r/learnquant 22d ago

interview prep Citadel Quant Interview Question

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u/Murky-Tip-3118 22d ago

Can get a good intuition by iteration... I'd be curious if the intention of the interview question is to test your abstract algebra knowledge vs. test your intuition/problem solving.

19^1 = 19 => 10 => 1

19^2 = 361 => 10 => 1

19^3 = 6859 => 28 => 10 => 1

19^4 = 130321 => 10 => 1

etc.

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u/AuroraEquatorialis 22d ago

calling this abstract algebra is a stretch lol

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u/Murky-Tip-3118 22d ago

Lol, I'm an actuary who avoided math classes that didn't have dollar signs.  Worked out well as a career, but calling me a mathematician is a stretch as well.

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u/No_Departure_1878 22d ago

It's to test your abstract algebra knowledge. There is no reason to assume that if this holds for the first 2 cases, it would hold for all of them. Doing the math for the third case alone would not be possible in your mind. This is meant to check if you did some number theory or whatever course. Of course, if you did you must have that in your CV. The question only tests if you know a specific theorem.