IMO at HKUST

By coincidence, they're hosting the International Math Olympiad here. There are teams of kids from all over the world, but less geeky looking than I expected.

This deck of cards was created by the HKUST math chair, formerly of MSU.

g, math ability and their population distribution

I've been meaning to post about this report on high level math competitions which appeared in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. The table below is a good summary of data in the paper. (Click for larger version.)



My guess is that this population is roughly +4 SD in math ability and +(3-4) SD in g. For detecting useful (very) high end ability I trust these competitions more than tests of g, with the proviso that training has a strong effect on performance.

Here's something about what psychometricians would call the "validity" of the test :-)

The skill sets necessary to excel in mathematical problem solving and mathematics research are not identical. Research requires the stamina to work on problems over extended periods of time without knowing whether solutions even exist; the competitions discussed here require the ability to solve difficult problems known to be solvable under timed conditions. Thus, some world-class research mathematicians exist who attempted, but did not excel in the Putnam, IMO, or its qualifying examinations. Nevertheless, a high correlation exists between exceptional ability in mathematical research and problem solving since both require outstanding mathematical intuition and creativity along with the interest in devoting considerable time and effort toward acquiring extensive knowledge in the field. Numerous Putnam Fellows have gone on to receive the Fields Medal (the so-called Nobel Prize of Mathematics) or the Nobel Prize in Physics. Some who never quite achieved Fellow status have also been awarded Nobel Prizes. Eight of the eighteen Fields medalists from 1990 through 2006 were IMO gold or silver medalists in their youth, with Grigorij Perelman, who recently resolved the Poincaré Conjecture, having achieved a perfect forty-two in the 1982 IMO.

See also Talent Selection.

Added from comments:

The tidal wave from PRC

Will China's Beijing Olympics performance match their dominance of international science competitions? A reader sends the following information.

Yes, yes, I know -- but are they creative? ;-)

China took the gold medal in 2008 the 49th International Mathematical Olympiad (July 10th to 22nd, 2008 - Madrid, Spain) link

Russians came in 2nd by very small margin. USA came in 3rd with the help of Asian students such as Alex Zhai who got a perfect score of 42, along with other two students from China. (Big surprise is where have the Indian students gone? Maybe in the SpellingBees? :-)

China also took the gold medal in the 39th International Physics Olympiad (2008) - Hanoi, Vietnam (28/07). All of its participants got Gold medals. Canada and US team members are also mostly Chinese. Taiwan is in second place. link

At 2008 the 40th Chemistry Olympiads held in Budapest, Hungary on July 21, 2008, all 4 Chinese students got gold medals, again China in 1st place.
link