Question

The incredibly large Graham’s number can be expressed by using 64 recursive layers of these symbols between 3 and 3 in one notation. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name these symbols. Donald Knuth introduced a notation in which one of these symbols put between two numbers denotes exponentiation, while two of them denote tetration.
ANSWER: up arrows [accept equivalents mentioning arrows pointing upwards or caret; accept Knuth’s up-arrow notation; prompt on arrows]
[10h] Graham’s number was introduced as an upper bound for a graph coloring problem in this field of math. Van der Waerden’s theorem and the Hales–Jewett theorem are two main results in this branch of combinatorics.
ANSWER: Ramsey theory
[10e] Graham’s number cannot be directly represented by the chained arrow notation that this mathematician introduced to express very large numbers. He also developed a cellular automaton called his “Game of Life.”
ANSWER: John Conway [accept Conway’s Game of Life]
<Other Science>

Back to bonuses

Summary

Data

Bard AColumbia B001010
Haverford ARowan A0000
Columbia AJohns Hopkins A1001020
Penn State BPenn B100010
Penn State APenn A001010
Lehigh ARutgers C100010