Math Team Off to a Quick Start with the Berkeley Math Tournament

Twelve of our top competitors spent the last seven days slogging through the Berkeley Math Tournament’s Power Round.  A weeklong exam, the Power Round consists of succinct definitions, very few examples, and an abundance of theorems the students need to prove. This year’s topic: Mathematical Billiards.  Our two teams, comprising six students each, independently had to show results about periodic trajectories on regular polygons (think pool tables, but with triangular or pentagonal tops instead of rectangular ones), and apply a technique called “unfolding,” along with some trigonometry, to prove additional results. “Unfolding is a great technique,” Coach Chris Tillman says, “because it allows you to project images of a ball’s trajectory into an imagined plane that is the reflection of the real table along which the ball will roll.  It helps you solve problems.”  Mr. Tillman was not allowed to help or discuss with the students anything related to the competition over the last seven days.

 

Under the leadership of Youbin Cho ’21 and Phillip Miao ’22, students found mutually agreeable times to video conference and solve problems together. After a long summer, through Zoom and a love of problem-solving, close bonds were reforged. Both teams consist of domestic and international students, so teammates collaborated by evening in California and morning in China and Korea. Our students independently put countless hours into the contest, bringing hard-earned discoveries and insights to meetings and collaborating on Google docs in real-time. Their work is truly astounding. 

 

The Berkeley Math Tournament continues next weekend, with individual and team rounds spanning October 3-4.  Please encourage these students and wish them the best next week!

Team: Youbin Cho, Rayan Ansari '21, Alex Bai '24, Nick Kanji '21, Eleanor Li '23, Gary Wu '22

Team: Phillip Miao, Pierre Baza '21, Zack Mazaheri '21, Dylan Ochoa '24, Wendy Wang '23, Shuming Zhao '23