All Questions
1,885
questions
136
votes
61
answers
22k
views
Best of MathOverflow, or papers inspired by MathOverflow
This is a place to collect MathOverflow success stories!
Was some of your research inspired by something on MathOverflow? Do you know questions & answers that led to interesting research? ...
117
votes
23
answers
9k
views
MO-Hard Questions
The term "MO-Hard" has entered the mathematical vocabulary, describing interesting questions that were asked on MathOverflow but haven't been answered in spite of efforts by many community members. ...
116
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Anton's departure as moderator
Does outgoing moderator Anton Geraschenko deserve our heartfelt thanks, or what?
- 27.5k
89
votes
3
answers
2k
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Stack Exchange moderation strike
You may or may not have heard that there are some controversies around moderation on the network, specifically in relation to the moderation of GPT-produced posts, but more generally around lack of ...
Ben WebsterMod
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84
votes
3
answers
2k
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Should this site be "a shortcut to substitute for literature searches"?
On Reference for invariance of essential spectrum under relatively compact perturbations, Michael Renardy voted to close with the comment "This site should not become a shortcut to substitute for ...
- 29.6k
84
votes
0
answers
2k
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Donations to MathOverflow, Inc
Long time followers of MathOverflow will know that as well as the website, hosted by StackExchange, and moderated by the moderation team with all of your help, there is an independent 501(c)(3) ...
- 7,780
83
votes
3
answers
4k
views
MathOverflow user jailed
I know this is off-topic, not even being a question.
MathOverflow user Kıvanç Ersoy has been jailed, apparently for signing a petition.
Edit: As mentioned in comments, there is a petition about ...
- 34.7k
82
votes
4
answers
26k
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 ...
- 515
81
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Should we exercise a bit more tolerance towards newcomers?
What bothers me quite a bit is that many people come to MO to get some help with their mathematical problems and are met with nothing but our standard "closed as not research level" verdict and a few ...
- 61.2k
73
votes
4
answers
4k
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Why all the negativity?
I've been on this site for several years and I appreciate the site a lot but I don't like to post here anymore because no matter what I write I get some kind of sarcastic comment, or put-down, or ...
user10290
73
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Who owns MathOverflow?
Is MathOverflow a subsidiary of Stack Exchange? Did MathOverflow lose its independence when it migrated to the Stack Exchange network?
- 43.9k
68
votes
7
answers
8k
views
At what point should MO recognise it needs to leave Stack Exchange Inc?
Edit Please note this is not me posting with my moderator hat on (I've signed the letter), and I didn't discuss this with the mod team before posting this. It's not within shouting distance of being ...
- 34.9k
68
votes
6
answers
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 ...
- 43.9k
68
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Why is "what is the difference between mathoverflow and math.stackexchange?" not prominently displayed?
It is a truth not-quite-universally acknowledged that a newish Stack Exchange user in possession of the knowledge that there are two sites named "Math Overflow" and "Math.StackExchange" will be in ...
- 101
67
votes
6
answers
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views
The Association Bonus
One new feature that's come along with the transition is the "association bonus", which allows members of Math Stackexchange --- and other sites that are much further removed from the mission of MO ---...
- 22.9k
63
votes
0
answers
10k
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PhysicsOverflow just [in 2014] went live [closed]
The new site is now up and running (outside the SE network) here
https://www.physicsoverflow.org/
PhysicsOverflow is meant to be some kind of a rebirth of the untimely passed away Theoretical Physics ...
- 418
62
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is there a software solution if we do cut the cord from SE?
There has been some recent concerns about MathOverflow's relationship with StackExchange: see
What is MathOverflow's "agreement" with Stack Exchange?
How much is MathOverflow exposed to ...
- 38.8k
58
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Mugs, Stickers And Shirts - Now With 100% More MathOverflow!
The MathOverflow Foundation has given Stack Exchange permission to print and ship (at our expense) free gifts for outstanding users of the site that want them, or that will be attending conferences ...
