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k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

Are you interested in working towards MATHCOUNTS and don’t know where to start? We have you covered! If you have taken Prealgebra, then you are ready for MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics. Already aiming for State or National MATHCOUNTS and harder AMC 8 problems? Then our MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Advanced course is for you.

Summer camps are starting next month at the Virtual Campus in math and language arts that are 2 - to 4 - weeks in duration. Spaces are still available - don’t miss your chance to have an enriching summer experience. There are middle and high school competition math camps as well as Math Beasts camps that review key topics coupled with fun explorations covering areas such as graph theory (Math Beasts Camp 6), cryptography (Math Beasts Camp 7-8), and topology (Math Beasts Camp 8-9)!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following upcoming events:
[list][*]May 9th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, Casework 2: Overwhelming Evidence — A Text Adventure, a game where participants will work together to navigate the map, solve puzzles, and win! All are welcome.
[*]May 19th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, What's Next After Beast Academy?, designed for students finishing Beast Academy and ready for Prealgebra 1.
[*]May 20th, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 1 Math Jam, Problems 1 to 4, join the Canada/USA Mathcamp staff for this exciting Math Jam, where they discuss solutions to Problems 1 to 4 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz!
[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
nice integral
Martin.s   1
N an hour ago by Svyatoslav
$$\int_0^\infty \left(\frac{1}{\log t}+\frac{1}{1-t}\right)^3 \frac{dt}{1+t^2}$$
1 reply
Martin.s
Yesterday at 11:24 AM
Svyatoslav
an hour ago
Sequence and Series
P162008   1
N 2 hours ago by alexheinis
Source: Coaching Test
Let $a_n = 3n + \sqrt{n^2 - 1}$ and $b_n = 2\left(\sqrt{n^2 - n} + \sqrt{n^2 + n}\right)$
If $\sum_{i=1}^{49} \sqrt{a_i - b_i} = A + B\sqrt{2}$ for some integers $A$ and $B.$ Find the value of $A^2 + B^2.$
1 reply
P162008
Yesterday at 6:22 AM
alexheinis
2 hours ago
nice integral
Martin.s   1
N 5 hours ago by hukilau17
\[
\int_{0}^{1} \frac{dx}{(\ln x + i\pi)^2\,(1 - x + e^{i\pi})}
\]
1 reply
Martin.s
Yesterday at 5:13 PM
hukilau17
5 hours ago
Putnam 2014 A3
Kent Merryfield   16
N Today at 1:47 AM by maromex
Let $a_0=5/2$ and $a_k=a_{k-1}^2-2$ for $k\ge 1.$ Compute \[\prod_{k=0}^{\infty}\left(1-\frac1{a_k}\right)\] in closed form.
16 replies
Kent Merryfield
Dec 7, 2014
maromex
Today at 1:47 AM
Trigo or Complex no.?
hzbrl   1
N Today at 1:45 AM by hzbrl
(a) Let $y=\cos \phi+\cos 2 \phi$, where $\phi=\frac{2 \pi}{5}$. Verify by direct substitution that $y$ satisfies the quadratic equation $2 y^2=3 y+2$ and deduce that the value of $y$ is $-\frac{1}{2}$.
(b) Let $\theta=\frac{2 \pi}{17}$. Show that $\sum_{k=0}^{16} \cos k \theta=0$
(c) If $z=\cos \theta+\cos 2 \theta+\cos 4 \theta+\cos 8 \theta$, show that the value of $z$ is $-(1-\sqrt{17}) / 4$.



