Quantitative analysts and their secretive algorithms have reportedly been performing relatively well in this year’s volatile stock market. If you’ve ever wondered what kind of brain power it takes to be a top Wall Street quant, a number of analysts get together each year for the MoMath Masters competition at the National Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan.
Two Sigma quant Daniel Stronger came in second at this year’s competition behind only Carnegie Mellon math professor Po-Shen Loh.
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If you’d like to see how you stack up against the top brains on Wall Street, Financial News recently posted a sampling of actual questions from the competition. Scroll down to the bottom of this for the answers or click here for full explanations.
1. Fermat’s Sandwich Theorem reveals what mathematical fact?
- A) A function between two others that have the same limit has that limit as well.
- B) 26 is the only number immediately between a square and a cube.
- C) A bounded increasing sequence has a limit.
- D) 152 is the largest number immediately between a prime and a triangular number.
- E) Any sandwich can be cut so that both pieces have the same amount of bread and the same amount of filling.
2. Which of the following must be true about the handshaking that occurred at a recent teachers’ convention?
- A) The number of teachers who shook hands an odd number of times is even.
- B) The number of teachers who shook hands an even number of times is odd.
- C) The number of teachers who shook hands an odd number of times is odd.
- D) The number of teachers who shook hands an even number of times is even.
- E) The number of times teachers shook hands is odd.
3. Given any quadrilateral, connecting the midpoints of consecutive sides will always result in which of the following shapes?
- A) square
- B) rhombus
- C) rectangle
- D) parallelogram
- E) kite
4. Who among the following received a scholarship to study Chemical Engineering with Mathematics at Northwestern University?
- A) Heidi Klum
- B) Kate Moss
- C) Brooke Shields
- D) Naomi Campbell
- E) Cindy Crawford
5. Let m be the smallest positive integer such that m²+7m+89 is divisible by 77. What is m?
- A) 8
- B) 18
- C) 52
- D) 73
- E) 74
Answers:
- 1) B
- 2) A
- 3) D
- 4) E
- 5) B
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