All Questions
1,688
questions
28
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1
answer
2k
views
Jean-Christophe Yoccoz
I've heard today that Jean-Christophe Yoccoz passed two days ago:
http://www.liberation.fr/direct/element/le-mathematicien-francais-jean-christophe-yoccoz-medaille-fields-est-mort_46692/
I think ...
- 7,618
27
votes
7
answers
3k
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Should we have new moderator elections?
Mathoverflow has seven moderators, but many of them seem to be inactive (at least from the point of view of an unprivileged user): for instance, they are not active on meta, and they moderated few ...
- 17.8k
27
votes
5
answers
1k
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Drastic locking of the question "Examples of common false beliefs in mathematics"
The question Examples of common false beliefs in mathematics, was one of the best and most successful questions in the history of MO. When we discussed closing it, it was argued that after 164 answers ...
- 23.7k
27
votes
3
answers
1k
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Asking questions with out answering any one else’s question
Here I only ask questions and do not (can not answer for lack of knowledge) answer any of the questions.
Sometimes I feel it is bad. Some questions that I know answer to are either closed as not ...
- 5,243
27
votes
12
answers
1k
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Site updates are live
A majority of the changes are not be visible; these tweaks go along with recent updates that were made to Stack Overflow:
We have updated the site's CSS to a newly refactored LESS system, so that it'...
- 101
27
votes
3
answers
2k
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What are our procedures if a user complains about harassment or abuse?
Context for this question: I am writing an article on MathOverflow for the Notices of the AMS. One thing I try to address is the apparent gender skew of our website. One of the readers of my draft ...
- 140k
27
votes
2
answers
581
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Would newly elected moderators join the board of MathOverflow Inc.?
MathOverflow is a bit different from most of the sites in the network in that it is not operated only by Stack Exchange, but it "belongs" also to the nonprofit MathOverflow corporation.
If I ...
- 4,515
27
votes
1
answer
1k
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Is it okay to put on your profile that you're looking for a job?
The title says it all. I do not see why it should be a problem, but I realize I have never seen anyone doing that here (or I forgot), so I ask.
- 25k
27
votes
8
answers
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New feature - citation helper
At the request of the moderators, we have added a citation helper (based on the citation helper user script by Scott Morrison).
If you are familiar with the original script, you will note a few ...
- 101
27
votes
2
answers
1k
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Using MathOverflow to get new results in your research and publish them afterwards
So, MathOverflow is mainly used for posting research problems. Assume I have a research idea on which I want to write a paper. I developed it to some extent, but I am stuck somewhere and I post the ...
- 183
27
votes
2
answers
774
views
Concern about sending to academia.stackexchange
There have been two questions today with suggestions (one acted on, at time of writing) to close, with the question being better asked at academia.stackexchange: Referee reports and Covid lessons.
In ...
- 17.5k
27
votes
2
answers
728
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Reference to Mathoverflow
I feel a bit awkward, but my question is this: Someone asked questions on Mathoverflow and I gave answers. The whole thing was not very deep and I could provide rather standard examples to show ...
- 4,564
27
votes
2
answers
2k
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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 ...
- 6,109
26
votes
6
answers
2k
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Anonymity Policy
In view of recent events, we've been reconsidering having some policy against anonymous users. We've always encouraged users to use real names though we have been tolerant of pseudonymous and ...
- 42.3k
26
votes
3
answers
1k
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Has the switch to SE 2.0 increased the rate of low-level / inappropriate questions?
I would be curious to know whether, now that links to MO appear in the footer of every SE 2.0 site, and in the "hot questions" list of the Stack Exchange button, the rate of inappropriate questions ...
- 6,584
26
votes
4
answers
687
views
Which Latex / MathJax features do we need or want to have supported on the site?
As we've started discussing, Stack Exchange is planning to redo the editor for all questions and answers across all their sites. As articulated by Emilio Pisanty, these changes will have significant ...
Tim CampionMod
- 50.5k
26
votes
5
answers
2k
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Updated: Is it time to replace links to the UCDavis arXiv frontend?
This question from March 2020 points out that many questions/answers link to papers at the http://front.math.ucdavis.edu/ frontend instead of at the arXiv itself, but that the frontend had been down a ...
- 15.8k
26
votes
1
answer
816
views
Should I start posting my questions on MO?
I have been a member of MO and of math.SE for a long time now. My participation in MO has been mainly lurking because I am not a researcher but a student who aims to become one. So, logically, I have ...
- 2,774
26
votes
4
answers
1k
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Should users be shown some basic information before posting the first question? [duplicate]
In an answer to another question discussing possibilities how to decrease the number of off-topic questions1 it was mentioned that: Perhaps we should force a person to read the rules before posting ...
- 4,515
26
votes
0
answers
601
views
The color of links in comments
In the following image, depicting a piece of a comment on MO.se
the words «this link» are a link to some URL, yet the styling makes it quite not apparent; the only styling I can see is a ...
- 45.3k
25
votes
23
answers
3k
views
Help cleanup tags!
This is meant to agglomerate tags that need (occasional or regular) cleanup. That is tags that mean multiple unrelated things and need to be separated into more specific tags. Please follow the ...
25
votes
2
answers
1k
views
My question has already been asked, but not really answered? What should I do?
I have a question I am curious about: call it $Q$.
There exists a posted question $P$ on MO which asks my question $Q$. More precisely, $P$ states a series of (slightly vague) questions, one of ...
- 25.8k
25
votes
1
answer
815
views
Why is the update so awesome?
I mean, we really don't deserve it. It's awesome. Good work everyone, high-fives all around. Cheers (for those of you from across the pond, so-to-speak).
- 9,457
25
votes
1
answer
1k
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Why is “MathOverflow” spelled without a space when “Stack Overflow” is spelled with a space?
I assumed the name of our site “MathOverflow” is derived from the name “Stack Overflow” of the first and largest site that used the same base software (Stack Exchange). Is this so?
If it is, then ...
- 1,545
25
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Using Math Overflow to check whether or not a proof is correct
A user named Jürgen Böhm recently posted two questions which boiled down to checking whether or not his proof is correct. I left a comment on the second one saying that I don't think this is ...
- 22.4k
25
votes
2
answers
3k
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Asking a question you know the answer to, but not answering
There has been an apparent case where the question poster asked a question that had been answered in their own paper from about 10 years before the question. This would not be a problem if the ...
- 4,671
25
votes
4
answers
7k
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
25
votes
4
answers
670
views
What is the deal with changes to the front page?
It appears that today Stack Exchange has changed the appearance of the MathOverflow front page. It now looks more similar to Stack Overflow. The most noticeable change is that the counts of answers, ...
Tim CampionMod
- 50.5k
25
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Slight downward trend in Q & A
I thought MO users might be interested in this graph constructed by
Neal Young in
a discussion at meta.cstheory
about the more pronounced downward trend in cstheory.
It shows MO Q&A activity ...
- 145k
25
votes
2
answers
948
views
Request from PRIMES to keep an eye out for their problems
On m.SE last year there was a problem with someone cheating on the entrance problem set for the PRIMES high school research program at MIT. Selection for PRIMES for this year has begun, and they're ...
- 26.6k
25
votes
1
answer
1k
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"A year in moderation" post on MathOverflow?
You might have noticed than many Stack Exchange sites have some statistics about both community moderation and moderators' activity posted on meta under the title "2018: a year in moderation". Here is ...
- 4,515
25
votes
0
answers
1k
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Unregistered Users (in Theory and in Practice)
There's been past discussion (e.g. here) about whether MathOverflow should allow posts from unregistered users. I am fully on board with the apparent consensus that the answer is yes, because of the ...
- 20.9k
24
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Community Peer-Review in Mathoverflow
I was recently surfing around the Physicsoverflow and I have to admit I was impressed by their Review section. I could not help myself from thinking how -and if- such a feature could also be ...
- 7,388
24
votes
2
answers
879
views
Statistics showing that more reputation for questions leads to better questions
One of the more controversial aspects of the transition to MO2.0, for myself at least, was the reduction in the reputation added for upvotes on questions asked from +10 to +5, while retaining the ...
- 21.4k
24
votes
2
answers
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MO policy regarding pseudonyms that are other people's real name
I have noticed just now that a user has chosen as pseudonym "Alexander Grothendieck", which I'm a bit unconfortable with (the probability that it is also that user's name is extremely low, hence my ...
- 2,791
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4
answers
2k
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How to handle crankery on MathOverflow 2.0?
On the previous MO we had a thread on Tea called "crank post to flag as spam" in which crank posts were pointed out so people could flag them as spam and have them deleted.
Seeing how we are now ...
- 35.5k
24
votes
2
answers
999
views
Questions which are research level but where the OP is unlikely to have the background to follow the research
There is a type of question which gets closed a lot which I find frustrating. An example is How to compute the volume of a region transformed by a matrix? , which I recently took the liberty of ...
- 140k
24
votes
2
answers
660
views
How can I customize site in my browser to get "old feel" look of MathOverflow?
It seems that some of the users are not too happy with the new design and prefer the old look.
I will admit that I have not much experience with this stuff, but from I've read on various meta sites ...
- 4,515
24
votes
1
answer
788
views
"Is this a known/interesting result?"-type questions
Are questions of the form "Is this a known result?" and "Is this an interesting result?" legitimate for MO?
I have sometimes found myself staring at results that were new to me and unsure whether ...
- 525
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votes
4
answers
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Are professional Physicists, Computer Scientists, Engineers, Economists... not allowed to ask questions at MO?
"MathOverflow is a question and answer site for professional mathematicians."
May other professional researchers ask questions at MO? Should they check their credentials at the door?
If not, and ...
- 101
23
votes
4
answers
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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, ...
Todd TrimbleMod
- 50.7k
23
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Homework and migrating to math.se
As many people have noticed, one of the main functions of math.se is to be a place for students to get other people to do their homework for them. Obviously we do not want to facilitate such cheating....
- 40.1k
23
votes
4
answers
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Editing titles to include $\mathfrak{LaTeX \; Math}$
Should question titles, which sometimes intentionally avoid LaTeX math for those who choose faster rendering, be edited to insist upon LaTeX math? A recent instance that prompted my question is "two ...
- 145k
23
votes
4
answers
981
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What makes you vote to close a question?
Some recent exchanges and observations suggest to me that users not only have different thresholds for voting to close a question yet still applying the same criteria, but that they even apply so ...
user9072
23
votes
3
answers
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 ...
- 16.3k
23
votes
3
answers
883
views
How can I donate to MathOverflow — if I should?
I understood from this meta question that MathOverflow is a nonprofit nonstock corporation dedicated to keeping this site running and that the nonprofit status allows receiving donations.
What is the ...
- 7,603
23
votes
3
answers
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Examples of mathematical exposition arising from MO answers
I could imagine that several very long Mathoverflow answers have eventually turned into expository papers. For example, I have posted this (unpublished) expository paper on the arxiv about various ...
- 23.3k
23
votes
2
answers
818
views
Can the clutter of obviously off-topic questions be removed faster?
I have noticed a number of blatantly off-topic questions that hang around for a long time despite heavy down-voting and calls for removal by senior users. I found somewhere on the site (although I can'...
- 2,427
23
votes
1
answer
486
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If I see spam together with mathematical content in an answer, should I edit out the spam?
The title almost says it all, except that I should say that 'spam' here has the strict meaning where a vendor inserts a unsolicited link to a page that advertises or sells a product.
There may be ...
Todd TrimbleMod
- 50.7k
23
votes
3
answers
1k
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Does Mathoverflow really want the 'Publicist' badge?
I enjoy the rewards system on the Stack exchange network. I learned some time ago that you can easily earn gold badges on all sites by picking the most interesting questions and using the "Share" ...
- 3,271