This volume is a collection of articles translated from Russian editions of the journal "Kvant"--T.p. verso.

This volume contains translated articles originally published from 1970 to 1990 in the Russian journal "Kvant." The influence of this magazine on mathematics and physics education in Russia is unmatched. This volume initiates a collection that represents the Russian tradition of expository mathematical writing at its best. Written by leading Russian mathematicians and expositors, these articles present mathematics in a conceptual, entertaining, and accessible way. This volume is designed for students and teachers who love mathematics, and can expand on local school curriculum subjects. This second volume addresses diverse aspects of analysis and algebra.

This volume contains translated articles originally published from 1970 to 1990 in the Russian journal "Kvant." The influence of this magazine on mathematics and physics education in Russia is unmatched. This volume initiates a collection that represents the Russian tradition of expository mathematical writing at its best. Written by leading Russian mathematicians and expositors, these articles present mathematics in a conceptual, entertaining, and accessible way. This volume is designed for students and teachers who love mathematics, and can expand on local school curriculum subjects. This first volume addresses various topics in number theory.

This book is a translation from Russian of Part I of the book Mathematics Through Problems: From Olympiads and Math Circles to Profession. The other two parts, Geometry and Combinatorics, will be published soon. The main goal of this book is to develop important parts of mathematics through problems. The author tries to put together sequences of problems that allow high school students (and some undergraduates) with strong interest in mathematics to discover and recreate much of elementary mathematics and start edging into the sophisticated world of topics such as group theory, Galois theory, and so on, thus building a bridge (by showing that there is no gap) between standard high school exercises and more intricate and abstract concepts in mathematics. Definitions and/or references for material that is not standard in the school curriculum are included. However, many topics in the book are difficult when you start learning them from scratch. To help with this, problems are carefully arranged to provide gradual introduction into each subject. Problems are often accompanied by hints and/or complete solutions The book is based on classes taught by the author at different times at the Independent University of Moscow, at a number of Moscow schools and math circles, and at various summer schools. It can be used by high school students and undergraduates, their teachers, and organizers of summer camps and math circles. In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.

This is the first of three volumes originated from a series of lectures in mathematics given by professors of Kyoto University in Japan for high school students. The main purpose of the lectures was to show the listeners the beauty and liveliness of mathematics using the material that is accessible to people with little preliminary knowledge. The first chapter of the book talks about the geometry and topology of surfaces. Among other topics the authors discuss the Poincar‚?Hopf theorem about critical points of vector fields on surfaces and the Gauss?Bonnet theorem about the relation between the curvature and topology (Euler characteristics). The second chapter addresses various aspects of the concept of dimension, including the Peano curve and the Poincar‚ approach to dimension. It also discusses the structure of three-dimensional manifolds, proving, in particular, that the three-dimensional sphere is the union of two doughnuts.

The Mathematical Olympiad examinations, covering the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), have been published annually since 1976. This is the fourth volume in that series. The IMO is a world mathematics competition for high school students that takes place each year in a different country. Students from all over the world participate in this competition. These Olympiad style exams consist of several challenging essay-type problems. Although a correct and complete solution to an Olympiad problem often requires deep analysis and careful argument, the problems require no more than a solid background in high school mathematics coupled with a dose of mathematical ingenuity. There are helpful hints provided for each of the problems. These hints often help lead the student to a solution of the problem. Complete solutions to each of the problems is also included, and many of the problems are presented together with a collection of remarkable solutions developed by the examination committees, contestants and experts, during or after the contest. For each problem with multiple solutions, some common crucial results are presented at the beginning of these solutions.

How quickly can you compute the remainder when dividing by 120143? Why would you even want to compute this? And what does this have to do with cryptography? Modern cryptography lies at the intersection of mathematics and computer sciences, involving number theory, algebra, computational complexity, fast algorithms, and even quantum mechanics. Many people think of codes in terms of spies, but in the information age, highly mathematical codes are used every day by almost everyone, whether at the bank ATM, at the grocery checkout, or at the keyboard when you access your email or purchase products online. This book provides a historical and mathematical tour of cryptography, from classical ciphers to quantum cryptography. The authors introduce just enough mathematics to explore modern encryption methods, with nothing more than basic algebra and some elementary number theory being necessary. Complete expositions are given of the classical ciphers and the attacks on them, along with a detailed description of the famous Enigma system. The public-key system RSA is described, including a complete mathematical proof that it works. Numerous related topics are covered, such as efficiencies of algorithms, detecting and correcting errors, primality testing and digital signatures. The topics and exposition are carefully chosen to highlight mathematical thinking and problem solving. Each chapter ends with a collection of problems, ranging from straightforward applications to more challenging problems that introduce advanced topics. Unlike many books in the field, this book is aimed at a general liberal arts student, but without losing mathematical completeness.

The Mathematical Olympiad examinations, covering the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), have been published annually by the MAA American Mathematics Competitions since 1976. This collection of excellent problems and beautiful solutions is a valuable companion for students who wish to develop their interest in mathematics.

Offers a basic introduction to the types of problems that illustrate the earliest forms of algebra. This book presents some significant steps in solving equations and, wherever applicable, to link these developments to the extension of the number system. It analyzes various examples of problems, with their typical solution methods.

This book is a concrete introduction to abstract algebra and number theory. Starting from the basics, it develops the rich parallels between the integers and polynomials, covering topics such as Unique Factorization, arithmetic over quadratic number fields, the RSA encryption scheme, and finite fields. In addition to introducing students to the rigorous foundations of mathematical proofs, the authors cover several specialized topics, giving proofs of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, the transcendentality of $e$, and Quadratic Reciprocity Law. The book is aimed at incoming undergraduate students with a strong passion for mathematics.