- 101
56
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How much is MathOverflow exposed to recent events on StackExchange?
[Long-time 10k+ MO user here, asking this question anonymously for reasons that should be obvious.
Added Oct 16: My access to this account will self-destruct in 3, 2, 1 .... (sorry, won't be able to ...
56
votes
5
answers
11k
views
What happened to the dear user "quid" (9072), they appear deleted?
What happened to the dear user "quid" (9072), they appear deleted?
Noticed this by edits I remember were from them.
Google still remembers them and the user page of user number 9072 returns 404 (...
- 25.2k
56
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Flood of Similar New User(s)
The following thirteen(!) users:
goingfullscheme
valua_aint_no_galois
going-full-isomorphic
logicians_rule,
martintzar
royalroadtogeometry
bundlist
compactbut
faptoint
you_dont_mess_with_ron
...
- 22.9k
56
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Deleted answered question / arXiv posts based on unacknowledged MO posts
I'd like to mention here two possibly related facts:
(a) Soon after this question was answered, there was an arXiv paper posted providing the same answer
(b) Soon after this closely related ...
- 62.6k
56
votes
1
answer
741
views
Minor edits, subject to review
Now that MathOverflow has moved to 2.0, there is a potential solution to the long-standing tension between people wanting to make minor improvements to old posts, and others not wanting the 'active ...
- 7,780
55
votes
2
answers
4k
views
ChatGPT strikes MathOverflow
The user (or a bot) https://mathoverflow.net/users/496085/canvas123 appears to be posting ChatGPT-generated text on MathOverflow.
Two “answers” by this user already got accepted (!):
When is a ...
- 37.3k
55
votes
8
answers
3k
views
We have our first user with more than 200K reputation!
Congratulations to Joel David Hamkins who on (I think!) the 27th November 2022, was the first MathOverflow user to pass 200k reputation! Since Joel joined on the 19th November 2009, he has supplied ...
52
votes
1
answer
734
views
Can we have the window title for a question start with the question?
The title attribute in the page of a question like Comparison between $E_2$-terms of Leray and “second hypercohomology” spectral sequences is currently set to "ag.algebraic geometry - Comparison ...
- 5,289
51
votes
59
answers
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News of potential interest to the MO community
Occasionally, there has been a suggestion to start a meta question to collect information that might be of interest to the MO community. This is an attempt to start such a thread.
Is there any news ...
51
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to write a good MathOverflow question?
How do I write a good MathOverflow question? Got any advice for me?
- 7,780
51
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Formatting citations to the literature on MathOverflow
We'd like to make it easier to cite articles from the literature, on MathOverflow.
I propose adding a single button to the edit toolbar while writing posts, which will pop up a search dialog, allow ...
- 7,780
50
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What do you want to do in September for MO's tenth anniversary?
On Sep. 28, 2009, MathOverflow went online, and has almost ten years of almost constant operation, thanks to StackExchange.
There will be an obligatory post observing the anniversary. The board of ...
- 13k
50
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Nudge: the new Stacks editor has significant implications for this site
You have probably seen already a link, on the Featured on Meta sidebar, to an announcement of an upcoming upgrade to the text editor on Stack Exchange, Opt-in alpha test for a new Stacks editor. As a ...
- 2,328
50
votes
0
answers
833
views
How do we fit in with Stack Exchange’s new AI agreement with Google?
Stack Exchange has some kind of new AI agreement with Google, as announced in their blog.
I’m just trying to get caught up myself here on what exactly is going on, but one real possibility is that ...
- 63.2k
49
votes
18
answers
5k
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 ...
- 666
49
votes
3
answers
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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 ...
- 7,287
48
votes
4
answers
3k
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On discussion of published papers at MO
There is an interesting discussion taking place at MO over the suitability of this question: Complex structure on $S^6$ gets published in Journ. Math. Phys. The question is about the correctness of a ...
