Some consolation that --- this year at any rate --- your version would be easier than the official one! WFL On 1/19/09, Dave Blackston <hyperdex@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,
I'm probably not alone on this list in that I like to try my hand at the Putnam problems each year. This past December, problem A2 was the following...
Alan and Barbara play a game in which they take turns filling entries of an initially empty 2008x2008 array. Alan plays first. At each turn, a player chooses a real number and places it in a vacant entry. The game ends when all the entries are filled. Alan wins if the determinant of the resulting matrix is non-zero; Barbara wins if it is zero. Which player has a winning strategy?
This is not an overly challenging problem. Unfortunately for me, I misread the problem and tried to solve the game where Alan is trying to force the zero determinant. This seems a lot more challenging -- I have yet to solve it, though I am pretty convinced I know which player actually has the strategy. Do any math-funners want to give this a try?
Dave _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun