Questions tagged [on-topic]
For discussions and questions on the appropriateness (for the main site) of a question or a certain type of question.
113
questions
11
votes
1answer
283 views
Can I ask a question on MathOverflow and also on another site?
Sometimes one might ask a question on a website such as Mathematics Stack Exchange which is comparable but not identical to MathOverflow, and then decide to post the same question on MathOverflow. ...
11
votes
2answers
320 views
(When) are “career advice” questions on-topic here? If and when such a question is on-topic, what to keep in mind in answering such a question?
We have a tag career and a tag advice. We don't have a flood of questions under these tags, but for several reasons I think it would also be appropriate for us to have a bit more guidance on meta ...
1
vote
1answer
134 views
Is this the right community for “under-the-hood” math questions?
I've posted a few questions in the Mathematics Stack Exchange community asking about theoretical concerns, such as "Why is $\frac{\frac{1}{x}}{\frac{1}{x^2}+1}=\frac{x}{x^2+1}$ true for all $x$?&...
1
vote
0answers
78 views
Appropriateness and cross-posting
I am interested in this question on math.stackexchange. To me it is interesting because while it looks "obvious" that there isn't a solution with 6 turns (I have some very partial results ...
11
votes
0answers
386 views
Utility of Mathematics: Is this question appropriate here, and if not/if so, how can I phrase it better?
I would like to know if this question is appropriate for Math Overflow, and if so, how I can phrase it better to get the best results.
Question:
I recently spoke with a very nice mathematician who ...
4
votes
0answers
335 views
Question on topic for Mathoverflow?
My question, asked months ago, was well received. Now...
I'm wondering if this question is on-topic for MathOverflow:
Consider a semi-Riemannian manifold $\zeta^{2,2}$ with metric, $g=\frac{dxdy}{xy}+...
2
votes
1answer
223 views
Questions seemingly/apparently/ostensibly too elementary for overlfow
Well I don't really get notifications of flag responses sooo...
Nov 6 at 14:01 helpful - I suggest you take this up in meta; there is not enough space to answer here. But there are a number of ...
2
votes
0answers
257 views
Is asking about name of a curve a research level question?
In my opinion this post is not a research level topic but surprisingly it has been received 22 votes.
Is the linked post a research level question and appropriate for MO?
I think it is more ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Questions, answers, comments or discussions on aspects of politics relevant to mathematicians on MathOverflow (main or meta)
Given the recent question here on meta about the deletion of a
comment stating a political opinion on an answer which also stated
a political opinion which sparked a lively debate, let me bring up the
...
0
votes
0answers
210 views
Would asking this question be permissible on the main site?
I have been working on a problem for days, that I previously mentioned on ComScience StackExchange. The answers were helpful. But, I need more information to develop a polynomial space algorithm.
I ...
11
votes
0answers
307 views
Role of the tag “gm.general-mathematics”
This question is about the tag gm.general-mathematics. A meta question about it already occurred here, but was less specific (and didn't generate much discussion). See also the discussion in the ...
10
votes
1answer
527 views
High accuracy computation question on MO
Can I ask question which require very high accuracy calculation with very delicate nature on MO :
Ex: calculate:
$$S(q)=\int_{x=2}^q\sin^2\left(\frac{π\Gamma(x)}{2x}\right)dx$$ for $q=10^3$ or $10^...
11
votes
1answer
458 views
Writing a proper MathOverflow question
I am in uni and I'm struggling to write a proper question for this site. I always end up writing too little and people say they need more detail. Sometimes I get a bad rep and criticised for being ...
1
vote
0answers
123 views
Would this question be suitable for MO?
I have asked What are some efficient ways to keep a note of results of a paper? in Academia SE.
Would this question be suitable for MO?
Is this better suited in MO than academia?
10
votes
1answer
636 views
Advice with arXiv: MO Meta or academia SE?
I would like to write a question $Q$ asking for advice about what to do with a note which I wrote (itself based on a self-answer on MathOverflow) which was rejected from the arXiv (something I didn't ...
2
votes
1answer
325 views
MO is not the place for Mochizuki news
This question
Everybody wants to know what's going on with this but we should leave it to Twitter, Reddit, blogs, etc. There is very little actual Mathematics in the discussion I linked to.
(I am ...
9
votes
1answer
793 views
About if doubts in Research papers can be asked on MathOverflow
I am new to MathOverflow.
I am a master of mathematics student. I am studying research papers as a part of my masters project. I wanted to ask if questions in research papers ( regarding what I ...
14
votes
1answer
543 views
Are questions appropriate if they require answers to be edited in perpetuity?
A recent popular question asks about the status of a certain list of open problems. The OP answered his own question within 13 hours of asking it, and has now edited his answer 26 times, so that it is ...
2
votes
1answer
225 views
Would this question be appropriate for MathOverflow?
I asked this question in Math Stack Exchange several days ago, but I have received no interaction so far, apart from 4 upvotes. I was considering adding a bounty, but since (to my humble understanding)...
5
votes
0answers
244 views
Are questions on standard graduate textbooks on-topic? [duplicate]
I am a masters student in mathematics and I am self studying and trying problems of graduate texts in mathematics like Tom M Apostol modular functions and Dirichlet series in number theory, Serge Lang ...
19
votes
1answer
903 views
Is my question suitable for MO?
Around a month ago I asked a question on ME here. It was well received (got seven up votes). Sadly nobody was able to help much. To get more attention I also placed a bounty on it. Still no luck. The ...
1
vote
0answers
155 views
Should this be moved to math.stackexchange?
I posted Lower bound on Carmichael Function
and just assumed it belonged here, but after thinking about it for some time I'm not so sure. The Carmichael function itself might be encountered by other ...
12
votes
1answer
480 views
Can I ask about entry-level questions (understanding and definitions) of research-level topics?
I am currently doing a reading on Teichmuller space and I am having trouble understanding some basic definitions. So I asked these two questions on MSE first:
Understanding Teichmuller equivalence of ...
0
votes
0answers
132 views
Would this soft question be appropriate?
A few weeks back on the Math Stack Exchange, I asked this question about "interesting" PDEs. It got (no answers and) some deserved criticism, so I opened a discussion on the Meta there and made some ...
11
votes
0answers
537 views
Appropriateness of proposed question on applications of number theory in dynamical systems?
Update: the question has now been asked on the main site - Applications of number theory in dynamical systems
I am considering asking a reference-request type question on MO about significant and/or ...
21
votes
4answers
2k views
Publicizing conjectures on MO
This question
Positive integers written as $\binom{w}2+\binom{x}4+\binom{y}6+\binom{z}8$ with $w,x,y,z\in\{2,3,\ldots\}$
is basically just a statement of a few conjectures by the asker. The "...
81
votes
4answers
25k views
Is there a way to discuss the correctness of the proof of the RH by Atiyah in MO?
I just made a question in MO to discuss the correctness of the proof provided by Prof. Atiyah for the Riemann hypothesis (link here: Is there an error in the pre print published by Atiyah with his ...
2
votes
3answers
236 views
Are help requests to entitle specific papers appropriate for MathOverflow?
The title of a paper has crucial importance, since when it is well thought, other researchers will have more possibilities of finding it when in need, and of wondering its content when encountered. I ...
0
votes
0answers
71 views
Would this question be on topic?
I'm independently working on some research, and would like to see if there are any other papers on this topic. Can I ask a question on the main site, with a brief description of my work, to see what ...
0
votes
0answers
115 views
Is this post incompatible with its tags?
Is the following question incompatible with its tags? I really do not understand the reason that some participants voted to closing this question as off topic question:
PhD dissertations that ...
22
votes
3answers
827 views
Pronunciation questions
Every so often, I have a question about the correct pronunciation of a math term/name that I’ve only read, and the answer isn’t on Wikipedia. Some examples from my past:
“Hartshorne” (I ended up ...
-11
votes
1answer
476 views
Should MO perhaps give numerological abductive questions a little more benefit of the doubt
Background:
This question is a much more specific version of a metaMO question which was deleted for some odd reason after one poster said in a comment that he agreed with everything said in the post....
2
votes
0answers
191 views
Why was my question closed while it looks like similar questions are still open?
