THE REGULATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL YOUNG PHYSICISTS' TOURNAMENT I. The Young Physicists' Tournament (YPT) is a competition among teams of high school students in their ability to solve complicated scientific problems, to present solutions to these problems in a convincing form and to defend them in scientific discussions - "Physics Fights". 11. The problems of the YPT The problems are formulated by the Organizing Committee (0Ñ) and sent to the national committees of the YPT not later then in October. These problems may be used for the regional and national Tournaments. To compose the problems a meeting of the OC may be held in the host country. Ill. The participants of the International YPT I. The national teams Any invited country is represented by one team. The host country may be represented by two teams. 2. The teams of regions, towns, clubs, colleges The decision about participation of such a team may be taken by the Organizing Com- mittee of the host country. 3. The membership of the teams The YPT team is composed of five high school students. The high school graduates participate in the YPT in the year of their graduation. The participation of university students is not allowed. The Organizing Committee may allow participation of teams of four or three students. The composition of the team is not changed during the Tournament. The team is headed by the captain who is an official representative of the team during the Physics Fight (PF). 4. The team is accompanied by two team leaders. IV. The rnernbership of the Jury The Jury is formed by the local OC. It consists of independent members and representa- tives of the participating countries. Prominent scientists and professors are drawn in tile Jury. Team leaders (one from each team) are included in the Jury. Independent members of the Jury are distributed among the groups of teams by the local OC. The team leaders cannot be the members of the Jury in the groups where-their teams participate. V. The agenda of the International YPT The International YPT is carried out in a period determined by the local OC (in May - July) during at least eight days. The teams participate in scientific discussions - Physics Fights: a) 3 Selective PFs; b) Semifinal PF; c) Final PF. The host country provides a cultural program for the participants. VI. The Physics Fight regulations Three or four teams participate in a PF (depending on the total number of teams). In the course of a Fight the members of a team communicate only with each other. Before the beginning of a PF, the introduction of the Jury and the teams takes place. The Fight is carried out in three (or four) Stages. In each Stage, a team plays one of the three (four) roles: the Reporter, the Opponent, the Reviewer (the Observer). In the following Stages of the PF, the teams change their roles according to the role scheme: Three teams PF ?~ \ '~ VII. The Stage regulations The performance order in the Stage of a Selective or Semifinal PF: The Opponent challenges the Reporter for the problem I min The Reporter accepts or rejects the challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . I min Preparation of the Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - . . . - - . . . 5 mm Presenation of the report 10 min Questions of the Opponent to the Reporter and answers of the Reporter . . - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - . - . . . . . - . - . . . . . . . . . . . - . - . . - - - - - - - - 2 min Preparation of the Opponent - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - . - . . . - . - - - - - - . . . . . - - - - 3 mm The Opponent takes the floor 5 min Discussion between the Reporter and the Opponent . - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - . . . - - - - - - 5 min Questions of the Reviewer to the Reporter and the Opponent and answers to the questions . . . . . . . - . . . . . . - . - - . - - - . - . - . . - - 2 min Preparation of the Reviewer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - . . . - . . . . . . . - . . - - - - . . - - - - - - 2 mi n The Reviewer takes the floor - - - - - - . . - . . - - - - - - - - - . . - . . . - - . . . . - - . - . - - - - - --- . . . - 3 min Concluding remarks of the Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . - . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 min Questions of the Jury and Grading - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - . . . - . - - . . . - - - - - - - - - - - 2 mm In the Final tile procedure of challenge is omitted. The official languages of the International YPT are English and Russian. The Reporter makes the presentation in English. The presentation of the Opponent and the Reviewer and the discussion may be carried either in English or in Russian. In the latter case translation into English is necessary and the time of presentation is increased by a factor of 1.5. VIII. The teams performance In the Stage The Reporter presents the essence of the solution to the problem, attracting the attention of the audience to the main physical ideas and conclusions. It is desirable to show the pictures, diagrams, slides, photos prepared in advance, and to demonstrate some experiments if the problem is an experimental one. The Opponent puts questions to the Reporter and criticizes the report, pointing to the inaccuracy and errors in the understanding of the problem and in the solution. The Opponent analyzes the advantages and drawbacks of both the solution and the presentation of the Reporter. The discussion of the Opponent should not become the presentation of his own solution. In the polemics, the solution presented by the Reporter is discussed. The Reviewer presents a short estimation of the presentations of the Reporter and the Opponent. Limitation of the number of presentations: - during one PF no member of the team may take the floor more than twice (other members of the team are allowed to make brief remarks). IX. The rules of challenge to the problem and of the rejection I. All problems presented in the same PF should be different. 2. Selective PF The Opponent may challenge the Reporter on any problem with the exception for the problem that: a) was presented in this PF, b) was presented by the Reporter earlier; c) was opposed by the Opponent earlier; d) was presented by the Opponent earlier. If such a challenge cannot be made, the bans d), c), b) are successively removed in the given order. During all Selective PFs the Reporter may reject the challenge three times in total without penalty. For every subsequent rejection the coefficient of the Reporter (see item X) is diminished by 0.2. All the problems rejected by the Reporter are included in the Rejection List of the team. The rejection of these problems in the successive PFs does not involve penalty. 