Western PA ARML is a program for high school students interested in mathematics and in math competitions. At weekly practices, students learn math that isn't normally part of the high school curriculum, focusing on problem-solving techniques. At the end of May, we send a team of 15 students to participate in the ARML competition.
We welcome students of all abilities to attend our practices. The only requirement is being excited about math!
Practices are held throughout the year every Sunday from 4 PM to 7 PM at Carnegie Mellon University in Porter Hall, room A20. (Porter Hall is in the northwestern corner of the CMU campus, and is most easily accessible via Frew St.)
The typical ARML practice begins with a short lesson on a mathematical technique, followed by a problem-solving session until around 5:30 PM. After a break for pizza, one of the coaches or a guest will give a talk on a topic not necessarily related to competition math, showcasing the infinite variety of mathematics.
A tentative schedule for the fall semester of 2015 is provided. Check back for up-to-date information about the topics that will be covered in practices, the speakers for the after-pizza talks, and handouts from previous practices.
| Date | Topic | Subtopic | After-pizza talk |
| September 13 | Number Theory (Joseph and Misha) |
Joseph: Modular arithmetic Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: Perfect Numbers |
| September 20 | Misha: Divisibility Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: What's the Biggest Number? | |
| September 27 | Joseph: Fermat's little theorem Handout / Solutions |
Christopher Cox: The Math of Juggling | |
| October 4 | Misha: Diophantine equations Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: Mathematical Games | |
| October 11 | Practice math contest AMC 12A 2006 / AIME I 2006 / USAMO 2006 |
Mor Harchol-Balter: Markov Chains | |
| October 18 | Geometry (David and Pranav) |
Misha: The area method Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: Tangle Theory |
| October 25 | Misha & David: Circles Slides (from 2013) |
Misha Lavrov: Euler's Formula | |
| November 1 | Pranav: Triangle geometry Handout |
Pictionary | |
| November 8 | Pranav: Coordinate geometry Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: What is computation? Link to the poem |
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| November 15 | Practice math contest AMC 12A 2007 / AIME I 2007 / USAMO 2007 |
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| November 22 | Combinatorics (Victor and Misha) |
Victor: Permutations and binomials Handout / Solutions |
David Sisson: Differential Geometry |
| November 29 | Practice math contest AMC 10B 2008 / AIME II 2008 |
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| December 6 | Misha: Counting strategies Handout / Solutions |
Misha Lavrov: A Grid Problem | |
| December 13 | Victor: Recursions Handout / Solutions |
Fun! | |
The team captain is Gabe Ren <gaberen@gmail.com>, a senior at North Allegheny Senior High School.
Our faculty sponsor is Po-Shen Loh, a professor in the math department at CMU.
If you have any comments or questions or would like to know more about ARML, please don't hesitate to email any of the coaches!
On this website, you can also find old practice materials from 2012, 2013, and 2014.