- 52.9k
48
votes
1
answer
4k
views
How is this site different from Mathematics Stack Exchange?
I've just spotted this site on the blogs. At least that's where I think I saw it first.
How is this site different from math.stackexchange.com?
- 101
48
votes
0
answers
955
views
Moderation strike update 1
As announced a little while back, MathOverflow moderators are participating in a network-wide moderation strike (currently at 121 moderators striking; see the background post for more details). The ...
- 34.9k
47
votes
1
answer
854
views
I don't like the new design and I am not the only one
MathOverflow isn't some experiment in website design.
I knew where everything was and what colour it was meant to be.
The tabs are now small and harder to click on. The colours are different shades ...
- 1,185
46
votes
6
answers
2k
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Should graduate students be encouraged to participate in MO? If so, at what stage?
When I started graduate school ten (!) years ago, a more senior Ph.D student at the time told me about MathOverflow and encouraged me to participate. Ever since then I have found it immensely useful. ...
- 26.6k
46
votes
1
answer
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Why was the whole math jokes thread deleted, and should it have been?
[Topic very similar to several other recent questions, but the central question is I think not a duplicate.]
The meta thread Should these sexually suggestive jokes be kept or deleted? raised the ...
46
votes
2
answers
2k
views
arXiv vs MathOverflow - popularity of disciplines
Inspired by the comparison of programming languages by GitHub and Stack Overflow activity (e.g. this one for 2015) I decided to look at the popularity of mathematical disciplines by using data from ...
- 1,612
46
votes
0
answers
1k
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2022 Election results: Congratulations to our new moderator!
The election is over, the votes have been counted, and on behalf of the current team and board, I'd like to welcome David Roberts to the moderators team!
I'd like to thank Carl-Fredrik Nyberg-Brodda ...
- 38.9k
45
votes
4
answers
2k
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"Stack Overflow Isn’t Very Welcoming." --- are we?
There is a new posting on the Stackoverflow blog, entitled Stack Overflow Isn’t Very Welcoming. It’s Time for That to Change. A quote:
Too often, someone comes here to ask a question, only to be ...
- 185k
45
votes
0
answers
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ImageShack images turning into ad banners
It's been fairly well known for some time that ImageShack is a poor image host for Stack Exchange, because they frequently delete old images and replace them with placeholders.
Recently, however, ...
- 1,194
44
votes
2
answers
2k
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How to cite comment by unknown user disproving Erdős conjecture?
I believe that fedja has disproved a conjecture of Erdős et al. when commenting on my question Almost monochromatic point sets, but I'm unable to contact fedja regarding this. What shall I do? Shall I ...
- 18.6k
44
votes
6
answers
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A blog for MathOverflow
Amongst the moderators we've recently been discussing starting a blog for MathOverflow. The immediate goal is to have a good place to describe the current 'institutional setup' of MathOverflow (e.g. ...
- 7,780
44
votes
2
answers
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Restoring Bill Thurston's figures in an answer
The question Floating polyhedra with fair equilibria was answered by
Bill Thurston, but his (typically amazing) answer contains links to 7 figures,
all now broken. I don't know how to retrieve those ...
- 150k
44
votes
0
answers
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An interactive graph of MathOverflow tags
I created a graph of tags from Stack Exchange sites (including MathOverflow), TagOverflow.
It is a continuation on my previous project - plots with static graphs and (sadly) without MO (due to API ...
- 1,612
43
votes
4
answers
2k
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MO "memorial" questions
In the past, when a famous mathematician passes away, many community members feel that they should be remembered on MathOverflow in some way or another. For obvious reasons, such memorials need to be ...
- 43.9k
43
votes
2
answers
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Have any MO-hard problems ascended to "real" open problems in their fields?
Have any questions first proposed on Mathoverflow attracted enough interest from experts in their field that solving them would be considered a significant advance?
I don't want to count problems ...
- 143k