IYPT 1988, Задачи на турнира — Задача 1. Invent yourself

Note [4]

The Russian traditional title «Придумай сам» has been internationally translated as “Think up a problem yourself” at the 6th IYPT, the 7th IYPT, and the 8th IYPT, but later most commonly as “Invent yourself” (at the 9th IYPT, the 10th IYPT, and the 11th IYPT.) “Invent yourself” is also used in the Soviet OC’s translation for the 4th IYPT. Other versions are: “Invent for yourself” (13th IYPT), “Your invention” (Soviet OC’s translation for the 3rd IYPT), “Think for yourselves” (Soviet OC’s translation of the Kvant text for 1989), “Invent it yourself” (1992 translations for the 5th IYPT)

Notes [1]–[2] — critical edition and text history

[1] These dates are announced in a booklet [MGU 1988] distributed among participants of the event, and are independently corroborated by participant Yury Yufryakov [Yufryakov 2008] who dated confidently the Tournament to “late March – early April, 1988”

[2] The primary “standard” source is the Russian text of the Problems for the Correspondence Collective Competition of YPT-X (Задания заочного коллективного конкурса ТЮФ-Х) published in Kvant magazine in August 1987, but submitted for the publication before June 17, 1987 [Kvant 1987].

This edition does not include possible Problems for Finalists, Problems for Captains, or Problems for Observers, that might have been proposed at certain stages of the 1st IYPT for rapid, immediate solution. There is currently little to no information about such problems at the 1st IYPT, while their existence is plausible.

There were doubts whether the real problems discussed at the 1st IYPT, or at the specific stages of the all-Soviet and International YPTs, were identical to the problems of the Correspondence Rounds (it was not so in 1989.) However, participants at the final stages of the competition provide solid evidence that this very problem set was discussed at the event [Yufryakov 2008], [Mesyats 2009], [Nosov 2009], [Bachev Piperov 2010]. An almost identical set of problems was included into a booklet published in early 1988 [MGU 1988]. Various selective stages were reported to restrict the number of problems to be discussed [MGU 1988], and it may be suspected that further, completely new, problems were offered at certain stages, such as at Captains’ contests.

The problems were originally written in Russian language, the only working language at all stages and all events of 1988. Most probably, no English translation was prepared by the Organizing Committee in Moscow in 1988, and it is notable that no contemporaneous Czech translation for the 1st IYPT is known, while the problems for the 2nd IYPT were already translated into Czech.

The known late Slovak version published in 1996 [TMF 1996] is titled the direct translation of the 1987 Kvant publication, providing a direct reference to that source. Some minor deviations of the Slovak translation from the Kvant text exist:

• No. 2: “source of energy" (zdroj energie), not “power supply” (источник питания)

• No. 4: “<10”, not “n<10”

• No. 4: “inner resistance” explicitly (vnútorný odpor), not just “r”

• No. 4: “between [any] two knots" (medzi dvoma uzlami), not “between the first and the second knot” (между первым и вторым узлами)

• No. 4: “time in which the result is obtained” (čas, za ktorý dostaneme výsledok), not “time from the start of data input (tables of EMF and r values) to the moment of correct result output” (время от начала ввода данных в компьютер (таблицы значений ЭДС и r) до момента выдачи правильного результата)

• No. 5: “table ruler” (stolný metr) not “steel ruler” (стальная линейка)

• No. 9: the phrase with a journal reference is omitted

• No. 14: condition on the number of knots is omitted

• No. 17: “Resistors” (odpory), not “Cagliostro’s resistor” (резистор Калиостро)

• No. 17: “ohmmeter” (ohmmeter), not “school tester” (школьный тестер)

• No. 17: the phrase on the “humorous tone” is omitted

The set of 17 problems in Czech language titled Problems for International Young Physicists’ Tournament. 1. Russia ― Moscow ― 1988 (Úlohy mezinádodního turnaje mladých fyziků. 1. Rusko ― Moskva ― 1988) was published by Zdeněk Kluiber in review book Turnaj Mladých Fyziků in 1996 [Kluiber 1996]. This Czech version misses illustrations for problems No. 13 and No. 14, and replaces “Mesoscopics” with “Electron microscopy” in the problem No. 14. Given the available factual nuances, this version is most probably translated from the Kvant text, and not from the text in the 1988 booklet. Some minor deviations of the Czech text from the Russian versions exist:

• No. 4: “nj10”, not “n<10” or “n≤10”, which is seemingly a misprint

• No. 4: “electrical resistance” (elekrický odpor) explicitly, not just “r”

