The first group of essays from the 2021 Teddy Rocks Maths Competition come from entrants with names beginning with A. The showcase will take place throughout May with the winners being announced at the end of the month.

The competition was organised with St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford and offers a cash prize plus publication on the university website. It will be running again in early 2022 so be sure to follow Tom (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) to make sure you don’t miss the announcement!

All essays can be read in full (as submitted) by clicking on the title below. If you enjoy any of them please let the author know by leaving a comment.

Aakash discusses how maths can be applied to the world’s favourite sport through transfer decisions, player performance and tactics.

Abraham explores the relationship between maths and music by conducting a series of experiments with his trombone.

Aditi delves into the Riemann Hypothesis explaining its link to the prime numbers and their pattern on the numberline.

Alex teaches us abut the mathematics of origami – from the axioms underpinning the art-form, to how to perfectly trisect an angle using only a piece of paper.

Ali explains how the infamous RSA encryption algorithm works, allowing us to securely send information online.

Amy spends a weekend playing with beads and matchboxes to show how the field of machine learning has developed over the past 60 years.

Andrei discusses the challenges of finding ‘actual’ random numbers and how current computers try to overcome them.

Anika talks football and calculates the angle a player has to aim for when shooting on target from anywhere on the pitch.

Anirudh takes us back through history to the time of mathematical duels and fierce rivalries.

Annabel teleports us to another realm with a deep-dive into quantum computing and quantum entanglement.

Arushi explores number systems around the world and how the way we communicate may be influencing our mathematical understanding.

Ayan introduces us to Laplace’s ‘all-knowing’ demon as a tool for understanding determinism and chaos theory.

Ayesha teaches us the basics of Pythagoras’ Theorem and demonstrates how it can be used to solve real-world problems.