ocean-life Chapter 42, Question 1
Chapter 42, Question 1
Lucas took a deep breath, pulled himself out of his thoughts, and his gaze unconsciously drifted back to Su Hao, who was sitting to his side.
"Is this the brat from Xia Kingdom?"
Since checking into the hotel yesterday, an extremely absurd rumor has been spreading like wildfire within the US team's intelligence network.
It is said that this year, a 12-year-old boy from the Xia Guo team won first place in the Xia Guo Mathematical Olympiad, which is known for its hellish difficulty, by crushing the corpses of a group of high school prodigies.
At first, everyone took it as a joke, but the coaching staff's confirmation of the results made everyone gasp in shock:
Holy crap, this is actually real!
What was I doing when I was 12?
At that time, Lucas was absorbing knowledge like a sponge in the AoPS community, searching for the "divinity" of mathematics in collisions with the smartest minds in the United States, including those advanced theories that even university professors would find difficult.
But they are definitely not at the level where they can compete like gods in the IMO.
"Genius? Ha, among the mediocre academic geniuses in Xia Country who rely entirely on rote memorization and intensive practice problems, he might be considered one."
But that kid absolutely couldn't withstand the extreme pressure of the IMO, where you have to confront the truth!
However, what truly annoyed Lucas was not this rumor.
Instead, it was Zhang Wei, the veteran player of the Xia Guo team, whom we met yesterday in the lobby.
When talking about the competition, especially when mentioning Su Hao, a nauseating... inexplicable confidence appeared in his eyes!
On what grounds?
What gives you, these human test-taking machines who rely on inefficient cramming and have no talent or intuition, the right to have such blind confidence in a 12-year-old kid?
This made Lucas, who was used to being in control, feel a little uneasy.
"Sizzle—sizzle—"
The crisp sound of envelopes being torn open echoed throughout the examination hall, interrupting his thoughts.
Lucas composed himself and carefully pulled out the exam paper.
[Question 1]
Lucas glanced at it; it was a number theory problem.
This is precisely his area of expertise.
It's no exaggeration to say that he can guess the parity of the answer to any number theory variation problem on the market just by looking at its structure.
But the moment he finished reading the question, his brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.
This question... is a bit strange.
Lucas subconsciously turned his head slightly to look at Su Hao in front of him.
Holy crap?!
What did he see?!
The exam has been going on for less than two minutes.
Two minutes is not enough to just understand the hidden logical chain in the question for an international competition of this level.
This little brat has already started frantically scribbling on the answer sheet?!
The pencil was rubbing against the paper so fast it was practically sparking!
Lucas's pupils contracted sharply, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment.
"Stay calm! Concentrate!"
Lucas frantically tried to mentally prepare himself.
What's the use of solving problems quickly? Writing fast doesn't necessarily mean a high score!
This is the IMO exam paper; there are no questions you can solve in a second just by glancing at them.
He probably just got incredibly lucky and happened to come across a question that looked familiar, so he just randomly applied formulas!
Don't panic, just do it at my own pace.
The key to solving number theory problems lies in finding suitable variable substitutions.
As long as there exists an integer solution that satisfies the conditions, there must be some systematic approach to extract it.
Lucas grabbed a pencil and quickly listed several boundary cases on the draft paper, trying to find a breakthrough.
Starting with decimals and substituting them one by one, using modular arithmetic to find periodic patterns is the most classic and effective brute-force method for dealing with complex number theory.
But... a minute passed.
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes have passed.
The draft paper was already filled with dense numbers and congruences.
Lucas, however, broke out in a cold sweat.
Looking at the messy derivations on the draft paper, he felt like a fool wandering in a maze, unable to find a clue no matter how he looked at it.
This question is so simple, so slippery, like an eel, that I have absolutely no idea where to start!
"Was this year's question... harder?"
Lucas's breathing began to show a barely perceptible irregularity.
This is a bizarre question type that he has never seen before in his more than ten years of problem-solving experience.
But it's okay.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in his heart.
He had experienced this countless times in the brutal competition.
If the combination of fundamental theorems cannot break through this barrier, then we can only rely on brute force calculations to find a way out.
Lucas closed his eyes, and a chaotic mix of data and formulas collided wildly in his mind.
Although it will take a lot of time, as long as you exhaustively search to a certain extent, you will eventually be able to find the hidden logical clue.
Just as he was preparing to fight the first question to the bitter end.
"Splash—"
A crisp sound, like the rustling of paper, suddenly rang out in the examination room, which was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Um? 』
Lucas's body suddenly stiffened.
The pencil in my hand snapped with a "snap" as the tip broke heavily on the draft paper!
His pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints in an instant, and he abruptly raised his head, looking ahead in disbelief.
"Holy crap! What... what kind of international joke is this?!"
It felt like a million alpacas were stampeding through Lucas's mind!
That boy, who's only twelve years old... he's already flipped the test paper over?!
Have you finished reading the first question? Or have you finished answering it?!
"Yes! It's too hard! It must be because it's too hard that this kid completely lost his temper and gave up!"
Lucas roared inwardly, trying to salvage his crumbling self-esteem.
He stared intently at Su Hao's profile, trying to find that desperate, tearful, and frustrated expression on his face.
However, no.
There's nothing there!
On the boy's face, there was not a trace of the frustration and anxiety one would expect from someone unable to solve a problem.
Not only was he not flustered at all, but the corners of his mouth were even... smiling?!
It's the kind of heartfelt joy and appreciation that comes from discovering an extremely wonderful work of art!
At that moment, Lucas felt like he couldn't breathe properly.
"Could it be... that I've spent too long in that dog-eat-dog world, and my mind is starting to hallucinate?!"