The Berkeley Math Circle

Calendar

Regarding the Spring 2025 semester:

  • The Spring 2025 semester will offer different modes of instruction depending on the group your student is enrolled in.
  • All BMC-Upper sessions for the Beginners I and Advanced groups will be held online during Spring 2025, except for the Bay Area Math Olympiad and possibly an end-of-the-semester event (optional, in-person).
  • Beginners II and Intermediate I-II sessions are planned in-person, except for possibly a few sessions.

BMC-Upper sessions are held on Wednesdays at UC Berkeley (or online):

Session

Time

Room

Beginners I

5:00 PM to 6:20 PM

Online

Beginners II

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Evans 1015

Intermediate I

6:10 PM to 7:55 PM

Cheit C230

Intermediate II

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Cheit C210

Advanced

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Online

Please NOTE:

  • The starting times are sharp and parking is limited, so please plan on arriving 10 to 15 minutes prior in order to be situated and ready for the session.
  • Late arrivals cause disturbance and distraction and therefore are strongly discouraged.
  • Regarding the Monthly Contest schedule, you'll find little symbols in the left hand column:
  1.      dist_icon.png   -  when a Monthly Contest will be distributed.
  2.     due_icon.png   -  when a Monthly Contest is due.
  3.      awards_icon.png  - when the awards for that Monthly Contest will be held.
  • Please go to the BMC Elementary  tab for its information and schedule.

Calendar for 2024 - 2025 Academic Year

MC1
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes I
PDF, PDF 		Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes I
PDF, PDF 		Evans 1015
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Intermediate I - Journey to Dimension n+1
PDF 		Cheit C230
Ted Alper Intermediate II - Surprise Topic
PDF 		Cheit C135
Espen Slettnes Advanced - Buying Truth
PDF 		Online
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes II
PDF, PDF 		Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes II
PDF, PDF 		Evans 1015
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate I - Cow-culus
 Cheit C230
Bernt Wahl Intermediate II - Fractal Mathematics
 Cheit 135
Hannah Cairo Advanced - Quantum Information
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes III
PDF 		Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - The Math of Chemistry: Building Molecules & Their Geometric Shapes III
PDF 		Evans 1015
Arun Sharma Intermediate I - Modulo Arithmetic
 Cheit C230
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate II - Multiplicative Functions
 Cheit 135
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Graph Coloring
PDF 		Online
Instructor Topic Room
Bernt Wahl Beginners I - Fractal Dimensions and Random Walks
 Online
Bernt Wahl Beginners II - Fractal Dimensions and Random Walks
 Evans 1015
Ted Alper Intermediate I - Dominoes, Directed Graphs, and De Bruijn
PDF 		Cheit C230
Paul Zeitz Intermediate II - Generating Functions
PDF 		Cheit 135
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Graph Coloring II
 Online
MC2 MC1
Instructor Topic Room
Arun Sharma Beginners I - Pigeonhole Principle
 Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - Pigeonhole Principle
 Evans 1015
Justin Yokota Intermediate I - Impartial Games and the World of Nim
PDF 		Cheit C230
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate II - Multiplicative Functions II
 Cheit 135
Chris Overton Advanced - Why you should still do math in "the age of AI" I
PDF 		Online
MC1
Instructor Topic Room
Arun Sharma Beginners I - Pigeonhole Principle II
 Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - Pigeonhole Principle II
 Evans 1015
Felicia Lim Intermediate I - Pigeonhole Principle
PDF, PDF 		Cheit C230
Thomas Browning Intermediate II - Conway's Topograph
PDF 		Cheit 135
Chris Overton Advanced - Why you should still do math in "the age of AI" II
PDF 		Online
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - To Infinity and Beyond I
PDF 		Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - Pigeonhole Principle III + Prime Numbers Importance and Applications I
 Evans 1015
Patricio Angulo Intermediate I - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Kangaroo & Math Olympiad Selections I
 Cheit C230
Pratima Karpe Intermediate II - Carmichael Numbers and Korselt's Criterion I
PDF

Handout Credit: Keith Conrad

 Cheit 135
Avishay Tal Advanced - Impossibility Results
PDF 		Online
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - To Infinity and Beyond II
 Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - Prime Numbers Importance and Applications II
Evans 1015
Patricio Angulo Intermediate I - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Kangaroo & Math Olympiad Selections II
 Cheit C230
Pratima Karpe Intermediate II - Carmichael Numbers and Korselt's Criterion II
PDF

Handout by Keith Conrad.

