Mandelbrot Competition
Encyclopedia
Mandelbrot set
The Mandelbrot set is a particular mathematical set of points, whose boundary generates a distinctive and easily recognisable two-dimensional fractal shape...
, the Mandelbrot Competition is a mathematics competition founded by Sam Vandervelde
Sam Vandervelde
Sam Vandervelde is a mathematician who, along with Sandor Lehoczky and Richard Rusczyk, is most notable for creating the Mandelbrot Competition. and is listed first under "Thanks" in the mathematical textbook The Art of Problem Solving....
, Richard Rusczyk
Richard Rusczyk
Richard Rusczyk is the founder of Art of Problem Solving Inc. and a co-author of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks. He is one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search . He also founded the San Diego Math Circle...
and Sandor Lehoczky
Sandor Lehoczky
Sandor Lehoczky is an American amateur mathematician of Hungarian descent. He was born in St. Louis and moved to Alabama before high school. He is one of the authors of Art of Problem Solving Volume 1 "The Basics" and Art of Problem Solving Volume 2 "and Beyond". Lehoczky is also one of the...
that allows high school students to compete individually and in four-person teams.
Competition
The Mandelbrot is a "correspondence competition," meaning that the competition is sent to a school's coach and students compete at their own school on a predetermined date. Individual results and team answers are then sent back to the contest coordinators. The most notable aspects of the Mandelbrot competition are the difficulty of the problems (much like the American Invitational Mathematics ExaminationAmerican Invitational Mathematics Examination
The American Invitational Mathematics Examination is a 15-question 3-hour test given since 1983 to those who rank in the top 5% on the AMC 12 high school mathematics contest , and starting in 2010, those who rank in the top 2.5% on the AMC 10.The AIME is the second of two tests used to determine...
and harder American Mathematics Competition problems) and the proof-based team round. Many past medalists at the International Mathematics Olympiad first tried their skills on the Mandelbrot Competition.
History
The Mandelbrot Competition was started by Sam VanderveldeSam Vandervelde
Sam Vandervelde is a mathematician who, along with Sandor Lehoczky and Richard Rusczyk, is most notable for creating the Mandelbrot Competition. and is listed first under "Thanks" in the mathematical textbook The Art of Problem Solving....
, Richard Rusczyk
Richard Rusczyk
Richard Rusczyk is the founder of Art of Problem Solving Inc. and a co-author of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks. He is one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search . He also founded the San Diego Math Circle...
and Sandor Lehoczky
Sandor Lehoczky
Sandor Lehoczky is an American amateur mathematician of Hungarian descent. He was born in St. Louis and moved to Alabama before high school. He is one of the authors of Art of Problem Solving Volume 1 "The Basics" and Art of Problem Solving Volume 2 "and Beyond". Lehoczky is also one of the...
while they were undergraduates in the early 1990s. Vandervelde still runs the competition. Rusczyk now manages Art of Problem Solving Inc. and Lehoczky enjoys a successful career on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
.
Contest format
The individual competition consists of seven questions of varying value, worth a total of 14 points, that students have 40 minutes to answer. The team competition is a proof-based competition, where many questions are asked about a particular situation, and a team of four students is given 40 minutes to answer.Divisions
The Mandelbrot Competition has two divisions, currently referred to as National and Regional. Questions at the National level are more difficult than those at the Regional level, but generally have overlap or concern similar topics. For example, in the individual competition, the National competition will remove some of the easier Regional questions, and add some harder questions. In the team competition, the topic will be the same but the National level will give fewer hints.Recent winners
The top four high schools in the 2003–2004 National division were Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology, NJNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
; Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a Virginia state-chartered magnet school located within Fairfax County, Virginia, United States...
, VA
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
; Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
, NY
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; and the Illinois Math and Science Academy.