American Regions Mathematics League

The American Regions Mathematics League (ARML), is an annual, national high school mathematics team competition held simultaneously at four locations in the United States: the University of Iowa, Penn State, UNLV, and the newly added site at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Past sites have included San Jose State University, Rutgers University, and Duke University.

American Regions Mathematics League

ARML is a prestigious, national math tournament that is often called the "World Series of Mathematics Competitions".[1] Teams consist of 15 members, which usually represent a large geographic region (such as a state) or a large population center (such as a major city). Some math and science magnet schools, such as Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, VA, and the Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology (AAST), NJ, also field teams. The competition is held on the first Saturday after Memorial Day.

As of 2014, over 150 teams competed with around 2000 students.[2]

ARML problems cover a wide variety of mathematical topics including algebra, geometry, number theory, combinatorics, probability, and inequalities. Calculus is not required to successfully complete any problem, but may facilitate solving the problem more quickly or efficiently. While part of the competition is short-answer based, there is a cooperative team round, and a proof-based power question (also completed as a team). ARML problems are harder than most high school mathematics competitions.

The contest is largely made possible by the monetary contribution of D. E. Shaw & Co. among other smaller contributors.[3]

Competition format

The competition consists of four formal events:

  • A team round, where the entire team has 20 minutes to solve 10 problems. Each problem is worth 5 points, for a possible total of 50 points
  • A power question, where the entire team has one hour to solve a multiple-part (usually ten) question requiring explanations and proofs. This is usually an unusual, unique, or invented topic so students are forced to deal with complex new mathematical ideas. Each problem is weighted for a possible 50 points.
  • An individual round, where each team member answers five groups of two questions each, with ten minutes per pair. Starting in 2009, the individual round expanded from eight questions to ten. Each problem is worth 1 point, for a grand total of 150 points possible for the team. Only 12 students nationwide received a perfect score in 2014. [4] This round's format is similar to that of the Target Round in MATHCOUNTS.
  • A relay, where the team is broken into five groups of three. Within each group, the first team member solves a problem and passes the solution to the next team member, who plugs that answer into their question, and so on. The allotted time is six minutes, but extra points are given for solving the problem in three minutes. Solving the relay in 3 minutes gives 5 points, solving it in 6 minutes gives 3 points. The whole process is done twice, making the maximum 50 points possible for the team.
  • The teams are scored based on the number of points they attained with the maximum being 300 points. Team score ties are broken by first considering the sum of the Team and Power Rounds, then the Relay Round total.

At the end, there is a set of tiebreaker questions to determine the top 20 participants, who receive cash prizes from D. E. Shaw & Co.. Each student tied for the highest score (or the highest two scores if there are fewer than 20 tied with the top score) is given up to three tiebreaker questions, one at a time, with the goal of answering correctly as quickly as possible. As soon as a student answers a tiebreaker question correctly, they have finished the tiebreaker. Students are then ranked by individual round score, followed by the time to answer the first tiebreaker question correctly, then the time to answer the second tiebreaker (if applicable), then the third. Students are given 10 minutes to answer the first tiebreaker question, and 6 minutes to answer each of the second and third tiebreaker questions.

In recent years, there has been a super relay, where two groups of seven team members (fourteen in all) both work to give a correct answer to the fifteenth team member. That last team member substitutes two answers into his problem. For logistical reasons, the Super Relay has never counted towards the team score. It was instituted as a "filler" while scores are tabulated. Candies and other goodies are sometimes rewards for the super relay round.

Also in recent years, a song contest has become an informal event at ARML. Each school is allowed to have any number of their students perform a song related to mathematics, usually a parody of a popular song, with its lyrics replaced.

The format of the ARML competition is based on the NYSML competition, but is generally considered more difficult than the NYSML competition. This format also inspired the Great Plains Math League.

History

The New York State Mathematics League held its first competition in 1973, a competition intended for New York state teams. A team from Massachusetts asked to participate in the 1974 NYSML competition, and it took first place. This led to the creation of the Atlantic Regions Mathematics League in 1976, which became the American Regions Mathematics League in 1984.

When the Atlantic Regions Mathematics League was founded, the competition was held at a single eastern site that changed from year to year:

YearLocation
1976C. W. Post College
1977Brown University
1978Rutgers University
1979Brown University
1980Rutgers University
1981University of Maryland College Park
1982University of Maryland College Park
1983Pennsylvania State University

After 1983, the coordinators decided to keep the competition at Penn State University. ARML expanded to two sites in the late 1980s and to three sites in 1995. In 2008, ARML added a fourth site at the University of Georgia in Athens to better accommodate students in the Southeast, which moved to the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2020.

The 2006 competition saw significant expansion. Around 120 teams and a total of around 1800 students competed, which was around 25% larger than during any other year. The attendance at the western site, UNLV, nearly doubled.

