On the evening of October 31, the first Yau Chengtong Girls' Mathematics Competition for Girls' Middle School Students came to an end, and 25 people won the gold, silver, bronze and winners of the "Knott Award". Seven middle school students in Chengdu performed eye-catching in this competition, Yang Mengqi won the gold award, Li Shuying and Lu Xinyao won the silver award, and Tang Zihan won the winner's award.
Tang Zihan, Li Shuying, Lv Xinyao, Yang Mengqi (from left to right)
The contest questions are not focused on skill assessment
I hope to push students to think
The first Yau Chengtong Girls' Mathematics Competition for Girls' Secondary School Students was initiated by and chaired by professor Chengtong Yau, an internationally renowned mathematician, aiming to cultivate female mathematicians and encourage more girls to devote themselves to the study of mathematical disciplines. The prize was named the "Noether Prize" in honor of the great female mathematician Amy Knott, who made outstanding contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics.
It is understood that the first competition is divided into two parts: written test and interview, the written test time is 3 hours, a total of six questions. The topics do not focus on skill assessment, but provide students with a window into the world of mathematical research and promote students' thinking. For example, the inequality problem in Question 5 is based on the harmonic function of Professor Yau Chengtong in his study of manifolds, and the inequality used by Professor Zheng Shaoyuan to study the Bernstein problem in minkowski space. The combinatorial identity of question 6 played an important role in the work of fields prize winner Okounkov and collaborators in the work of counting geometry.
"Girls are just as good at math, so they have to believe in themselves." Professor Yau Chengtong said that many times, the achievements of female mathematicians in society are not respected enough, resulting in their lack of confidence in themselves. I hope that through this competition, the female students will increase their self-confidence and let them know that they are actually amazing and have the ability to change the development of mathematics, just like the great mathematician Knott.
Lv Xinyao, Yang Mengqi, Wu Chenghao, senior mathematics competition coach (from left to right)
Girls are just as good at math
Hopefully, we can add bricks to the mathematical edifice
It is understood that Gold Award winner Yang Mengqi and Silver Award winner Lu Xinyao are senior high school students, and Silver Award winner Li Shuying and Winner Tang Zihan are high school sophomores.
Winning the gold medal of this competition, Yang Mengqi was in a very happy mood. Talking about the budding interest in mathematics, Yang Mengqi believes that it is a little later than many people. I only started to contact math competitions in the fifth and sixth grades of primary school, but I did not have systematic training, and I bought some books in the field of mathematics to read. Until the first year of junior high school, the teacher in the math class mentioned the experiences and stories of some mathematicians in history, and Yang Mengqi was deeply touched. "Because women in ancient times could not receive the same education, there were very few well-known female mathematicians, but they still had immortal achievements with their dedication to truth and love for mathematics."
In her impression, the atmosphere in the junior high school math class is very good, and she will not stick too much to brushing up on the problems, but discuss, research and argue with her classmates. In the process of learning, the teacher found that Yang Mengqi's response to mathematics would be faster than others, which made Yang Mengqi begin to face up to her talent in mathematics. "This competition gave me a wonderful encounter with higher mathematics, and I gained a deeper understanding of this unique discipline that combines rigor, logic, science, practicality and artistry." She hopes that the students will actively participate in the next competition, pursue the truth of nature, discover, explore and inherit the beauty of mathematics, and contribute to the building of mathematics and become an indispensable part of the development of mathematics.
Senior Sophomore Mathematics Competition Coaches He Guanglu, Li Shuying, Tang Zihan, Senior Sophomore Mathematics Competition Head Coach Wei Hua (from left to right)
Demystify the Math Learning Code
Interest and persistence are indispensable
During the interview, all four girls showed a strong interest in mathematics. In Yang Mengqi's view, mathematics will not be as arbitrary as art, both inventive and discoverable, you can find some new conclusions through known conclusions, and you can also combine new conclusions to create some new solutions, and the solutions are open.5 "The process is like a tree growing slowly, there's a sense of accomplishment, it's a great thing."
Lu Xinyao believes that mathematics is not like literature, and there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. The charm of mathematics is that the truth is unchanging, no matter what method of reasoning and argumentation is used, the final result is the same, and the unity of mathematics is intoxicating.
Li Shuying's parents are both mathematics teachers at Sichuan University, because of the parents' ear, she has devoted more time and energy to mathematics since she was a child, and sometimes discussed mathematics-related knowledge with her parents. She believes that if you want to learn mathematics well, you must have a strong interest and perseverance.
Tang Zihan also believes that in the process of learning mathematics, there will be many difficulties, there can be no fear of difficulties, and the only way to encounter problems that will not be encountered is to die. "There is no unique method, which can be summed up as listening carefully, taking good notes, brushing a lot of questions, and checking for omissions and filling in the gaps."
What are the advantages of girls studying mathematics?
Coach: Calm and persistent
"The award is expected, but it is not easy to achieve such a good result." He Guanglu, the coach of the second-year mathematics competition, and Wu Chenghao, the coach of the third-year mathematics competition, could not hide their excitement after learning the results.
In the past five university competitions, most of the male winners were so many that in the eyes of many people, boys were more suitable for competition than girls. But He Guanglu and Wu Chenghao both said that this is a misunderstanding, not that girls are not suitable, and girls who are suitable for mathematical learning often perform better than boys, such as girls are more calm and persistent, which is their advantage.
So, what kind of person is suitable for a math competition? What advice do you have for students who want to choose a math competition?
First of all, there must be a strong interest in learning mathematics, and on top of the interest, there must be a certain talent and pay enough effort. He Guanglu mentioned that Li Shuying and Tang Zihan showed great love for mathematics in their ordinary studies. Tang Zihan's parents wanted her to learn some dance, piano and other talents, but Tang Zihan insisted on studying mathematics and could really sink her heart into it.
Secondly, choosing a competition also requires a firm interest and perseverance to the end. He Guanglu said that in the process of competition, there will be various problems, bottlenecks, and there will often be opposition around, which requires a strong heart to overcome.
Finally, students should also actively participate in the mathematics discipline competition, Wu Chenghao said that the Yau Chengtong Girls' Mathematics Competition has a certain entry threshold, whether the contestants have achieved excellent results in previous competitions, is the key factor in whether they can enter the written test. Yang Mengqi and Lv Xinyao won gold medals in the 19th China Women's Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO), at the same time, Lv Xinyao was selected for the Sichuan Provincial Team and won the silver medal in the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad; in the National High School Mathematics League, Yang Mengqi, Lv Xinyao and Tang Zihan all won the first prize in the Sichuan Division. Li Shuying and Lv Xinyao won the gold medal in the 20th China Women's Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO) and were both selected for the Sichuan Provincial Team, in the National High School Mathematics League, Li Shuying and Tang Zihan both won the first prize in the Sichuan Division, and Tang Zihan was selected for the Sichuan Provincial Team.
According to the coach, Lv Xinyao, Li Shuying and Tang Zihan will continue to participate in the Chinese Mathematics Olympiad and impact the national training team.
Cover news reporter Zhou Limei
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