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Area 51 Mathematics Open Community Reviews

Following the discussions in Area 51 community peer review and links therein, I have created the following proposal Mathematics Open Community Reviews hoping to get things started. The proposal ...
Thanasis Stylianou's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
307 views

Should my question be closed?

See the question "On the number of $n$-perfect numbers". Some people claimed that it should be closed because I know the answer while I don't simply because they are hard open problems in number ...
user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
254 views

Reputation recalculated: only even reputation now?

So +1 get 10 points for answers and questions, and -1 give -2 points. It is easy to see that users only have even reputation numbers now. Or did I miss a reputation-changing mechanism? (If not, why ...
Dominic van der Zypen's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
217 views

How to contact moderators [duplicate]

Is there some way to contact all the MathOverflow moderators?
Michael Hardy's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
271 views

Why is a question asking for powerful arguments for intuitionism not a research level question?

I'd like to read some well-vetted and modern pieces arguing for intuitionism (the "intuitionist stance"?), which I take to be: As the intuitionist sees it, the rules of logic used by mathematicians ...
bzm3r's user avatar
  • 398
-4 votes
1 answer
195 views

Would this question be appropriate for (main) MO?

Note #1: title of this post was modified as per a great suggestion from Todd Trimble Note #2 ( to site moderators): I truly consider this question to be a legit "meta" question about the MathOverflow ...
David Halitsky's user avatar
-5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why was this question about axiom of choice and the Wiles's proof of FLT deleted?

Why was this question about axiom of choice and the Wiles's proof of FLT deleted? Namely the question was as follows: Does the Wiles's proof of Fermat's last theorem rely on axiom of choice? [I ...
Makoto Kato's user avatar
  • 1,149
-5 votes
3 answers
649 views

VIndictive downvoting--what can be done about such childishness, errh, lack of professionalism?

Clearly, from my reputation record, there has been some vindictive downvoting in the last three days or so. MathOverfflow is a community of people, not saints, and things like this are expected to ...
Tom Copeland's user avatar
  • 9,197
-5 votes
2 answers
367 views

Why a Question gets Down vote and its Answer gets Upvotes?

Please, visit my question. You will see the post has 9 downvotes and one of the answers got 7 up-votes. Moreover, the answer that got 7 votes is a mere try, not a complete answer. On the other hand ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 257
-5 votes
2 answers
485 views

If it doesn't interest you, don't read it!

As an algebraist, if I see an analysis question on Mathoverflow that falls outside my expertise, I probably won't read it in details, and if I do read it, I certainly won't judge its "level",...
Mahdi Majidi-Zolbanin's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
639 views

Restriction on Number of edits

Book about fluid dynamics asked Apr 13 '10 edited 1 hour ago Are there examples of conjectures supported by heuristic arguments that have been finally disproved? asked 21 hours ago edited 2 hours ...
Praphulla Koushik's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
265 views

The reason for putting on hold a question

Why was this question put on hold? It seems to be fairly specific and it is about mathematics. You could argue that it is slightly meta-mathematical; would it then be appropriate on meta MO?
user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
249 views

What to do when it seems that downvotes are not justified (for example, when they are directed "against" the person and not "against" the question)?

This question now has a score of $-2$ and it could be that it will be lowered still. It is an elementary attempt to resolve an open problem. I shared it with you because I am an amateur and almost ...
user avatar
-5 votes
2 answers
307 views

Should metaMO allow actual requests for mathematical consulting services to be remunerated either by honoraria or by "usual and customary" fees?

Should metaMO allow actual requests for mathematical consulting services to be remunerated either by honoraria or by "usual and customary" fees? If so, should MO receive reasonable "broker" fees for ...
David Halitsky's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
225 views

Bumping the question if it receives upvotes but no answer

Suppose a question is posted 3 days ago and it got decent number of up votes, say $5$ but did not receive any answer yet and not even comments which says some thing in direction of an answer.. In ...
Praphulla Koushik's user avatar
-5 votes
4 answers
710 views

Migrating a question which is already posted on the other site [closed]

When a question begins by saying "This question appeared earlier on math.stackexchange.com" and links to that earlier posting, how does it make sense to migrate it to math.stackexchange.com (thereby ...
Michael Hardy's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
509 views

How to properly ask for the (non)existence of hypothetical mathematical objects on MO?