 Cheit 135
Emiliano Gomez Advanced - Ruler and Compass Constructions and Abstract Algebra I
 Online
MC3 MC2
Instructor Topic Room
Peter Koroteev Beginners I - Topics in Partitions
 Online
Aaron Zaks Beginners II - Modular Arithmetic
PDF 		Evans 1015
Izzy Meckler Intermediate I - What does it mean to know something? Graph coloring and zero knowledge proofs
PDF, PDF 		Cheit C230
Paul Zeitz Intermediate II - Generatingfunctionology II
 Cheit 135
Emiliano Gomez Advanced - Ruler and Compass Constructions and Abstract Algebra II
 Online
MC2
Instructor Topic Room
Peter Koroteev Beginners I - Topics in Partitions II
 Online
Aaron Zaks Beginners II - Modular Arithmetic II
PDF 		Evans 1015
Izzy Meckler Intermediate I - Hyperbolic Geometry
PDF 		Cheit C230
Paul Zeitz Intermediate II - Generatingfunctionology III
 Cheit 135
Lydia Zakynthinou Advanced - Introduction to Differential Privacy
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Selena Ding Beginners I - Errors in Heuristics
 Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Kangaroo & Math Olympiad Selections I
 Evans 1015
Daniil DmitrievDaria Martynova Intermediate I - Introduction to Probability Theory I
 Cheit C230
Intermediate II - AMC 10A/12A In Person - BMC Staff
 Cheit 135
Advanced - AMC 10A/12A In Person - BMC Staff
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Selena Ding Beginners I - Hypothesis Testing I
 Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Kangaroo & Math Olympiad Selections II
 Evans 1015
Daniil DmitrievDaria Martynova Intermediate I - Introduction to Probability Theory II
Cheit C230
Adwait Godbole Intermediate II - There's no way but down: Proofs by Infinite Descent
 Cheit 135
Olga Holtz Advanced - Complex numbers and functions I
PDF 		Online
Instructor Topic Room
Selena Ding Beginners I - Hypothesis Testing II
 Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Kangaroo & Math Olympiad Selections III
 Evans 1015
Daniil DmitrievDaria Martynova Intermediate I - Introduction to Probability Theory III
 Cheit C230
Avishay Tal Intermediate II - Impossibility Results
 Cheit 135
Paul Zeitz Advanced - p-adic numbers
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Thanksgiving Break - No Sessions, All Groups
 N/A
MC4 MC3
Instructor Topic Room
Ryan Quan Beginners I - Mendelian Genetics
 Online
Paul Zeitz Beginners II - Number Theory Meets Counting
PDF 		Evans 1015
Pratima Karpe Intermediate I - Kaprekar Constant
PDF 		Cheit C230
Amy Fire Intermediate II - Divide and Conquer: A Look at Classification
 Cheit 135
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - The Markov Equation
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Ryan Quan Beginners I - Probability & Violations of Mendelian Genetics
 Online
Paul Zeitz Beginners II - Number Theory Meets Counting II
 Evans 1015
Bernt Wahl Intermediate I - Fractal Museum
 Cheit C230
Amy Fire Intermediate II - Divide and Conquer: A Look at Classification II
 Cheit 135
Olga Holtz Advanced - Complex numbers and functions II
 Online
MC3
Instructor Topic Room
BMC-Upper Colloquium - Jelani Nelson

Sunday, December 15; 4-5:30PM

Speaker: Professor Jelani Nelson

EECS Department

UC Berkeley

Title: Multiply Numbers Faster

Abstract: The standard approach to multiply two n-digit numbers takes a number of steps proportional to n^2. This was the best approach known to humankind for nearly all of history. In this talk you will learn the first ever method to multiply faster, discovered in 1960, which takes proportional to roughly n^1.585 steps.

 In Person - GPBB 100
Instructor Topic Room
Beginners I - CANCELED
 Online
Beginners II - AMC 8 - In Person
 Evans 1015
Intermediate I - AMC 8 - In Person
 Cheit C230
Intermediate II - CANCELED
 Cheit C210
Advanced - CANCELED
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Beginners I - CANCELED
 Online
Beginners II - CANCELED
 Evans 1015
Intermediate I - CANCELED
 Cheit C230
Intermediate II - CANCELED
 Cheit C210
Advanced - CANCELED
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Olympiad Selections I
PDF 		Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - Problem Solving Techniques: Solutions, Not Answers Math Contest! (Part I)
PDF 		Evans 1015
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate I - Ptolemy's Theorem and Applications

Numberphile video to complement Zvezda's lesson!

