Slaughtering Competition Problems with Quantifier Elimination (2021)

Anytime I see questions on mse that ask something “simple”, I feel a powerful urge to chime in with “a computer can do this for you!”. Obviously if you’re a researching mathematician you shouldn’t waste your time with something a computer can do for you, but when you’re still learning techniques (or, as is frequently the case on mse, solving homework problems), it’s not a particularly useful comment (so I usually abstain). The urge is particularly powerful when it comes to the contrived inequalities that show up in a lot of competition math, and today I saw a question that really made me want to say something about this! I still feel like it would be a bit inappropriate for mse, but thankfully I have a blog where I can talk about whatever I please :P So today, let’s see how to hit these problems with the proverbial nuke that is quantifier elimination!

AI Summary

The author discusses using quantifier elimination, specifically through the Tarski-Seidenberg theorem, to solve complex mathematical problems involving inequalities, especially those found in competition mathematics. They mention utilizing tools like Sage and QEPCAD to perform quantifier elimination efficiently. An example given shows converting an existential quantifier statement into a quantifier-free one, simplifying problem-solving.

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