Recently, my question regarding a good introductory book on mathematical risk theory was closed because it was deemed off-topic and not research-level mathematics.
However, I think that multiple ...
2
votes
2answers
268 views
Is there a clear rule against “check this proof” type questions?
I discovered that the meta question "Questions" of the type "I have written something, please give me feedback" from more than three years ago still does not have any answer, while ...
10
votes
1answer
597 views
Is MO the place to explore whether a problem has been considered or solved by mathematicians?
I am a university AP and I like composing problems (not for kids, not for practice). Oftentimes I don't know whether or not the problem has been considered or solved by other mathematicians. Is ...
1
vote
1answer
207 views
“The Devil and Simon Flagg” in Квант
Did any of you ever read the translation into Russian of A. Porges' "The Devil and Simon Flagg" which was featured in the magazine Квант once? If so, could you tell me the issue in which it appeared?
...
23
votes
3answers
1k views
“Newbie-style” questions: is there an “official” viewpoint of MO?
(Neil Strickland provided a link to early graduate level questions: MO or Math.SE? which more or less answers this, so I have marked it as a duplicate)
Every now and then I encounter questions which ...
1
vote
1answer
687 views
A remark on the abc conjecture
It went/goes something like this:
"It [the abc conjecture] resembles a false proposition in that A GREAT DEAL of results would follow from its veracity".
I may have read it in the comments of a ...
-2
votes
1answer
446 views
May I know why is my question on hold when it is clearly research-level?
This is my question
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/262039/central-properties-of-the-integers-mathbbz-over-other-structures-with-sum
I think the question is clear enough and it is easy to ...
4
votes
0answers
217 views
Thread for asking about suitability of math.SE question on MO?
Often there are questions of the type: "I have posted this question on math.SE. No satisfactory answer so far. Would this question be suitable for MathOverflow?"
People ask this in various places:
...
3
votes
1answer
196 views
“what is” type questions
is it acceptable to put questions of the type "what does ... mean?" or "what is ...?" on MathOverflow. For example?
what is the moduli space of higgs bundles?
what is a Picard-Viessot extension?
...
2
votes
1answer
224 views
What about talking about life? How to work, manage, organize, and so forth?
My question comes from a general an recurrent observation on MO (and more generally in the real academic life):
doing research (in mathematics) is a whole ecosystem, full of different tasks and ...
40
votes
4answers
2k views
A StackExchange website aimed at graduate students?
There has been a lot of discussion about questions that do not get answered on MSE, but are not considered 'research level' on MO and thus get closed. The problem seems to be that certain questions ...
36
votes
1answer
1k views
How is it off-topic to ask whether the normalization of a local complete intersection is Gorenstein?
This question (which I did not ask) is whether the normalization of a local complete intersection domain is Gorenstein. Why was this closed as "off-topic"? Especially when this one, which asks ...
0
votes
1answer
216 views
Why is my question on hold?
Why is this question fine, but mine is put on hold? They seem to be very similar questions? Or is there some distinction that I'm not getting?
13
votes
1answer
978 views
Humans, Go, Computers, Math
This is the meta thread for What advantage humans have over computers in mathematics?
It was closed, got reopened and reclosed, and reopened again.
In an effort to close the barn before the horse ...
49
votes
3answers
1k views
Appropriate or not: “To what extent are the results in Paper X correct?”
I have found a counterexample to the main theorem of a 20-year-old paper. The paper does not seem to be well known but it was written by reputable mathematicians and published in a highly regarded ...
23
votes
4answers
2k views
Appropriateness of recent LIGO question for MO
There had been numerous comments under the question Recent observation of gravitational waves that discuss whether it is appropriate for MathOverflow. That discussion is properly a concern of MO meta, ...
2
votes
2answers
626 views
On the viXra question
Should Hard maths on viXra? be reopened?
Is it appropriate for the site?
Why or why not?
3
votes
0answers
415 views
Is this (“Is this a good research question?”) a good MathOverflow question?
I apologize if this has been covered before. A cursory search of meta.mathoverflow does not reveal it.
There are reasons not to make research topics public. (I have some topics that I am not ready ...
