All Questions
1,675
questions
27
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Explicitly pointing out math.stackexchange when (new?) users ask a question
I have recently flagged several questions for migration to math.stackexchange which were fairly clearly not about mathematics research and related topics. It was clear that in some cases these new ...
- 6,089
10
votes
1
answer
781
views
Meaning of "hot questions" index?
What is the meaning of the numbers in the leftmost column: $94$, $70$, $54$, ...?
Uncharacteristically, neither hovering nor clicking reveals the meaning.
&...
- 144k
3
votes
1
answer
119
views
Order of answers
Looking at the answers on a recently closed CW post about applications of pure math, I noticed that the answers were ordered by time posted, and not votes. Is this a new change? Is there a way to ...
- 3,251
10
votes
0
answers
586
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 ...
user9072
5
votes
2
answers
316
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 ...
- 551
11
votes
1
answer
432
views
Printer-friendly versions?
When I print an MO thread (using Chrome, at least), the font size is extremely small (8pt? nested indices are very hard to read, at least). Since I don't think this is easily fixable on the user side (...
- 30.7k
13
votes
3
answers
444
views
Cleaning up comments
Traditionally, MathOverflow moderators only delete comments that are highly problematic. Even in that case, we copied the entire deleted comment thread to tea.mathoverflow.net. Since migrating to the ...
- 42.5k
5
votes
1
answer
456
views
Why the downvotes on off-topic questions
I am not that active on MathOverflow but I notice that almost every off-topic question is closed within an hour. Why is a flag (if you lack of reputation) or a close vote (and in both cases a comment) ...
9
votes
1
answer
372
views
Questions answered in a comment
It may happen that a question has zero answers, but is actually already answered satisfactorily in a comment. An example is this question.
I think this is somewhat misleading, as the "0 answers" ...
Stefan KohlMod
- 17.9k
22
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Encouraging new users to provide a name or a nickname
After the transition to MO 2.0, I noticed an increased influx of anonymous users, with user names like user####. Of course, people can have all kinds of reasons to ...
- 17.5k
0
votes
1
answer
419
views
Would the question "Fourier series is to Fourier transform what Laurent series is to …?" be on topic at MO?
I asked the question Fourier series is to Fourier transform what Laurent series is to …? over at MSE, since that's where my questions usually belong to. But since I couldn't find any resources on it, ...
- 161
14
votes
1
answer
545
views
Tumbleweed Badge: Proper Response
Being a European, I doubtless do not fully understand the associations of the Tumbleweed badge that I have just received. Is there a MO consensus about the appropriate reaction?
- 315
12
votes
2
answers
701
views
Should questions to which I already know the answer in advance be appropriate for MO?
I was just asking Is it appropriate to ask for references and point to a blog with the same question and started to read http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/07/its-ok-to-ask-and-answer-your-own-...
- 3,161
1
vote
0
answers
126
views
Is it appropriate to ask for references and point to a blog with the same question
I wonder if the community would find it appropriate if I ask a question like
"
Is this or that known? It would be interesting for this and that reason. For details see our blog "blah" where we ask ...
- 3,161
5
votes
2
answers
458
views
Adding \LaTeX to old questions and answers
Maybe some context in the beginning. It is my second year in university so I am far away to be good enough to answer questions here, but from time to time I enjoy reading questions and answers. I ...
2
votes
1
answer
90
views
Why do backticks appear in the title?
Why do backticks appear in the title of the following question?
Is $ \sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty x^n / \sqrt{n!} $ positive?
Is that the expected behaviour? I foolishly attempted to edit the backticks ...
- 6,089
3
votes
0
answers
115
views
How to ask questions during connectivity issues?
After a few hours of not being able to reach meta.mathoverflow.net,
(possibly due to DNS?), I resorted to asking a question about it on the
main site. Later I posted something to a chat room, and ...
- 2,098
12
votes
7
answers
564
views
Help fix the documentation!
Moderators have started incorporating the old faq material in the new help system. It wasn't a perfect fit, a lot of stuff is no longer relevant, redundant, missing or broken. You can help by going ...
- 42.5k
25
votes
4
answers
6k
views
On using MathJax to create 'white space'
The purpose of this post is, first, to raise awareness (as this, reasonably, might not be clear) that the way some (and it seems to me the number is growing) use MathJax to create 'white space' (or to ...
user9072
6
votes
4
answers
292
views
What should the "hover text" for the MathOverflow link on all SE sites be?
If you go to the bottom of any page in the SE network (e.g. this one!), you'll see a list of SE sites. In particular there's a link to MathOverflow, that is potentially seen by a large number of ...
16
votes
1
answer
397
views
19
votes
3
answers
402
views
Community Wiki in the hands of moderators
I don't understand the wisdom of removing the CW button from the control of an author of a question, and having always to pester the moderators to turn it on. Might it be possible to return this ...
Todd TrimbleMod
- 50.5k
3
votes
1
answer
400
views
The mysterious Sportsmanship badge
MO 2.0 has a new badge:
Sportsmanship: Up voted 100 answers on questions where an answer of yours has a positive score.
I'm curious whether this badge really makes sense in our community- I think I ...
- 21.3k
7
votes
4
answers
148
views
How should I use the meta-tags [feature-request], [bug], [support], and [discussion]?
On meta, each post must be classified into one of four classes. Which should I use?
Note that in addition to these four classes there are numerous other tags on meta that can and should be used in ...
9
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to treat `polymath' questions?
W. Kuperberg asked a question about plane geometry, which invites contributions to solving a research problem which he has worked on.
Small quadrilaterals containing a given convex region
Given that ...
- 21.3k
66
votes
6
answers
3k
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 ---...
- 20.7k
4
votes
1
answer
137
views
How do I combine my two accounts?
I made a mistake and now I have two mathoverflow accounts. I have an account on stackExchange and another account on Yahoo. How do I combine these two accounts? Is there any way?
Thanks
- 1,263
10
votes
1
answer
306
views
Mathematical modeling Area51 Proposal
I wanted to inform those who did not follow that there is a Mathematical modeling proposal in Area 51 under its way:
http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/57490/mathematical-modeling
Since it ...
- 4,546
-1
votes
1
answer
389
views
Remove the option to migrate questions anywhere
I would like to see the "migrate" option disappear, for multiple reasons.
First, it seems presumptuous for those of us who don't participate on, say, math.stackexchange, to express opinions about ...
- 20.7k
6
votes
1
answer
275
views
Migration to stats.stackexchange.com
Today I came across this question, which seems to me would be better asked at stats.stackexchange.com. I tried flagging the question as off-topic/migration, but only meta.mathoverflow.net and math....
- 3,318
11
votes
2
answers
547
views
Close cross posts between here and MSE
If a question is cross-posted here and on the Math Stack Exchange, what's the policy to deal with these? For example take this question and its MSE twin.
Should one of them be closed?
If so, which ...
- 534
13
votes
1
answer
169
views
Explanation of site scope in help center
Where in the new help center can I find an explanation that the scope of this site is limited to research-level math questions? There is a close reason (part of "off topic") that mentions the help ...
- 9,422
4
votes
1
answer
198
views
Searching via site:mathoverflow.net: a puzzle
I was searching for an answer I posted, using Google. I knew I mentioned "beltway," "homometric," and "Skiena." But none of the Google searches ...
- 144k
-20
votes
2
answers
668
views
Should Theoretical Computer Science SE and mathoverflow be merged?
I asked the same question at SO meta and I was asked to repost here.
Preamble: I have a feeling that I am disturbing honeycomb by raising this question.
Now that mathoverflow.net is a part of the ...
- 371
15
votes
4
answers
620
views
Removing greetings and taglines
The Stack Exchange Network frowns on greetings and taglines in posts. There were mixed reactions to this before we moved to the network. Should MathOverflow tolerate greetings or not? Is it ...
- 42.5k
11
votes
0
answers
257
views
Quick or easy methods to post math or diagrams on chat
One of the seeming obstacles to having scheduled informal seminars on chat is the extra work, probably mostly for the leader of the discussion (should there be one), in presenting ideas on the chat ...
- 24.4k
10
votes
2
answers
293
views
The data explorer on MO
I don't seem to be able to use http://data.stackexchange.com/ on MathOverflow.
Will this change?
- 45.2k
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
In writing a research paper, how can I refer to peoples' answers given to a question on MO?
Here is a question that I recently posted on MO. The last paragraph of the description reads:
The reason that I am interested in this question is that we are
currently working on an assessment ...
- 2,219
2
votes
2
answers
557
views
Completely Unexplained Downvotes
I came across this question recently and asked the OP to explain some notation (see my comment below the question). As the OP was addressing my concerns, there was suddenly a down-vote (along with the ...
- 14.7k
19
votes
3
answers
844
views
Is there a consensus on whether history of mathematics questions are acceptable on MO?
I recently stumbled across an old meta discussion in which some people suggested that history of mathematics questions were off-topic for MO. This took me by surprise and I would like to ask for ...
- 64.1k
7
votes
1
answer
281
views
Spelling conventions
After the recent discussion on LaTeX style accents, I have been reminded of this old discussion at tea regarding the appropriate spelling convention for some German names, such as Kähler. At the time, ...
- 42.5k
8
votes
5
answers
443
views
What are Tips and Tricks to use MO more effectively?
The purpose of this question is to collect a list of Tips and Tricks for using MO in a more efficient or otherwise better way.
If you know some trick or have a tip you want to share with your MO-...
13
votes
0
answers
326
views
Will MO have Community Promotion Ads?
Community Promotion Ads seem to be a useful tool for helping spread various links that might be useful for users of the site.
I have mostly encountered them at MSE. I have learned several ...
- 4,390
3
votes
1
answer
263
views
Moving off from MO
How is the account in MO closed ?
What I mean is if I want to permanently close my login ( and let others know) what do I do
- 821
14
votes
2
answers
295
views
When questions are migrated, so are comments, and this can cause misconceptions
I recently noticed a question posted to MO that was migrated to MSE. Furthermore the comment was also migrated along with the question. The content of the comment was "This is not the right site for ...
- 101
7
votes
1
answer
902
views
Would it be appropriate to ask why a new user chose MO over MSE?
With the move to Stack Exchange 2.0, some people feel that there will be (have been?) many more first time users asking questions on MO which should instead be asked on MSE. Presumably, such a user ...
- 17k
8
votes
5
answers
525
views
latex.mathoverflow.net/png images broken
Prior to MathJax and jsmath, MathOverflow used http://latex.mathoverflow.net/png to generate images of mathematical equations to insert in posts (e.g. this one). That didn't last very long but all of ...
- 42.5k
9
votes
2
answers
549
views
Reasons for closing
I just voted to close this question as off-topic.
On the old MathOverflow, I'd have voted to close as "Not a Real Question". But in the current version, the closest I can come to "Not a Real ...
- 20.7k
7
votes
1
answer
253
views
where is the Tips and Tricks list from MO 1.0?
I asked a question at why the extra step in registering? whose solution by Shog9 I think would be worth placing in the Tips and Tricks list. But I don't see the Tips and Tricks anymore in the right ...
- 41.3k
14
votes
2
answers
355
views
Selected Papers Network
As some (many?) of us are aware, there is a recent venture to enable some sort of "meta-discussion" interface for the articles in the form of the Selected Papers Network. For a quick introduction to ...
- 31.1k