Abstract:

The Spanish Mathematical Olympiad (Olimpiada Matemática Española, OME) is the mathematical contest per excellence. From 1964, it has been celebrated in Spain every year (except in 1978, due to a key change in the Spanish educational system), and has become the most noticeable regular activity in Mathematics.

Around 4000 students have competed in the 51 editions of the OME, which has been celebrated in most of the autonomic communities of Spain. In March of 2015, the 51th edition of OME took place at the University of Extremadura, in Badajoz.

As members of the organization committee of the Local Phase at the University of Extremadura for several years, we have noticed the lacking of problems from the area of Probability and Statistics in the whole 51 editions. Moreover, when (occasionally) this kind of problems appeared, they were only related to Combinatorial Analysis. However, in all the editions there are problems belonging to Algebra, Geometry and Analysis. We think this is due to the majority presence of members who are dedicated to these areas in the Olympic Committee.

In our opinion, Probability and Statistics is a field where problems for OME can be easily formulated, and whose resolution depends only on the sharpness of the student, instead of the knowledge of previous concepts or mathematical formulas. We believe the perspicacity or mathematical intuition should be the main arms to win this contest.

References:
[1] “Cincuenta años de la Olimpiada Matemática Española 1964-2014 Problemas y Soluciones”, Real Sociedad Matemática Española, Madrid, 2014.

Keywords:

Probability and statistics.