A question from a rookie on MO. During my research, I introduced in my physico-mathematical equations some "nasty", "problematic" mathematical objects (namely functional integrals) that are at least ...
Fabrice Pautot's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Protest for my account suspension [closed]

I posted this question about two month ago. Shortly after this, I got a moderator private message. It says: We've noticed that you have a pattern of engaging in lengthy discussions in comments, ...
Makoto Kato's user avatar
  • 1,149
-5 votes
1 answer
239 views

Close votes of different types

Sometimes when a question is closed, different people have a different reason for closing it. You can see this while voting: there is a count in the margin saying how many votes of a given type have ...
R. van Dobben de Bruyn's user avatar
-6 votes
2 answers
411 views

Is this site not intended to help mathematicians and aspiring mathematicians become more informed about the subject?

My account says "we are no longer accepting questions from this account". Although some of my questions have been negatively received (and taking into account the fastidious nature of MathOverflow), I ...
Sergio Charles's user avatar
-6 votes
1 answer
335 views

How the moderators/admin decide the significance/research orientation of any question before closing it? is it intuitive to them?

I am not sure whether there exists some kind of objectivity in taking a decision in closing a question. For example my question https://mathoverflow.net/questions/226226/a-symmetric-function was ...
user avatar
-6 votes
1 answer
370 views

Are these close-votes cast correctly?

I asked this question on MSE. It received up-votes and one answer that seems imprecise and unsatisfactory to me. Then I posted it here on MathOverflow for answers of higher quality, and it was also ...
Amit Sing Mukerjee's user avatar
-6 votes
1 answer
297 views

Would it be okay/interesting to ask a survey type question?

I would be interested in asking a question which asks mathematicians who visit the site the following question: 1) What research topic are you actively working on right now? 2) Why are you ...
bzm3r's user avatar
  • 398
-6 votes
1 answer
280 views

Where did the reputation go?

Some time ago, it was decided that reputation should no longer be displayed by default, but users had the possibility to opt in to see it, as explained by Ben Webster. I had opted to see reputation, ...
Alex M.'s user avatar
  • 5,065
-6 votes
2 answers
360 views

Should we encourage non-professionals to ask hard questions if that is good for the future development of the mathematics? [closed]

There is a story about Gauss being "unimpressed by FLT, pointing out (after finding a proof of the n=3 case) that in number theory it’s very easy to come up with problems that are very hard.". But, ...
Grešnik's user avatar
  • 297
-7 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why does mathoverflow encourage only research level questions while stackoverflow encourages ANY questions?

Why does mathoverflow encourage only "research-level" questions while stack overflow encourages "all-level" questions? I understand that the two communities seem to have different mentalities towards ...
D A's user avatar
  • 101
-7 votes
2 answers
458 views

Why was my probability question closed?

Why was my question closed here? Probability every team successfully presents a solution At a summer math program a contest is held for $n$ teams. Each team, composed of $n$ individuals, is given the ...
Emperor Concerto's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
218 views

Do we have a privacy problem when people try and leave the mathoverflow community?

Do we have a privacy problem when people try and leave the Mathoverflow community? Due to my objections regarding MO I deleted my profile. While I understand not deleting my questions and answers, I ...
user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
591 views

More precisely defining the scope of mathoverflow's subject matter

A few months back someone asked about the difference between questions appropriate for mathoverflow.net and those appropriate for math.stackexchange.com. And someone answered, saying something along ...
Michael Hardy's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
768 views

The question 'Mathematical work of Jonathan Gleason' disappeared

The question https://mathoverflow.net/questions/291518/mathematical-work-of-jonathan-gleason was deleted by some unknown person, not long after Jonathan Gleason passed away. I am shocked with the ...
Guest's user avatar
  • 91
-7 votes
1 answer
521 views

What is the best way to ask for comments on your proposed proof of some known theorem on MathOverflow?

