All Questions
1,763
questions
20
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2
answers
936
views
Can (and should) Project Euclid links be replaced in bulk?
In February 2021, Project Euclid made some changes on their website: Project Euclid Platform Migration FAQs.
It is probably a consequence of this that the links starting with ...
20
votes
1
answer
677
views
How to respond to premature crossposts from Math.SE?
There seems to be a general feeling (if not policy) to the effect that questions should not be simultaneously posted to MathOverflow and Math StackExchange (Math.SE). (I think there may have been a ...
20
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Any other site besides mathoverflow and mathematics stackexchange?
I know the differences between mathoverflow and math-stack but I have been wondering:
Are there legitimate mathematical questions that would not get answered at math-stack because there is no ...
20
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Someone is trying to delete the Memorable Titles thread
There is currently a vote to delete this very old thread. I am writing to register my strong protest against this and bring it to the attention of other users here on meta.
Most memorable titles
20
votes
1
answer
727
views
Traffic from the list of hot network questions
To better understand the advantages and disadvantages of having MO questions featured in the list of hot network questions, as discussed here and here, it would be useful if Stack Exchange could ...
20
votes
2
answers
662
views
Building an MO app?
On stackapps, there is a broad spectrum of apps designed by users to improve their Stack Exchange experience. Most apps are oriented toward Stack Oveflow and do not necessarily address the needs and ...
20
votes
2
answers
825
views
MathOverflow conferences
What would the appropriate initial steps be to host a MathOverflow conference?
Back in 2019 I hosted a party for the 10th anniversary of MathOverflow, and it was a blast.$^*$ Since then I've ...
20
votes
1
answer
800
views
The math! It's overflowing!
See what happens if you expand the comments on this question, we get this prime example of a math overflow:
Of course, this is due to a \$ problem, but still, it seems to be a flaw in the CSS that ...
20
votes
0
answers
752
views
Which "non-arxiv" tags are de facto top-level tags?
The tag system on MathOverflow is designed in such way that each question should contain top-level tag; these are the tags which correspond to subject areas on arXiv and generally have format such as ...
20
votes
0
answers
221
views
Visited / unvisited links in the questions / answers
I just posted a question and I noticed that unvisited links use a color that is difficult to distinguish ... but visited links are even harder to recognize. See the snapshot below from my Firefox 41....
20
votes
0
answers
303
views
Make edit history more accessible
Once a post has been edited once, there is a direct link to the revision history of the post that is visible to everyone as in this example:
However, when a post has not been edited, this link is not ...
19
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Shall we have tea?
As was recently discussed at Should meta be Q&A?, it's rather strange to have our meta site run on a Q&A basis.
In the past our meta site was a Vanilla forum, and in fact it still exists, ...
19
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Why was "The origin(s) of the word “elliptic” migrated to hsm?
This question on the history of the ellipse terminology was migrated to hsm after a week of being active on MO and receiving several useful answers.
Did the OP ask for migration?
Why are some ...
19
votes
1
answer
583
views
Creation of "procrastination" tag
One user has created the tag procrastination: see this question. In principle I would have immediately deleted it as totally irrelevant (in the same way I would delete "Stupid question" or &...
19
votes
2
answers
963
views
Nominating other community members
Is there no mechanism to suggest other community members for nomination?
If I remember correctly, last election there was some mechanism in place to suggest community members other than ourselves who ...
19
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Dealing with possible incorrectness
I have seen a few responses on MO that I think are either incorrect or possibly incorrect.
What is the best way to draw attention to possible incorrectness?
(I provide two examples below; if this is ...
19
votes
2
answers
801
views
asking questions outside of field of expertise
MathOverflow + Math.StackExchanage are great resources for learning and talking about mathematics. Often, I can get constructive and informative discussions leading to progress.
MathOverflow is a ...
19
votes
2
answers
824
views
Using MathOverflow to help with referee work
Suppose I am refereeing a paper and wish to remain anonymous as referee. Suppose I had trouble understanding some of the proofs in the paper and made a post on MathOverflow and received a very helpful ...
19
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why do non-research and soft questions get closed if and only if the poster lacks high reputation?
The title says it all.
Don't get me wrong. I have actually enjoyed my first few weeks on MO. I am not writing out of personal vendetta. That is, I have not had any of my own questions closed and I ...
19
votes
1
answer
984
views
What caused the spike in views and visits on September 23, 2018?
Just curious: What might have caused the spike in visits & views on that Sunday?
A spike in the pulse of mathematics.
Screenshot from site analytics.
19
votes
2
answers
445
views
Voting on meta questions to indicate agreement or disagreement
We've previously discussed the meaning of a downvote on meta, and I think that's worth reading before discussing anything further here.
I don't at all like that perfectly reasonable questions (...
19
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How can I log in into my old mathoverflow account?
I had a separate log in account for mathoverflow. Now, I'm unable to log in into that. I see only options of logging in using google, facebook, stack exchange etc but no option of logging using ...
19
votes
1
answer
650
views
Should I give a link to my recent published paper to an old question of mine on MO?