3. Semifinal PF In every Semifinal group 10 problems are used, which are determined by the OC according to the Rating List prepared by the participants (each team ascribes integer numbers to problems, the sum of these numbers should be equal 100). The Opponent may challenge the Reporter for any of the 10 problems. During the Semi- final PF the Reporter may reject the challenge twice without penalty. For any subsequent rejection the coefficient of the Reporter diminishes by 0.2. 4. Final PF The teams choose any problem from the whole List of the problems for presentation. X. The grading After each Stage the Jury rates the teams, taking into account all presentations of the members of the team, questions and answers to the questions, and participation in the discussion. The marks are transformed into grades and then into points with various coefficients for the Reporter, Opponent and Reviewer according to the scheme: The coefficient of the Opponent challenging for problem "Think up a problem yourself' is 2.5, since he takes the risk to face the unknown problem. The coefficient of the Opponent chalenging for other problems is 2.0. If the Jury consists of 5 or 6 persons, then in the evaluation of the mean grade the lowest grade is withdrawn. If the Jury consists of more than 6 persons, then the highest and the lowest grades are withdrawn. XI. The resulting parameters I. For a team in the PF SP (the sum of points) is the sum of mean grades multiplied by the corresponding coefficients and rounded to I. SPj is the sum of points of the team taking place j in a given PF. R (the rating), characterizes the success of team in the PF. Rj is the parameter of the team taking place j. Rj depends upon j, SPj and the value of SPi - SPj (i < j). The rating of the team taking place j is determinated according to the following table: I Team's place in the Fight I~ j j SPj > SPl - 6 j SP, < ffll - 6 j SPj >. SP~ - 6 j SPj < SP~ - 6 SPj>WO 151 5 ~ 4 1 4- 1 3 290>,SP.,>240j4j 4 1 3 j 3 j 2 240>~j>190[31 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 190 > 5P, I 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 This rule of evaluation of R holds for all PFs. 2. For a team in the Tournament TSP (the total sum of points) equals the sum of SP of the team in all PFs, TR (the total rating) is the sum of ratings of the team in all PFs. 3. For members of a team The speech of the member of a team as a Reporter, an Opponent or a Reviewer is con- sidered successful if all the grades for it taken into account are higher than 3+. In the successful speeches the member of a team gathers points: IR (the individual rating) equals the sum of points gathered by the member of the team in all successful speeches, divided by the number of the grades taken into account. XII. Selective PFs In the course of the Selective Fights any one team meets with another team only once, according to the following scheme (numbers ascribed to teams in the scheme are determi- nated by lot): lst Selective Fight I 18 - 20 team Fight I 15 - 17 team Fight Group t~ Reporter 11 2 3 4 5 611 2 3 4 5 Opponent) 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 6 7 8 9 10 Reviewer I 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 11 12 13 14 15 Observer I 19 20 1 16 17 2nd Selective Fight ~ ~ 18 - 20 team Fight ~ - 17 team Fight Group I I 11 Ill IV V VI~l 11 m IV V Reporter Ill 12 7 8 19 20117 10 6 7 16 Opponent I 16 17 18 13 9 101 9 14 15 11 8 Reviewer I 6 1 2 3 14 15 1 13 1 2 3 12 Observer I ~ 4 5 1 5 4 3rd Selective Fight ~ Group 1 1 11 Ill IV V VI I I 11 Ill IV V Reported Opponent) 5 6 1 19 20 4 1 4 5 1 16 17 Reviewer 19 10 11 2 3 8 17 8 9 2 3 Observer I 12 7 1 10 6 The distribution of the team leaders among the groups, which is determinated below, assures that they do not judge their own team. The scheme for the Selective PFs with more than 20 or less than 15 teams, should be composed by using the same principles. The team leaders distribution among the groups I 18 - 20 team Fight~ 17 team Fight Group ~~VI~ I 2 3 4 5 6~3 4 5 1 Team 1 8 9 10 11 12 7 1 8 9 10 6 7 leaders I 14 15 16 17 18 13 1 12 13 14 15 11 120 191 16 17 XIII. The Semifinal Nine teams having the highest TR in the Selective Fights participate in the Semifinal. The team taking place 10 to 12 may participate in the Semifinal if its TR equals that of the team taking place 9 and its TSP differs no more then 6 from that of the team taking place 9. Teams and team leaders are distributed among three groups according to the tables below. They are enumerated according to their TR (if equal than to their T5P): the higher TO (TSP), the lower the number. Dlsttibutionoftearns~ ~ among the groups 11 11 among the groups ---" " ~ lj lj -,-" " ~ Group~ I 11 Ill jj jj Group j I 11 Ill Reported 2 3~l (~I 2 3 1 Opponent I 6 5 4 lj jj Team I 5 4 6 Reviewer I 7 8 9 [1 11 leader 1 8 9 7 Observer I (12) (11) (10) 11 11 1 (11) (10) (12) There can be only one winner of tile Semifinal in each group. Tile winner is determi- nated by the highest .ff; in case of equality by the highest?~; in case of equality by the highest TSP, in case of equality by lot. XIV. The Final The winners of the Semifinal participate in the Final. If the team which got the highest TR is not among these teams, it participates in the Final as a fourth team. If there is more then one of such a team, the decision is taken according to the highest TSP, in case of equality by lot. The order of presentation in the Final is determined by the TR, in case of equality by the TSP, in case of equality by lot: the higher TR (TSP), the lower the number in the schemes of item VI. xv. The winners of the Tournament I. Team competition The participants of the Final assure for themselves place 11 and compete for place I. The participants of the Semifinal assure for themselves place Ill. The following places in the Tournament are determined by the value of TR. 2. Individual competition The individual winner of the Tournament is determined by the value of the individual rating IR. The highest ffl, denoted as HIR, serves as a reference. All participants (team members) that have IR score higher than 0.8 HIR are "winners" and those having IR higher than 0.5 HIR become a honourable mention (for successful participation). XVI. The Regulations of the International YPT are established by the OC and may be changed only by the OC. Warsaw, october 1994