, 149, 158, 163, 166
Stern-Brocot tree, 86
sticks and stones (combinatorics), 140
Stirling’s approximation, 174
Stromquist, Walter, 89
Suceavă, Bogdan, 122
Sylvester’s determinant identity, 284
Sylvester’s four-point problem, 154

Taylor series, 83, 90, 186, 260

Taylor’s theorem with remainder, 161, 209,
216, 241, 264
tensor product of vector spaces, 267
Toeplitz matrix, 191
triangle inequality, 109, 213, 224, 288
triangulation, 20, 169
trigonometric identities, 194, 195
Tschanz, Steven, 11, 14, 17
Tsimerman, Jacob, 191
twin prime conjecture, 227

unique factorization of polynomials, 93, 105,

173, 215

Vakil, Ravi, 115, 123

van Hoeij, Mark, 243
van Luijk, Ronald, 204
Vandermonde determinant, 94, 174, 181
Venkataramana, Praveen, 229

Walden, Byron, 5, 8, 11, 46, 49

Wang, Victor, 267
Weyl, Hermann, 308
Williams, Shawn, 268
Wilson’s theorem, 230
Winkler, Peter, 114
Wolfram Alpha, 136
World Puzzle Championship, 130

Xiao, Liang, 275, 311

 AMS / MAA PROBLEM BOOKS

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