Recently, the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition announced its list of finalists, featuring 801 top math talent from around the world. Among them, Jiang Ping, a 17-year-old vocational school student majoring in fashion design, stands out in the 12th place. Scoring an impressive 93 points, Jiang outperformed numerous competitors from prestigious institutions like Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Cambridge. She is also the only female in the top 30.

Jiang Ping is a student at Lianshui Secondary Vocational School in Jiangsu Province. In a classroom filled with markers, fashion sketches, and sewing supplies, an English book called "Partial Differential Equations" reveals her unique passion. It is a classic advanced math text published by China's Higher Education Press in collaboration with the American Mathematical Society.

Jiang discovered her exceptional mathematical intuition in middle school. While her classmates struggled with homework, she found it too easy and preferred tackling more challenging problems. "I prefer advanced mathematics because it fuels my desire to explore," she said.

At the time, her parents and teachers advised against focusing too narrowly on math, reminding her that the college entrance exam covers multiple subjects. However, her extraordinary performance in her first math exam at vocational school caught the attention of her math teacher, Mr. Wang Runqiu.

Mr. Wang recommended advanced textbooks like Tongji University's "Advanced Mathematics" and Xie Huimin's "Mathematical Analysis". As Jiang delved into multivariable calculus and encountered difficulties, she turned to "Partial Differential Equations" by Lawrence C. Evans.

This journey has been a solitary struggle. Jiang admits that advanced math was challenging at first. For instance, when facing graphing problems, she would try drawing them out on paper and solving them from different angles. When stumped by combinatorial problems, she sought help from Mr. Wang.

Using a translation app and a bilingual dictionary, she has self-studied about one-third of the material, reaching the level of a third- or fourth-year undergraduate student in math major.

When the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition opened for registration this year, Wang encouraged Jiang to participate, noting that the competition had no barriers to entry—anyone from couriers to food delivery workers could join.

Initially lacking confidence, Jiang reviewed last year's test and then decided to have a try.

The competition lasted two full days, during which Jiang spent nearly all her time solving the problems, pausing only to eat and sleep. "I probably didn't solve that geometry problem because it was too complex to visualize and I couldn't find a good approach," she recalled.

When Mr. Wang handed Jiang the advanced math textbooks two years ago, he believed her talent and passion deserved a chance to shine. He also harbored a hope that mathematics might become a catalyst for change in Jiang’s life, potentially offering her unknown opportunities and future.

Source :Yangcheng Evening News

中国17岁中专女生闯进全球数学竞赛12强

近日，2024阿里巴巴全球数学竞赛（简称“阿里数赛”）公布决赛名单结果，有来自全球各地的801名数学高手成功晋级，排在第12位的姜萍显得有些特别：17岁的她是一名中专生，专业是服装世纪。姜萍以93分的高分，名列全球12名，超过了一众北大、清华、中科大、麻省理工、剑桥等知名大学的数学专业的选手，也是前30名里唯一的女生。

姜萍是江苏省涟水中等专业学校的学生，在被马克笔、服装设计图和针线围绕的教室里，课桌上一本全英文的《偏微分方程》暴露了姜萍的与众不同之处——这是高等教育出版社与美国数学会合作精选的经典高等数学专著之一。

姜萍是从初中时候开始，发现自己的数感特别好。平时同学做作业时，姜萍只要朝题目扫上一眼，就觉得没有什么做的价值，因为她更乐意做有难度的题目。“我更偏向于做高等数学之类的，它会给我带来探索的欲望。”

不过当时，家长和老师都告诉她“不要偏科”，“高考不是只考数学”。直到上了专科学校，第一次月考遥遥领先的数学成绩引起了数学老师王闰秋的注意。

王老师向姜萍推荐了同济大学出版的《高等数学》和谢惠民的《数学分析》，在研究多元微积分的过程中，遇到困难的姜萍又继续研究起了Lawrence C. Evans编写的《偏微分方程》。

这是一场孤独的自我较量。姜萍说，一开始看高等数学也会觉得有难度。比如关于画图题，她会尝试把它画到一张纸上，然后一直换思路去解决这个问题。自认为排列组合不是特别好的她，遇到困难的时候就去请教王老师。

借助手机翻译软件和一本英汉小词典，目前已经自学了三分之一，达到了数学专业本科三、四年级的水平。

今年，阿里巴巴全球数学竞赛启动报名时，王闰秋告诉她比赛没有门槛，快递小哥、外卖员也能参加，鼓励她试一试。

刚开始姜萍没什么自信，自己默默去刷了一遍去年的比赛题，然后抱着试试看的心态报了名。

比赛持续了两个整天，除了吃饭和睡觉，姜萍一直在做题。“那道几何题我应该没做出来，因为它的作图很复杂，没办法直观地表现出它的立体形态，没有很好的思路去解决它。”

王老师在两年前把高等数学教材递给姜萍的时候，是觉得她的天赋和热爱不应该被辜负，但他也存了一点希望，希望数学这个变量，未来或许能推动姜萍的人生等式出现微小的改变，带她飞向远方未知的世界。

来源｜都市快报
译｜赵凡