Firstly, I apologize in advance if this post in not suitable for MO, but in my personal circumstances, I have no other place where I could post it. Suppose one is fairly convinced that they have found ...
IUTT Geometer's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
252 views

Can the Math Overflow look be changed? [closed]

I love the math sites but I rarely visit this MathOverflow site because of its look. The color and appearance is not appealing. I know this will sound weird but the mathematics is cool, maybe they can ...
Madona wambua's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
355 views

Is Mathoverflow aware of its role of popularizing mathematics? [closed]

I read book of prof. Michał Heller. He received award of Hugo Steinhaus for popularizing science. In his speech he mentioned Steinhaus in anecdote. In 1952 Secretary of PAN (Polish Academy of Science) ...
user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
178 views

adding n cat lab tag

I propose adding n cat lab tag with an intention to discuss mathematics that is written in https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/HomePage. As https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/HomePage has large amount of ...
Praphulla Koushik's user avatar
-8 votes
1 answer
437 views

Account not deleted [closed]

25 hours after my account was scheduled for deletion, the account is still active. I tried deleting my answers manually but it is not possible in most cases, same for questions. What should I do?
user avatar
-8 votes
1 answer
512 views

A radical proposal on votes and reputation

I was trying to explain the current controversy how “welcoming” MO is to a non-mathematician friend. The current best hypothesis for why MO is either attractive or repellent in general is that it has ...
Monroe Eskew's user avatar
  • 17.5k
-8 votes
1 answer
176 views

Is it allowed to use images for pasting math formula?

Is it allowed to use images to paste math formula in mathoverflow.net ? I think this is high efficiency, and few people search math questions by LaTeX.
244boy's user avatar
  • 101
-8 votes
1 answer
231 views

Answering off-topic questions

What is MO's exact policy on answering or not answering off-topic questions? Assuming there is some well-defined policy. My guess is: you are allowed to answer off-topic questions and if somebody ...
user avatar
-8 votes
1 answer
416 views

Remove down-voting or show down-votes in the separate counter

I have been reading this question and answers and I have submitted the answer there which is really a question. I have added it there, because it come to my mind after reading the questions and ...
user avatar
-8 votes
0 answers
647 views

An Introduction to Suspension Theory [closed]

Inspired by Konrad's last post I would like to start a discussion thread on some possible aspects of long time/permanent suspensions. "Konrad" is a pseudonymous name for a long time suspended user. ...
user avatar
-9 votes
2 answers
466 views

Play the game: an observation about the reputation [closed]

MO is a nice Q&A network. Its niceness comes partly from the fact that it's funny, thanks to the existence of the reputation points. Normally, mature mathematicians shouldn't need a system with ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
-9 votes
2 answers
248 views

Has word "mathoverflow" trademark?

I have domain name mathoverflow.in, and I want to develop a free website or Q2A discussion forum using https://www.question2answer.org/ free open source platform. I'...
Mithlesh Upadhyay's user avatar
-9 votes
1 answer
275 views

Let Mathematics be a wild beast

I think the mathematics is a subject that should not hesitate to question any of it's old truths, as it enjoys the status of being foundation of the truth for most other sciences. However, I'm seeing ...
Venkata Pagadala's user avatar
-9 votes
1 answer
268 views

Does MO have a stand on neurodiversity? [closed]

Does MO have a stand on neurodiversity, if even informal? If not, should it have a stand? And practically speaking, how might it have a stand that could improve the community as a whole?
user avatar
-9 votes
1 answer
385 views

Why is this answer about naming deleted?

My answer for Naming in math: from red herrings to very long names has been deleted. According to Why and how are some answers deleted?, the only two relevant reasons are: commentary on the question ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 101
-10 votes
2 answers
394 views

Would you like to see a MathOverflow Mods' Office?

Recently Math Stack Exchange created the Math Mods' Office with the following room description: For informal chat with the site moderators about moderation, spam, troublesome users and other ...
user 858770's user avatar
-10 votes
2 answers
358 views

Why was my answer deleted?

The axiom of choice as a consequence of a stronger semantics? On what grounds? "It is not people who break ethical standards who are regarded as aliens. It is people like me who are isolated." (...
user avatar
-10 votes
1 answer
394 views

Why so heavy downvoting?

For this question I received 7 upvotes and 9 downvotes. Why is so heavy downvoting?
Anixx's user avatar
  • 8,838
-11 votes
1 answer
178 views

Limiting the length of questions?

Many questions on MO are not formulated as concisely as they could be. I would propose a limit of characters (to be discussed, say 500 characters), and you can "buy" more space by sacrificing some of ...
Dominic van der Zypen's user avatar
-11 votes
1 answer
488 views

Should MO perhaps give numerological abductive questions a little more benefit of the doubt

Background: This question is a much more specific version of a metaMO question which was deleted for some odd reason after one poster said in a comment that he agreed with everything said in the post....
David Halitsky's user avatar

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