Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
1,071
questions
-14
votes
2answers
402 views
What needs math?
I probably do not understand the forum https://mathoverflow.net/questions
Have noticed that if someone asks how to solve any equation - then this post with a question quickly removed. Okay. Suppose ...
12
votes
2answers
664 views
Geographic distribution of people on MathOverflow
Is there a way to answer questions like the following, either by means of the StackExchange
Date Explorer or by other means?:
How many of the regular MathOverflow users (say, e.g., those who ...
2
votes
2answers
526 views
Should we start a "PolyMathOverflow" project?
Recently polymath projects seems to have stopped.
One reason for this could be that running such a project requires a lot of effort from at least one person running it.
I was thinking if it were ...
-4
votes
1answer
378 views
Should we create an Erdős tag?
I was thinking about creating tags for some famous or important people, like Erdős (that already exists, as pointed out by Joonas: erdos), that could be used for questions related to their work.
...
20
votes
1answer
661 views
How to respond to premature crossposts from Math.SE?
There seems to be a general feeling (if not policy) to the effect that questions should not be simultaneously posted to MathOverflow and Math StackExchange (Math.SE). (I think there may have been a ...
13
votes
0answers
556 views
Is this question appropriate for MO? (Recognizing cohomological ideas)
About two weeks ago I asked this question on MSE: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1085946/when-should-i-be-doing-cohomology. (Short version: what are some ways I can tell that some sort of ...
-1
votes
1answer
383 views
It is ok to ask the following question in MO?
Intuitively it doesn't look to me that much of a research level problem but, if it's not too trivial, I think it needs a bit of careful thought to answer my question. I don't know whether the ...
9
votes
2answers
464 views
Can a person other than the author start a bounty for a question they like?
Suppose Jack is new to MO and he posts a good question. Tim has a lot of reputations in MO and thinks the question deserves more attentions. Why not we allow Tim to offer some of his reputations to ...
10
votes
0answers
410 views
Is it appropriate to post question asking to prove NP-completness of more than one problem?
I believe that I discovered a method to generate several NP-complete problems. The NP-completeness proof is not immediately apparent to me. I did not find any reference in complexity literature to my ...
21
votes
1answer
790 views
Mathoverflow lecture series using chat
This was something that came up recently in the homotopy theory chat room. Even if it wasn't to homotopy theory, has MO ever considered asking active users with interesting research to host lectures ...
14
votes
1answer
589 views
Using bounty to prevent a question from being closed
There is a recent question Which universities teach true infinitesimal calculus? , suitability of which has been questioned by several users [I personally do not see in this question anything related ...
6
votes
1answer
935 views
Bizarre Recent Upvotes
Just in the last day or so, the following extremely low-quality posts have all received upvotes:
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/190836/how-to-calculate-math-expectation
https://mathoverflow.net/...
13
votes
2answers
837 views
How can I avoid getting a bounty?
I've posted an incomplete answer to the question
Does a left basis imply a right basis, without AC?
which has a 50 point bounty that expires soon. My answer is basically an idea that I think (but I'...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Winter Bash on MO?
I noticed that the Stackexchange sites are having a Winter Bash, and one of my friends recieved a hat on MSE. Why isn't this on MO? It'll be fun to have something like that here, wouldn't it? (I ...
12
votes
2answers
347 views
How to find out what activity activated a favorite?
I have several favorite questions and it is a great feature that every time something happens around them, they are flagged up for me. However, when I turn to them, in most cases I cannot figure out ...
8
votes
3answers
603 views
Community standard for contacting users off of MO?
If a user is using their full name as their user name, what, if any, is the community standard with regards to emailing that user using their independently found work email address about their ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
Should there be any concern about the number of questions imported into PhysicsOverflow?
I just happened to note that http://www.physicsoverflow.org/ now exists; this isn't a stackexchange website, but seems to run on similar software, and with similar goals to mathoverflow, which seems ...
3
votes
0answers
1k views
Advice to young mathematicians question on Mathematics Stack Exchange
(I don't know if this is on-topic on MathOverflow-meta. In case it is not, please, let me know.)
I see that many active users of MathOverflow are not as active on Math Stack Exchange; for this reason,...
2
votes
1answer
277 views
This MSE question was rejected for a migration on MO. Are you agree with this decision?
One month ago, I've asked the following question on MSE:
Is the left regular representation of an algebra, always faithful?
Up to now, this question has received 5 upvotes but no answer.
...
3
votes
1answer
307 views
Reputation's sliding window?
One may have the same weekly and monthly score. It's quite common. It's less common under such circumstances (of coinciding weekly and monthly gain) to be more advanced on the monthly list than on the ...
9
votes
1answer
609 views
A question regarding some downvoting on my first question and answer on MathOverflow and my desired remedy
My first question "A question regarding the Continuum Hypothesis" (which I answered), was recently downvoted after several years of staying at the same score.
Since I (with 20/20 hindsight) believe ...
8
votes
1answer
280 views
What is to be done about replies left as edits?
This question attracted a comment that seems relevant and helpful. Unfortunately, the user who tried to leave this comment is new and has a reputation of 1. The user could not leave comments, so ...
18
votes
6answers
2k views
Shall we have tea?
As was recently discussed at Should meta be Q&A?, it's rather strange to have our meta site run on a Q&A basis.
In the past our meta site was a Vanilla forum, and in fact it still exists, ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Should we reopen "The resolution of which conjecture/problem would-advance mathematics the most?"
The question is whether we should reopen it (link here).
My point of view is that we should because
a) It is asked by an intelligent and highly respected user.
b) It hasn't generated a single ...
1
vote
0answers
537 views
Risqué and uninformative title.
I found the previous title of
Realizing proper pure octonions as conjugates
slightly risqué and also uninformative. So in the spirit of being bold I just changed it to something mathematical. I'...
