Questions tagged [on-topic]

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

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
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
  • 748
10 votes
2 answers
774 views

"What is known about" considered harmful?

I have noticed that those of my questions with downvotes are exactly those beginning with the words "what is known about..." or "is anything known about...." For example: Stationary many subsets of $...
Trevor Wilson's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
530 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^...
bambi's user avatar
  • 375
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
5 answers
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 ...
Stefan Kohl's user avatar
  • 19.5k
9 votes
4 answers
868 views

Are research questions in MSC 97 (Mathematics education) allowed on MO?

Check AMS Mathematics Subject Classification, you will find the 2 digit classification "97" for mathematics education. Thus it seems that It is allowed to ask mathematics education research questions ...
Amir Asghari's user avatar
  • 2,279
9 votes
1 answer
604 views

A (type of) question which falls between MO and academia.SE?

This question Style of mathematical writing vs. too many lemmas seems like it may get closed. I am somewhat torn as to whether it should stay open or be closed (and so I have neither voted up nor down ...
Yemon Choi's user avatar
  • 25.5k
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
  • 1,129
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
  • 163
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
8 votes
1 answer
391 views

Is asking question from graduate books allowed

Is it ok to ask questions from books like Probabilistic Method by Noga Alon, the * marked ones, since they are tough questions but not exactly research level questions. I had already asked this ...
Varun's user avatar
  • 1
8 votes
2 answers
590 views

Getting Experts Opinions on Mathematical Results

I would like to know, whether it is in the line of MO rules to present a result and ask for "opinions" like whether it is already known or worth pursuing and, who might be interested in the result. ...
Manfred Weis's user avatar
  • 12.6k
8 votes
1 answer
417 views

Is asking a question on the applicability of cellular automata to solving PDEs on closed curves appropriate?

Being a low rep user who is somewhat unfamiliar with the workings of this site, I would appreciate it if I could get some feedback on a question I am considering asking. It would be a reference ...
bzm3r's user avatar
  • 398
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Cross posts to Math SE

Are cross posts to Math SE allowed? As in almost exactly the same text, just posted there. Of course the sites are meant for difference things, but still just wondering. And if yes, should one link ...
redelectrons'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
2 answers
1k views

On the question about a strengthening of Bertrand's postulate

I am trying to work out what I think about the suitability of this question. The author is in a very real and awkward situation: His$^{\ast}$ graduate student has a result. The result is not that ...
David E Speyer's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
759 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 ...
Kieren MacMillan's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
397 views

Are interdisciplinary questions about mathematics of musical instruments on-topic here?

I have some mathematical questions that lie between music and mathematics, particularly applications of mathematics in building musical instruments. As an example see this paper: The Mathematics of ...
Amit Sing Mukerjee's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
501 views

Suitability on MO of question on teaching engineers mathematical thinking skills

Recently, I asked a question on MSE about teaching engineers mathematical thinking skills. Would this question be suitable for MO, where it might reach more professionals involved in teaching ...
J W's user avatar
  • 748
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
6 votes
2 answers
320 views

Can I ask on the main question board about what are the recent research in some area?

I'm not a researcher yet, I'm defending my thesis next year and would like to get acquainted with recent results and branches of representation theory Mainly groups and C*-algebras Can I ask this in ...
Henrique Tyrrell's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
416 views

Could I have some help improving a history-overview post?

First off, a link to the post in question. It has been marked as "too broad". What could I do to improve my question? Should I break each sub-question down into its own question? Should I repost it ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
160 views

Literature Requests & Opinions: Conventions At MO

Background: Having failed to solve a general problem that I posted more than a year ago on mathoverflow.net, I have now resorted to numerical methods (involving finite probability distributions) . ...
Ian Calvert'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
1 answer
902 views

Can I ask whether or not a paper that proves P=NP is correct?

I found a paper on arXiv.com that claims that P=NP is proved. The paper is written by a professor in Russia and it looks well-writen. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1208.0954v31.pdf Can I ask whether or not ...
Jill Clover's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
359 views

Is asking for good review papers a good question?

I think that generally speaking asking for papers might be a non-research issue. If it's merely a google issue, then it shouldn't be in MO. What about Survey/Review papers? Obviously those are hard ...
Amir Sagiv's user avatar
  • 3,544
4 votes
1 answer
504 views

Is this question appropriate? (What features should a mathematician look for in a tablet computer)

I'm getting ready to buy my first tablet computer and I have some fairly specific things I need it to be able to do so that it can be an effective tool for my research. I need it to be able to compile ...
David White's user avatar
  • 29.4k
4 votes
1 answer
311 views

Posting a technical/narrow open question on mathoverflow?

I am a bit confused on our policy for open-problems. Are we allowed to post a technical/narrow conjecture/open problem on MO? For example, here is a type of a beautiful question that I have in mind ...
Thomas Kojar's user avatar
  • 4,414
4 votes
1 answer
121 views

Is it possible to Un-migrate a question?

I was not sure at first, but I think this question migrated from MO to MSE has been underestimated, and would receive better answers from MO users. It is related to another question (which was well ...
Benoît Kloeckner's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
982 views

Is this non-technical question appropriate?

I am interested in asking the following question, and would like some indication as to whether it is appropriate or not before I do. The question would be entitled something like 'Mathematical ...
Marius Kempe's 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
  • 52.3k
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
1 answer
209 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? ...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.6k
3 votes
2 answers
194 views

Appropriate to ask question regarding choice of "magma" to describe simple algebraic structures?

I just started reading Bourbaki's Algebra, and posed a question regarding the choice of the word "magma" (which I came across on the first page of Bourbaki) on History of Science and Mathematics SE. ...
bzm3r's user avatar
  • 398
3 votes
2 answers
370 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, ...
edo arad's user avatar
  • 274
3 votes
1 answer
333 views

Are questions exploring constructive analysis on topic?

Meta, I'm not a professional. I've been reading Bishop. I have questions. They are likely fairly basic to a professional. Am I on topic here, or should I wander over to the other site?
bimargulies's user avatar
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
2 answers
678 views

On the viXra question

Should Hard maths on viXra? be reopened? Is it appropriate for the site? Why or why not?
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
248 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 ...
Jose Brox's user avatar
  • 2,962