Past Team Winners
YearTeam[5]Score
1976New York City A117[6]
1977Massachusetts A148[7]
1978Fairfax-Montgomery135[8]
1979New York City A129[9]
1980New York City A113[10]
1981New York City A166[11]
1982New York City A132[12]
1983New York City A132[13]
1984New York City A162[14]
1985Montgomery County, Maryland A157[15]
1986New York City A183[16]
1987New York City A170[17]
1988Chicago A197[18]
1989Chicago A187[19]
1990Ontario A197[20]
1991Ontario A200[21]
1992Georgia A172[22]
1993Thomas Jefferson A190[23]
1994New York City A183[24]
1995New York City A126[25]
1996San Francisco Bay Area A179[26]
1997Minnesota Gold125[27]
1998Massachusetts A171[28]
1999San Francisco Bay Area A187
2000Chicago A/San Francisco Bay Area A (tie)172
2001San Francisco Bay Area A191
2002Thomas Jefferson A190
2003Thomas Jefferson A155
2004Thomas Jefferson A166
2005Lehigh Valley Fire172
2006North Carolina A186
2007Phillips Exeter Red171
2008New York City A170
2009Lehigh Valley Fire215
2010Lehigh Valley Fire204
2011Lehigh Valley Fire232
2012North Carolina A223
2013San Francisco Bay Area A234
2014PEARL (Phillips Exeter Academy Red Lions) A260
2015San Francisco Bay Area A211
2016 San Francisco Bay Area A 210
2017 San Francisco Bay Area A 245
2018 Thomas Jefferson High School for the Science and Technology A1 234
2019 Thomas Jefferson High School for the Science and Technology A1 245

Past Individual Winners
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
YearTeam
1977Randal Dougherty (Fairfax County/Montgomery County)
1978Fred Helenius (New York City A)
1979Irwin Jungreis (New York City A)
1980Paul Feldman (New York City A)
1981Benji Fisher (New York City A)
1982Noam Elkies (New York City A)
1983David Zuckerman (New York City A)
1984Mike Reid (New York City A)
1985Ken Fan (Montgomery County, Maryland A)
1986John Overdeck (Howard County A)
1987Danny Cory (North Carolina)
1988Michael Zieve (Greater Richmond)
1989Sam Vandervelde (Lynchburg/Harrisonburg)
1990Akira Negi (North Carolina)
1991Andrew Schultz (Chicago A)
1992Robert Kleinberg (Upstate New York)
1993Jeremy Bem (Upstate New York)
1994Noam Shazeer (Massachusetts A)
1995Daniel Stronger (New York City A)
1996Nathan Curtis (Thomas Jefferson A)
1997Davesh Maulik (Nassau A)
1998Gabriel Carroll (San Francisco Bay Area A)
1999Gabriel Carroll (San Francisco Bay Area A)
2000Tiankai Liu (San Francisco Bay Area A)
2001Gabriel Carroll (San Francisco Bay Area A)
2002Ruozhou Jia (Chicago A)
2003Anders Kaseorg (North Carolina A)
2004Aaron Pixton (Upstate New York A)
2005Ryan Ko (Phillips Exeter A)
2006Samuel Dittmer (Indiana Gold)
2007Tao Ran Chen (New York City A)
2008Qin Xuan Pan (Montgomery A)
2009Zhuo Qun (Alex) Song (Ontario West)
2010Ben Gunby (Georgetown Day School)
2011Zhuo Qun (Alex) Song (Ontario West)
2012Allen Liu (Upstate New York)
2013Allen Liu (Upstate New York)
2014Darryl Wu (Washington A)
2015Brice Huang (West-Windsor Plainsboro A)
2016Daniel Kim (Bergen County Academies)
2017Brian Reinhart (Florida A - Oxbridge Academy)
2018Luke Robitaille (Texas A1)
2019David Chen (Thomas Jefferson A1)

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2014-05-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2014-05-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. http://www.arml.com Archived 2007-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2014-05-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Results from before 1992 are taken from "PAST WINNERS AT ARML".. This site may not be accurate; it is wrong in at least one year of Division B standings.
  6. "1976 Team Results". Archived from the original on 24 August 2000.
  7. "1977 Team Results". Archived from the original on 5 February 2001.
  8. "1978 Team Results". Archived from the original on 12 January 2001.
  9. "1979 Team Results". Archived from the original on January 12, 2001.
  10. "1980 Team Results". Archived from the original on January 12, 2001.
  11. "1981 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  12. "1982 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  13. "1983 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  14. "1984 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  15. "1985 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  16. "1986 Team Results". Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
  17. "1987 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 5, 2004.
  18. "1988 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 5, 2004.
  19. "1989 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 5, 2004.
  20. Casey Banas (1990-06-05). "Chicago-area Math Team Proves It's One Of The Best". 1990 ARML Results.
  21. "1991 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  22. "1992 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  23. "1993 Team Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  24. "1994 ARML Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  25. "1995 ARML Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  26. "1996 ARML Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  27. "1997 ARML Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
  28. "1998 ARML Results". Archived from the original on December 10, 2004.
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