V.I. Arnol'd's Mathematical Trivium

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers around V.I. Arnol'd's collection of mathematics problems titled "A Mathematical Trivium," published in 1991. Participants express that these problems are designed to be solvable by the end of an undergraduate mathematics education. A notable challenge mentioned is calculating the mean of ##\sin^{100}{x}## with 10% accuracy, which Arnol'd asserts should take no more than five minutes. Users report varying levels of difficulty with the problems, highlighting their complexity and the enjoyment derived from solving them.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of undergraduate-level mathematics concepts
  • Familiarity with trigonometric functions, specifically sine functions
  • Basic knowledge of mathematical problem-solving techniques
  • Experience with estimation and accuracy in calculations
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  • Explore V.I. Arnol'd's "A Mathematical Trivium" for additional problems
  • Study techniques for estimating the mean of complex functions
  • Learn about non-standard analysis and its applications in problem-solving
  • Investigate advanced topics in universal algebra and supermanifolds
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Mathematics students, educators, and enthusiasts looking to challenge their problem-solving skills and deepen their understanding of advanced mathematical concepts.

ZetaOfThree
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Check out this collection of mathematics problems, published in 1991, by V.I. Arnol'd called "A Mathematical Trivium". Here's the link:
http://www.math.upenn.edu/Arnold/Arnold-Trivium-1991.pdf
Apparently, these problems are meant to be solvable by the end of your undergraduate (math) education. Arnol'd says "A student who takes much more than five minutes to calculate the mean of ##\sin^{100}{x}## with 10% accuracy has no mastery of mathematics, even if he has studied non-standard analysis, universal algebra, supermanifolds, or embedding theorems." I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the problems. Personally, I found many of them to be quite difficult. What do you think?
 
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ZetaOfThree said:
Arnol'd says "A student who takes much more than five minutes to calculate the mean of ##\sin^{100}{x}## with 10% accuracy has no mastery of mathematics, even if he has studied non-standard analysis, universal algebra, supermanifolds, or embedding theorems." I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the problems. Personally, I found many of them to be quite difficult. What do you think?

Didn't look into it more than the sin^100 problem but that was pretty fun. First estimate was 6% off, got it down to 3‰ upon using a different method. Do I get bonus points for literally having done it on the back of an envelope? :p
 
Nice! You should try some of the problems in Trivium. There some similar themed problems.
 

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