Volume 39
, Issue 1

2003

As the new editor of Parabola I would like to express my gratitude to all those past contributors; editors, members of the editorial board, members of staff in the School of Mathematics University of New South Wales, and readers, for leaving this wonderful legacy with which I am entrusted.

The usual scoring system used in tennis games is investigated mathematically using binomial probability theory.

The previous article by Milan Pahor deals with the scoring system in tennis and shows that it tends to magnify differences in skill.

Let's begin with a puzzle.

When asked what mathematical result they remember from High School, the average person would probably reply with Pythagoras’ Theorem.

Q1131. Suppose $A$ and $B$ are two equally strong tennis players. Is it more probable that $A$ will beat $B$ in three sets out of 4 or in 5 sets out of eight?

Q1121. Prove that $g(x) = 30x3 + 80x2 + 72x + 66$ is irreducible over the integers by showing it has no roots modulo $13$. What are the roots of $g(x)$ modulo $7$?