Using the W.L. Putnam Mathematical Competition for undergraduates as an inspiring symbol to build an appropriate math background for graduate studies in pure or applied mathematics, the reader is eased into transitioning from problem-solving at the high school level to the university and beyond, that is, to mathematical research. This work may be used as a study guide for the Putnam exam, as a text for many different problem-solving courses, and as a source of problems for standard courses in undergraduate mathematics. Putnam and Beyond is organized for independent study by undergraduate and gradu
ate students, as well as teachers and researchers in the physical sciences who wish to expand their mathematical horizons.Răzvan Gelca, Texas Tech University, works in Chern-Simons theory, a field of mathematics that blends low dimensional topology, mathematical physics, geometry, and the theory of group representations. He is also involved in mathematics competitions such as the mathematical Olympiads and the W.L. Putnam Mathematical Competition. He is co-author of 2 published books (with Titu Andreescu), namely “Mathematical Olympiad Challenges” and the first edition of “Putnam and Beyond.” In 2015 Gelca and Andreescu will also publish a monograph on Pell’s Equations.
Titu Andreescu, University of Texas-Dallas, is highly involved with mathematics contests and olym
piads. He was the Director of AMC (as appointed by the Mathematical Association of America), Director of MOP, Head Coach of the USA IMO Team and Chairman of the USAMO. He has also authored a large number of books on the topic of problem solving and olympiad-style mathematics including the first edition of “Putnam and Beyond” (with Razvan Gelca), “Mathematical Olympiad Treasures” and “Mathematical Olympiad Challenges” (with Razvan Gelca). Additional Springer publications include “Mathematical Bridges”, “Complex Numbers from A to ...Z”, “Number Theory” and a new monograph on Pell’s Equations to be published in 2015.