• No. 4: “between the first and the last knot" (mezi prvním a posledním uzlem), not “between the first and the second knot” (между первым и вторым узлами)

• No. 4: it is proposed to use as a starting point the moment when computer begins to read the data, not when the user begins to input them: “time from the start of data reading (tables of EMF and r values) to the moment of correct result output” (doba od začátku čtení vstupní informace do počítače (tabulky hodnot EMS a r) do okamžiku výstupu správného výsledku) , not “time from the start of data input (tables of EMF and r values) to the moment of correct result output” (время от начала ввода данных в компьютер (таблицы значений ЭДС и r) до момента выдачи правильного результата)

• No. 6: “astronaut” (astronaut), not “star farer” (звездоплаватель)

• No. 13: no figure and no legend (“1” is water column, “2” is heat-insulating tube) are reproduced, but an additional phrase “For the experiment use a heat isolated cylindrical vessel” (K pokusu použijte tepelně izolovanou válcovou nádobu) is added

• No. 14: “Mesoscopics” is replaced with “Electron microscopy”, no figure is reproduced, and the condition on the number of knots is n≫10, as in Kvant. The problem reads: One of the effects of electron microscopy is the significant change of the resistance of a two-dimensional metal sample at low temperatures, if the position of just a single atom within crystal lattice is changed. This effect can be evidently illustrated if one considers the following model: small flat mirrors, with reflection coefficients equal to one, are placed in the knots of a two-dimensional lattice n×n, (n≫10). Each mirror can exist in two positions only; it can be tilted 45˚ either to the left, either to the right. Mirrors' states change chaotically so laser beam incident on the lattice knot can be reflected with equal probability to one or another side at 90°. Estimate how output light power will change if one of the knots is replaced by an absolute light-absorbing element.”

• No. 16: “2<a<30”, not “2≤n≤30”

• No. 17: "Resistor” (rezistor), not “Cagliostro’s resistor” (резистор Калиостро)

An English version was published in 2006 by Silvina Simeonova in the Proceedings of the 16th IYPT on the basis of the text provided to the publishers by Zdeněk Kluiber [Proceedings 2006]. The year of translation and the source language are not reported. This version, however, is almost certainly translated not from the original Russian, but from the 1996 Czech text, as all discrepancies between the Czech and the Russian versions are reflected in the 2006 English text. Some notable similarities and differences among the 2006 English translation, the 1996 Czech text and the original Russian text include:

• No. 4: “electrical resistance” explicitly, not just “r” as in the Kvant text

• No. 4: “nj10”, as in the 1996 Czech text

• No. 4: it is proposed to use as a starting point the moment when computer begins to read the data, not when the user begins to input them: “time of the beginning of the reading of the input information in the computer (the tables with the value of emf and r) to the moment of the outcome of the correct result”, not “time from the start of data input (tables of EMF and r values) to the moment of correct result output” (время от начала ввода данных в компьютер (таблицы значений ЭДС и r) до момента выдачи правильного результата), as in the 1996 Czech text

• No. 6: “astronaut”, not “starfarer” (звездоплаватель), as in the 1996 Czech text

• No. 8: “scanning apparatuses”, not “image capture equipment” (съёмочная аппаратура, snímací aparatura)

• No. 10: “winter” instead of “wind” in the literal translation of Lucretius Carus’ epigraph

• No. 10: “reliability of inflammation”, not “probability of such an ignition” (вероятность такого возгорания, věrohodnost takovéhoto vznícení)

• No. 13: no figure and no legend (“1” is water column, “2” is heat-insulating tube) are reproduced. An additional phrase is added, “For the experiment use a heat isolated vessel”, not “heat isolated cylindrical vessel” (tepelně izolovaná válcová nádoba) as the Czech text reads

• No. 14: “Mesoscopics” is replaced with “Electron-microscopy”, no figure is reproduced, condition on the number of knots is omitted. The problem reads: “One of the effects of the electron-microscopy consists in that the resistance of a two-dimensional metal samples can be significantly altered at low temperatures, if the position only of one atom from the lattice is changed. Visual imagine for this effect can be obtained by the observation of the following model: in the lattice points of a two-dimensional lattice is put a small mirror with the index of reflection is equal to one. The position of the mirror is chaotically changed and that’s why the laser beam which strikes the lattice point with equal probability can be reflected to one or other side at 90° degree. Estimate how the intensity of light will be changed at the outlet of the system if to one lattice point instead a mirror is put an element which entirely absorbs the light.”