6
votes
1answer
371 views
Should meta be Q&A?
Should the meta-MathOverflow have the Q&A format? I don't see any rationale for this. After all, meta is just an auxiliary sub-forum which should help running the main forum. Collecting the ...
-3
votes
2answers
875 views
Politeness on MO/MetaMO
On at least two occasions some advanced MO users included in their comments phrases which were less than polite. I hope that these are isolated instances or else I would quietly and simply leave MO ...
5
votes
0answers
378 views
On a question previously posted on Math .SE
Some days ago I have asked this question but I got no response. Will it be ok if I post this question in this site (I am asking this because crossposting isn't generally welcomed in this site)? Also ...
37
votes
1answer
3k views
Grothendieck's passing
I think it would be a healing ritual
for the MO community for someone of appropriate stature (which excludes me)
posting an inviting cwiki question that elicits responses from the users
to this ...
3
votes
1answer
300 views
Bounty policies
When you propose a bounty, these points are immediately subtracted from your score,
and can never return, even if there is no satisfactory answer.
I think this is unfair; can someone explain the ...
8
votes
1answer
197 views
Question with several subquestions
Suppose one question posting contains several question. If I can answer one question, but cannot answer all of the questions, is it ok to post my answer as an answer, and not just as a comment?
9
votes
0answers
493 views
Suitability about a question on amenability of Thompsons group $F$
I was wondering if a question along the lines of the following would be appropriate for MO:
An open problem that seems to get a lot of attention every once in a while is the amenability of ...
49
votes
16answers
4k views
Interesting (and not sufficiently answered) questions on math.SE
In light of the generally positive response to this meta-thread, I am creating this to help advertise (and hopefully fully resolve) "interesting" questions on math.SE. I'm not really certain what the ...
12
votes
2answers
898 views
Is it appropriate to ask a research-level question that is not part of a research problem?
I think that the following question is conceivably research-level, but it arose just as a curiosity, not part of any serious research. Is it reasonable to ask it on MO? (I include the specific ...
6
votes
0answers
737 views
Requesting solutions to graduate textbooks is off-topic?
Today this question was put on Hold as off-topic
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/186117/solutions-for-categories-for-the-working-mathematician
I wander if this is a disservice in fact. I suspect ...
37
votes
3answers
713 views
Discreet editing
After I edited someone's Question or Answer, it feels real awkward to see my name mentioned in front of the author of the respective Q. or A. I feel that instead of displaying editor's name there ...
6
votes
3answers
712 views
Where/how does one best post "Seeking a collaborator"
I have an idea for an attack on an additive number theory conjecture. My usual collaborator (with whom I have published four papers) is not an ANT specialist, and is not interested in working on this ...
9
votes
0answers
692 views
Why this is off-topic?
I posted a question on MSE for two months and received no helpful answer. So I tried the same question on MO. I got 4 off-topic votes and so the question got migrated back to MSE. I'd like to mention ...
-6
votes
1answer
294 views
Would it be okay/interesting to ask a survey type question?
I would be interested in asking a question which asks mathematicians who visit the site the following question:
1) What research topic are you actively working on right now?
2) Why are you ...
1
vote
1answer
175 views
Reopening a question
Is it a good idea to reopen this question? I really can not get a complete answer from some comments on (the final version) of the question.
35
votes
3answers
1k views
Creating a "math.SE needs your help" thread
From time to time questions get asked on math.SE which may be quite suitable for MO. Given the current climate of math.SE, such questions may not receive the attention they are due: e.g., they ...
15
votes
1answer
1k views
Spam / Crank users
So I have posted a question on MO. It may not be the greatest question in the world, but for some reason it is attracting the attention of some crank user repeatedly signing up as a new (different) ...
4
votes
0answers
375 views
What has been the problem with the question?
I have some questions relating to this post. Actually I can't seem to figure out what has gone wrong with the question.
In my view, it was not off-topic. Perhaps my representation may be vague. In ...
7
votes
0answers
770 views
Are these questions of mine, (seemingly too hard for MSE?), suitable for MO?
The questions at issue are this and this. If they get no answer even after the end of bounties, might I post to MO?
And how about evaluating $\displaystyle \sum_{m=0}^\infty \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{(-...
3
votes
2answers
361 views
is a question regarding thought process suitible?
I am lately thinking about methods to organize my thoughts when Im thinking about a mathematical problem. Is it ok to ask the math community here about their thought processes and techniques?
If not, ...
11
votes
1answer
681 views
Can a definition make a good question?
There is a question I would like to ask at MO, but it seems somewhat unorthodox compared most others, so I want to get some support (or discouragement) here first.
What I want to do is to give a new ...
10
votes
1answer
337 views
Found an answer to my question, and want to change my question accordingly
A few months ago, I asked this question, which has gotten no response whatsoever. It asks to prove a statement, or to provide a counterexample.
Today, I found a counterexample, but it is in a very ...
68
votes
6answers
2k views
Happy 5th anniversary, MathOverflow!
MathOverflow first came online on September 28, 2009!
Let's celebrate five years of MO!
I bought a delicious cake from the best bakery in the area to have with dinner tonight. I'm sure you will also ...
12
votes
1answer
1k views
Is this an appropriate MathOverflow question: can I ask for some intuition and "excitement" behind the Dynamical Mordell-Lang conjecture?
I am a math undergraduate at my local university, and I have decided to make it a habit to attend the weekly seminars that are given by the faculty.
Today, the talk was on the Dynamic Mordell-Lang ...
17
votes
1answer
10k views
KaTeX vs MathJax
According to some benchmarks, it seems that KaTeX renders latex much more faster than Mathjax.
Is there any chance to use KaTeX in place of Mathjax?
