Questions tagged [on-topic]

For discussions and questions on the appropriateness (for the main site) of a question or a certain type of question.

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14 votes
0 answers
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To which extent can one modify another's question?

One highly off-topic question of real analysis was asked in the main site by a new user. One user sent, 1 hour later, a long answer going far beyond the the question, and then, 12 hours later, edited ...
YCor's user avatar
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13 votes
0 answers
584 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 ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
219 views

Is it fine to repost questions from a paper

Is it fine to re-ask open questions from ones paper on mathoverflow? On the one hand, I am interested in finding an answer to the question, and it might help if it is more publicly available. But if I ...
HenrikRüping's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
636 views

Is the following question on paper-writing etiquette appropriate for MO?

I'm wondering if it would be appropriate to ask a soft question on MO regarding mathematical etiquette. In more detail, I'm writing a paper that cites a well-known paper in my field, but I've been ...
Chuck Hague's user avatar
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11 votes
0 answers
390 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 ...
trujello's user avatar
  • 101
11 votes
0 answers
354 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 ...
YCor's user avatar
  • 60.1k
11 votes
0 answers
544 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 ...
J W's user avatar
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10 votes
0 answers
413 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 ...
Mohammad Al-Turkistany's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
588 views

On "How does the work of a pure mathematician impact society?"

The question How does the work of a pure mathematician impact society? was originally quickly closed, relatively quickly reopened, after a longer time closed again and has at the time of this edit a ...
user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
502 views

Questions on Mathematical Writing

Where should I ask about how to approach Mathematical paper writing? For example, the question [How to write an abstract for a math paper? ] was put on hold? Which stack exchange site should I have ...
Halbort's user avatar
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9 votes
0 answers
495 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 ...
Tobias Kildetoft's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
701 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 ...
Troy Woo's user avatar
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9 votes
0 answers
485 views

Is this question appropriate? (Counterexamples in Universal Algebra)

I have a question which I'd like to ask, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for MO, and I wanted to get some feedback. The reasons I'm worried it might be inappropriate are: (1) there are already ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
774 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{(-...
Vincenzo Oliva's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
771 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 ...
Reimundo Heluani's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
239 views

Would such a "big list" on known bounds for distances between $2^S-3^N$ be appropriate for MO?

After new questions and/or activities on older questions on "bounds for distances $2^S-3^N$" appeared in MO I thought whether a [BigList] or [CommunityWiki] on known such bounds (their ...
Gottfried Helms's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
250 views

Would this M.SE question that has received no answers be appropriate for MO? (or could it be tweaked into being appropriate?)

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/667830/modern-research-into-grassmans-theory-of-forms When I first posted it on MO, it received a downvote, so I figured there might be something wrong with ...
user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
283 views

Can I ask this question on Math Overflow? (Advice on how to get started)

I am thinking of applying for a maths PhD programme. I have more or less an idea of the subfield I'd like to research, but not much more than that. I'm looking for suggestions on how to properly ...
Nicola's user avatar
  • 101
4 votes
0 answers
441 views

Is this soft question acceptable?

Edited version: What are great examples of comprehensively archived mathematical correspondence (including both handwritten and electronic items)? Previous version : How should mathematicians archive ...
Thomas Sauvaget's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
349 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}+...
geocalc33's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
226 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: ...
Martin Sleziak's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
287 views

Is this measure theory question suitable for MO?

A moderator at Mathematics StackExchange asks if this question would be suitable for migration to MO: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1331258/using-a-sequence-of-measures-to-create-simple-...
Todd Trimble's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
658 views

I want to post a question on MathOverflow, but is it suitable?

I posted a question "A question on the remainders of integer division" on Mathematics one week ago. There is not any answer until now. I do not think it is a question of professional level, but it ...
KWSK's user avatar
  • 1
3 votes
0 answers
155 views

Planar geometry on MO

"Planar geometry" here is 2-dimensional Euclidean geometry, usually used as Olympiad geometry problem, its objects just be a bunch of lines and circles, it has no Combinatoric aspect and not ...
Veronica Phan's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
158 views

Would this question be appropriate on the main site?

I would like to ask a "big list" style question on the main site. The question would be "How do we pronounce the names of famous mathematicians?". Each answer would be an audio ...
Steven Gubkin's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
422 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 ...
Gerhard Paseman's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
493 views

Why was 'How to Discover Counterexamples and Required Objects' put on hold?

Please forgive me if I did not post this correctly. I'm writing following https://mathoverflow.net/help/reopen-questions. I would like to ask for my question to be reopened: https://mathoverflow.net/...
user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
182 views

Asking whether this question will be suitable and hence answered by people on MO ? ( I will use career and advice tag)

I am thinking of asking this question on the MO website which is due to the fact that how should I write/ explain the gap in my CV while applying for PHD programs in 2022. Very brief of the situations ...
Arnold's user avatar
  • 668
2 votes
0 answers
262 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 ...
C.F.G's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
201 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 ...
Max Muller's user avatar
  • 4,435
2 votes
0 answers
702 views

Can I ask this question here?

I recently posted this question on Math Stack Exchange, in which I asked for a published reference containing the proof of a certain fact. What I got instead was a very rough outline of a proof. I've ...
David's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
0 answers
155 views

Self advertising and posting a candidate constructive proof

I would like to learn about appropriateness of posting a candidate constructive proof that decides a conjecture or open question and asking for counter examples that render the proof incorrect. The ...
Manfred Weis's user avatar
  • 12.6k
1 vote
0 answers
91 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 ...
Fabius Wiesner's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
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?
Praphulla Koushik's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
160 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 ...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
178 views

soft-question tag for discussing mathematical best-practices

I asked a question about where people could store slides for future reference. As a discussion of best-practices in the Mathematical profession, I thought it was appropriate for the soft-question tag ...
john mangual's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
182 views

Is asking for the status of Vandiver's conjecture suitable for MO?

I wonder what the current status of Vandiver's conjecture in number theory is? An internet search revealed the paper "Vandiver's conjecture via K-theory" by Alexander Stolin from 2020 on the ...
Todd Leason 's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
133 views

Is this question about partition numbers too broad/vague?

Here's my proposed question (edit: now posted) (edit 2: posted version now edited): I have found an algorithm for counting partitions, and I've been able to express it into a mathematical formula, $P(...
user1113719's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
163 views

Asking if a post about a mathematical characterization of gravitational geons can be potentially interesting for the main site MathOverflow

I would like to ask about if a question about the following subject can be potentially interesting and on topic on MathOverflow. I would like to ask on the main site of MathOverflow about the ...
user142929's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
128 views

Is this partial differential equation on topic for Mathoverflow?

I came across this differential equation. I'm not sure if it's research level, but I think it might be: $$u\frac{\partial}{\partial u}\left(u\frac{\partial f}{\partial u}\right) + v\frac{\partial}{\...
geocalc33's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
213 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 ...
Travis Wells's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
133 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 ...
Robin Saunders's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
72 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 ...
CDspace's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
0 answers
117 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 ...
Ali Taghavi's user avatar