I could solve (a) and (b). Can anyone help me with the 3rd part please?
1 reply
hzbrl
Yesterday at 3:49 AM
hzbrl
Today at 1:45 AM
Looking for someone to work with
midacer   3
N Yesterday at 11:48 PM by midacer
I’m looking for a motivated study partner (or small group) to collaborate on college-level competition math problems, particularly from contests like the Putnam, IMO Shortlist, IMC, and similar. My goal is to improve problem-solving skills, explore advanced topics (e.g., combinatorics, NT, analysis), and prepare for upcoming competitions. I’m new to contests but have a strong general math background(CPGE in Morocco). If interested, reply here or DM me to discuss
3 replies
midacer
Yesterday at 8:22 PM
midacer
Yesterday at 11:48 PM
Possible values of determinant of 0-1 matrices
mathematics2004   3
N Yesterday at 7:40 PM by Isolemma
Source: 2021 Simon Marais, A3
Let $\mathcal{M}$ be the set of all $2021 \times 2021$ matrices with at most two entries in each row equal to $1$ and all other entries equal to $0$.
Determine the size of the set $\{ \det A : A \in M \}$.
Here $\det A$ denotes the determinant of the matrix $A$.
3 replies
mathematics2004
Nov 2, 2021
Isolemma
Yesterday at 7:40 PM
Infinite Sum
P162008   2
N Yesterday at 5:42 PM by smartvong
Source: Singapore Mathematics Tournament
Let $f(n)$ be the nearest integer to $\sqrt{n}$.
Find the value of $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{(\frac{3}{2})^{f(n)} + (\frac{3}{2})^{-f(n)}}{(\frac{3}{2})^n}.$ Also, generalise your result.
2 replies
P162008
Yesterday at 6:18 AM
smartvong
Yesterday at 5:42 PM
Sequence and Series
P162008   1
N Yesterday at 1:00 PM by alexheinis
Given the sequence $(u_n)$ such that $u_{n+1} = \frac{u_n^2 + 2011u_n}{2012} \forall n \in N^{*}$ and $u_1 = 2$. Find the value of $\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{u_k}{u_{k+1} - 1}.$
1 reply
P162008
Yesterday at 6:12 AM
alexheinis
Yesterday at 1:00 PM
Evaluate: $\int_{-1}^{1} \text{max}\{2-x,2,1+x\} dx$
Vulch   1
N Yesterday at 12:05 PM by Mathzeus1024
Evaluate: $\int_{-1}^{1} \text{max}\{2-x,2,1+x\} dx$
1 reply
Vulch
Yesterday at 9:08 AM
Mathzeus1024
Yesterday at 12:05 PM
Evaluate: $\int_{0}^{\pi} \text{min}\{2\sin x,1-\cos x,1\} dx$
Vulch   1
N Yesterday at 11:58 AM by Mathzeus1024
Evaluate: $\int_{0}^{\pi} \text{min}\{2\sin x,1-\cos x,1\} dx$
1 reply
Vulch
Yesterday at 9:11 AM
Mathzeus1024
Yesterday at 11:58 AM
Integral
Martin.s   1
N Yesterday at 11:41 AM by Martin.s
$$\int_0^\infty \frac{\ln(x+1) - \ln(x)}{(x^2 + 1)^s} \, dx, \quad s > 0$$
1 reply
Martin.s
Dec 11, 2024
Martin.s
Yesterday at 11:41 AM
integral
Martin.s   3
N Yesterday at 11:27 AM by Martin.s
$$I = 2\pi^2 \int_0^\infty \left(\frac{\coth(t/2)}{t^2} - \frac{2}{t^3} - \frac{1}{6t}\right) e^{-t} dt$$
3 replies
Martin.s
Yesterday at 6:31 AM
Martin.s
Yesterday at 11:27 AM
nice integral
Martin.s   2
N Yesterday at 10:07 AM by Moubinool
$$ \int_{0}^{\infty} \ln(2t) \ln(\tanh t) \, dt $$
2 replies
Martin.s
May 11, 2025
Moubinool
Yesterday at 10:07 AM
Advice on Statistical Proof
ElectrickyRaikou   0
Apr 21, 2025
Suppose we are given i.i.d.\ observations $X_i$ from a distribution with probability density function (PDF) $f(x_i \mid \theta)$ for $i = 1, \ldots, n$, where the parameter $\theta$ has a prior distribution with PDF $\pi(\theta)$. Consider the following two approaches to Bayesian updating:

(1) Let $X = (X_1, \ldots, X_n)$ be the complete data vector. Denote the posterior PDF as $\pi(\theta \mid x)$, where $x = (x_1, \ldots, x_n)$, obtained by applying Bayes' rule to the full dataset at once.

(2) Start with prior $\pi_0(\theta) = \pi(\theta)$. For each $i = 1, \ldots, n$, let $\pi_{i-1}(\theta)$ be the current prior and update it using observation $x_i$ to obtain the new posterior:

$$\pi_i(\theta) = \frac{f(x_i \mid \theta) \pi_{i-1}(\theta)}{\int f(x_i \mid \theta) \pi_{i-1}(\theta) \, d\theta}.$$
Are the final posteriors $\pi(\theta \mid x)$ from part (a) and $\pi_n(\theta)$ from part (b) the same? Provide a proof or a counterexample.


Here is the proof I've written:

Proof

Do you guys think this is rigorous enough? What would you change?
0 replies
ElectrickyRaikou
Apr 21, 2025
0 replies
Advice on Statistical Proof
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ElectrickyRaikou
286 posts
#1
Y by
Suppose we are given i.i.d.\ observations $X_i$ from a distribution with probability density function (PDF) $f(x_i \mid \theta)$ for $i = 1, \ldots, n$, where the parameter $\theta$ has a prior distribution with PDF $\pi(\theta)$. Consider the following two approaches to Bayesian updating:

(1) Let $X = (X_1, \ldots, X_n)$ be the complete data vector. Denote the posterior PDF as $\pi(\theta \mid x)$, where $x = (x_1, \ldots, x_n)$, obtained by applying Bayes' rule to the full dataset at once.

(2) Start with prior $\pi_0(\theta) = \pi(\theta)$. For each $i = 1, \ldots, n$, let $\pi_{i-1}(\theta)$ be the current prior and update it using observation $x_i$ to obtain the new posterior:

$$\pi_i(\theta) = \frac{f(x_i \mid \theta) \pi_{i-1}(\theta)}{\int f(x_i \mid \theta) \pi_{i-1}(\theta) \, d\theta}.$$
Are the final posteriors $\pi(\theta \mid x)$ from part (a) and $\pi_n(\theta)$ from part (b) the same? Provide a proof or a counterexample.


Here is the proof I've written:

Proof

Do you guys think this is rigorous enough? What would you change?
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