All
registered participants are encouraged to look at problems and
solutions
from previous Putnam exams. One good source is the journal
American
Mathematical Monthly (it can be found at the UNBC library); the Exam is
usually
published in the October issue. One of the best problem solving
journals,
Crux Mathematicorum, and two other journals with nice problem-solving
sections, The College Mathematical Journal and Mathematics Magazine,
can also be found at the UNBC library.
You can also check the following sites for more info on Putnam, problems-solutions-startegies and other math competitions.
General information on Putnam exam
http://math.scu.edu/putnam/index.html
http://www.math.uvic.ca/faculty/sourour/competitions/putnam.html
Directory of resources on problem solving and math competitions
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki/index.php/Resources_for_mathematics_competitions
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~wkahan/MathH90/
Solutions from Putnam experts
David Bernstein's Putnam page
(Putnam problems and solutions up to year 2005)
(PDF,
TEX, DVI and PS)
Putnam 1985-2000 problems and solutions by Kiran Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, and Ravi Vakil
Recent Putnam problems and solutions (Kiran Kedlaya)
Problem Solving Books
For those of you who are interested to acquire a good book or two on
problem
solving, I would suggest the following (far from exhaustive) list from
Amazon.com
Math Olympiad Resources
Another list comprises all books published by the expert problem solver
Titu
Andreescu and coauthors. He has been, by far, the most active author of
problem
solving books in the recent years. He has worked on organizing math
compettions such as USA math olympiad, coaching students for
participation in the International
Math Olympiad and preparing supporting materials. He also has a book
focused
exclusively on Putnam.
Titu Andreescu
Preparation Notes
Functional Equations:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12
13 14 15
16
Algebra of
Polynomials: 1 2 3 4 5
6
7 8 9
10 11 12
13 14 15
16 17 18
19
Recurrence Relations
(relevant text is Grimaldi's book, Chapter 10; some background is given
in the first two pages of these notes): 1 2 3 4
5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22 23
24 25
Pigeonhole Principle
Problems (relevant text is Grimaldi's book, section 5.5): 1 2 3
4
5 6 7
8 9 10
11 12 13
Extremal Geometry
Problems (relevant text is Applied Maximum and Minimum Problems, a
section of Stuart's Calculus): 1 2 3 4
5