• No. 16: “2<a<30”, as in the 1996 Czech text, not “2≤n≤30” as it reads in Kvant

• No. 16: “inside a ring with a radius R”, not “inside a circle of a radius R” (внутри круга радиуса R, uvnitř kruhu o poloměru R)

• No. 17: "Resistors”, not “Cagliostro’s resistor” (резистор Калиостро)

So called Problems for the 1st IYPT appeared in 2002 on Evgeny Yunosov's Faraday Tournament website [Farad 2002]. A single but significant detail (a shortened wording in the problem No. 17) indicates that this late OCR edition relied on a text identical to [MGU 1988], and not [Kvant 1987]. All illustrations are omitted therein, and there are a few marked OCR-related misprints.

The history of text transmission: colors indicate the languages of the sources (black for the Russian, red for the Czech, blue for the Slovak, green for the English); dotted lines indicate that notable factual inaccuracies were introduced with translation or copying; the tick indicates the version taken as “standard” for the current edition

Note [3]

The epigraph is placed before the entire 1987 article [Kvant 1987], not directly before the problems. The booklet [MGU 1988] places the epigraph just before the list of problems. Later sources omit the epigraph. Used here is the translation from the Russian by Sibelan Forrester (Ode: On the Day of the ascension to the throne of all Russia of her majesty the sovereign empress Elisaveta Petrovna, in the year 1747, http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/sforres1/translations/Lom.html#ODE2). Original version: «Науки юношей питают, отраду старым подают, в счастливой жизни украшают, в несчастной — случай берегут…» («На день восшествия на всероссийский престол ее величества государыни императрицы Елисаветы Петровны 1747 года». Отд. изд. СПб., 1747)

Sources

[Kvant 1987] Т. П. Корнеева, Е. Н. Юносов, И. В. Яминский. Х Турнир юных физиков // Квант, №8, 1987. ― стр. 59―60

[MGU 1988] Турнир юных физиков: правила и задания X Московского, Всесоюзного и Международного турниров юных физиков. ― М.: МГУ, 1988. ― стр. 2, 7―12

[Farad 2002] Evgeny Yunosov's Faraday Tournament official website (http://www.farad.ru, in Russian, retrieved in 2002)

[TMF 1996] I. medzinádodný TMF ( 1987 ― 1988 ) // Juraj Braciník, Jozef Brestenský, Miroslav Helbich, Karol Macák. Turnaj mladých fyzikov : štatút a úlohy. Iuventa, Bratislava (1996), s. 24―26

[Yufryakov 2008] Private communication with Yury Yufryakov, Soviet participant in 1988

[Mesyats 2009] Private communication with Svetlana Mesyats, Soviet participant in 1988

[Nosov 2009] Private communication with Igor Nosov, Soviet participant in 1988

[Bachev Piperov 2010] Private communication with Rumen Bachev and Stefan Piperov, Bulgarian participants in 1988

[Kluiber 1996] Úlohy mezinádodního turnaje mladých fyziků. 1. Rusko ― Moskva ― 1988 // Zdeněk Kluiber. Turnaj Mladých Fyziků. Informace o nádodní i mezinádodní soutěži studentů výrazně talentovaných pro fyziku. Gaudeamus-MAFI, Hradec Králové, 1996, s. 21―22

[Proceedings 2006] Problems for the 1st IYPT. In: Proceedings of the 19th IYPT 2006 (eds Silvina Simeonova, Myeung Hoi Kwon, Zvezdi, Sofia 2007), pp. 231‒232

Edition credits

Translated, edited, and commented by Ilya Martchenko. Originally translated from the Russian and released in October 2007, revisions made until May 2011. This edition would never have been prepared without the evidence provided by Yury Yufryakov, Svetlana Mesyats, Igor Nosov, Rumen Bachev, and Stefan Piperov, on the problem set discussed at the 1st IYPT, without assistance in retrieving sources by numerous volunteers, and without final proofreading and valuable suggestions made by Matej Ftáčnik, Tymofii Nikolaienko, Timotheus Hell, and Dahl Winters.

Authors of the IYPT problems were often reported in late 1980s and early 1990s. While no known source names the authors for 1988, Evgeny Yunosov, Tatyana Korneeva and Igor Yaminsky, who authored the 1987 Kvant text, are most certainly among them.

Everyone who may shed more light on the early IYPTs is kindly invited to contribute.