 Cheit C230
Quan Lam Intermediate II - Complex Numbers I
 Cheit C210
Hannah Cairo Advanced - Lines, Lengths, and Area in the Plane
 Online
MC5 MC4
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Olympiad Selections II
PDF 		Online
Patricio Angulo Beginners II - Problem Solving Techniques: Solutions, Not Answers Math Contest! (Part II)
PDF, PDF 		Evans 1015
Arun Sharma Intermediate I - Modulo Arithmetic II
 Cheit C230
Quan Lam Intermediate II - Complex Numbers II
 Cheit C220
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Discrete Calculus
PDF 		Online
MC4
Instructor Topic Room
Patricio Angulo Beginners I - Problem Solving Techniques: Math Olympiad Selections III
 Online
Hannah Cairo Beginners II - Curves, Lines, and Grids
 Evans 1015
Arun Sharma Intermediate I - Modular Arithmetic III
 Cheit C230
Quan Lam Intermediate II - Complex Numbers III
 Cheit C210
Alon Amit Advanced - Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - BAMO Prep
 Online
Zvezda Stankova Beginners II - BAMO Prep and Beyond
 Evans 1015
Felicia Lim Intermediate I - Cryptography I
 Cheit C230
Quan Lam Intermediate II - Complex Numbers IV
PDF 		Cheit C210
Alon Amit Advanced - The Subtleties of Solving by Constraints
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Bay Area Math Olympiad - BMC Staff
 TBA
MC6 MC5
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - BAMO Aftermath 1
 Online
Aaron Zaks Beginners II - Probability and Counting I
 Evans 1015
Felicia Lim Intermediate I - Cryptography II
 Cheit C230
Peter Koroteev Intermediate II - Plane Partitions I
PDF 		Cheit C210
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Diophantine Equations I
 Online
MC5
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - BAMO Aftermath 2
 Online
Aaron Zaks Beginners II - Probability and Counting II
 Evans 1015
Felicia Lim Intermediate I - Cryptography III
 Cheit C230
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate II - Recurrence Sequences: Induction, Anti-induction, or Linear Algebra, Part I
 Cheit C220
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Diophantine Equations II
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
UCB Spring Break - No Sessions, All Groups
 N/A
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - Tessellation and Tiling I
 Online
Bernt Wahl Beginners II - Fractals and the Art
 Evans 1015
Chris Overton Intermediate I - Price Elasticity
 Cheit C230
Zvezda Stankova Intermediate II - Recurrence Sequences: Induction, Anti-induction, or Linear Algebra, Part II
 Cheit C220
Peter Koroteev Advanced - Plane Partitions I
 Online
MC7 MC6
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - Tessellation and Tiling II
 Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - BAMO Aftermath
 Evans 1015
Hannah Cairo Intermediate I - Curves, Lines, and Grids
 Cheit C230
Brian Conrad Intermediate II - The algebra and geometry of conics
 Cheit C220
Peter Koroteev Advanced - Plane Partitions II
 Online
MC6
Instructor Topic Room
Harry Main-Luu Beginners I - Tessellation and Tiling III
 Online
Arun Sharma Beginners II - BAMO Aftermath 2
 Evans 1015
Hannah Cairo Intermediate I - Curves, Lines, and Grids II
 Cheit C230
Chris Overton Intermediate II - The geometry of prices: price elasticity
 Cheit C220
Arkady Vaintrob Advanced - Lattice points and pigeonholes
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners I - Problems from Smullyan I
 Online
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners II - Problems from Smullyan I
 Evans 1015
Arun Sharma Intermediate I - BAMO Aftermath
 Cheit C230
Chris Overton Intermediate II - The geometry of prices: price elasticity II
 Cheit C220
Pratima Karpe Advanced - Number Systems I
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners I - Problems from Smullyan II
 Online
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners II - Problems from Smullyan II
 Evans 1015
Arun Sharma Intermediate I - More Applications and Spinoffs from BAMO Problems, part II
 Cheit C230
Izzy Meckler Intermediate II - Surfaces I
 Cheit C220
Pratima Karpe Advanced - Number Systems II
 Online
Instructor Topic Room
Nikhil Srivastava BMC-Upper Colloquium
PDF

Rooting for Counting: The Secret Life of Polynomial Zeros

The zeros of a polynomial are those special numbers at which the polynomial evaluates to zero. For quadratic polynomials the zeros are related to the coefficients by the quadratic formula, but for higher degrees the relationship is complicated. I'll explain how the locations of the zeros constrain the coefficients of a polynomial, and use this understanding to show that counts of many kinds of objects (surjective functions from [n] to [k], matchings in a graph, and more) must look essentially like the binomial coefficients, rising to a single peak and then falling. I'll discuss some recent advances and open problems in the area.

 Hearst Annex A1
MC7
Instructor Topic Room
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners I - Problems from Smullyan III
 Online
Elysee Wilson-Egolf Beginners II - Problems from Smullyan III
 Evans 1015
Catherine Cannizzo Intermediate I - Statistics & Probability: Choosing Wisely
 Cheit C230
Izzy Meckler Intermediate II - Surfaces II
 Cheit C220
Paul Zeitz Advanced - Quadratic Reciprocity
 Online