4 years and 6 months ago I asked on MO: "Who introduced the terms “equivalence relation” and “equivalence class”?" It was somehow a resting stone of a long journey that started 13 years ago from today ...
19
votes
1
answer
923
views
Somebody copied my question from mathstackexchange word-for-word
While using google to search for "11th power diophantine" it gave the mathoverflow link,
The diophantine eq. $x^4 +y^4 +1=z^2$
which is copied word-for-word from my mathstackexchange post,
https://...
19
votes
3
answers
408
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 ...
19
votes
1
answer
930
views
Is my question suitable for MO?
Around a month ago I asked a question on ME here. It was well received (got seven up votes). Sadly nobody was able to help much. To get more attention I also placed a bounty on it. Still no luck. The ...
19
votes
2
answers
759
views
How can I tell if my question is appropriate to MathOverflow or if I should just put a bounty on it at Math.SE?
I have at least two questions which are about graduate level mathematics on Math.SE, but about which I have serious doubts regarding whether or not they are "research level". In other words, I don't ...
19
votes
0
answers
882
views
Are we making it too tempting/easy to send inappropriate posts to MSE?
This "question" (asking for generalized help with a long list of elementary topics) is clearly going to be unwelcome almost anywhere, yet two users voted to close with a suggestion to "see math....
19
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Increase in unexplained downvotes on (old) questions/answers?
I recently received a downvote without comment on a question and all of its answers, which are good independent of the value of my question imo. I’ve also had two other questions receive similar ...
19
votes
0
answers
414
views
The message "User was removed" can be ambiguous
You could save me a few heart attacks :-) by changing the message to the more clearer "Voter was removed" (or whatever you see fitting). I first thought I was removed (maybe on another suboverflow, ...
19
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Passing of John Nash
I'm sorry to report the sad news that John Nash has died.
Requiescat in pace.
18
votes
11
answers
884
views
2022 Moderator Election Q&A – Question Collection
The purpose of this thread was to collect questions for the questionnaire. The questionnaire is now live, and you may find it here.
MathOverflow is scheduled for an election next week, 2022-09-19. In ...
18
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What areas/aspects of mathematics are underrepresented on MO?
The question:
What areas/aspects of mathematics are underrepresented on MO?
18
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Mathoverflow and the mathematical community
What is the general point of view of the mathematical community about MO ?
Do you talk about MO with your colleagues non-"MO users" ? What are their views?
Is it acceptable to cite MO's posts in ...
18
votes
3
answers
989
views
Are Links to Articles Behind a Paywall Acceptable Answers?
This question boils down to whether an answer to a question should contain sufficiently free and easily accessible detail about the solution to a question.
So IMHO it would be perfectly acceptable, ...
18
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Is it frowned upon to answer a question and vote to close?
Is it frowned upon to answer a question and vote to close it? I did this for
MO166234 and received this comment from a high-rep user:
...
18
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Are there universities that take your MathOverflow score seriously
When being considered for a position at a university as a post doc or phd or professor, does your MathOverflow account mean anything. Are there any universities that take this seriously when looking ...
18
votes
5
answers
1k
views
On the recent question "Is Euclid dead?", or: Is it considered good practice to use MathOverflow for a campaign?
Yesterday, a question entitled Is Euclid dead? has been asked
in which the OP states:
"Currently I am leading a campaign for the return of EG to the syllabus
of the high schools of my country (...
18
votes
2
answers
666
views
Proposal to more aggressively delete off-topic questions
We are going to get many more off-topic questions now.
Can we agree to vote to delete on them so as not to pollute the site?
It takes a few votes from users who can vote on such things and/or one ...
18
votes
1
answer
579
views
How long until MathOverflow will be part of the Stack Exchange Data Explorer?
According to this answer and this answer, MathOverflow will eventually appear on the Stack Exchange Data Explorer. A couple of weeks have passed since these answers were given and MO is still missing ...
18
votes
2
answers
602
views
What's the point of having an *MO* chat without LaTeX enabled?
The title says it all. :-)
In response to the automatic disapproval of the question body:
I tried to edit the chat messages after submitting but couldn't figure out how to do that either. (And I ...
18
votes
1
answer
475
views
Is the [completeness] tag necessary?
I have noticed today that we have a completeness tag. It currently houses seven different questions on widely different notions of completeness.
Since there are widely different notions of ...
18
votes
1
answer
593
views
Influx of ridiculous number of spam users – what to do?
There is currently an absolutely ridiculous influx of spam user profiles: almost the entire "recent badges" section in the right-hand column of the main page is full of Autobiographer badges ...
18
votes
9
answers
765
views
Requests to remove community wiki
In the old days of MathOverflow, community wiki status was irreversible. This is no longer the case! There are many old questions and answers that became community wiki by accident or other reasons. ...
18
votes
1
answer
450
views
Please BCC moderator private messages to moderators@mathoverflow.net
(This is a feature request only really relevant to moderators, but feel free to vote or comment anyway!)
With the move to 2.0, the moderators now have a new mechanism for contacting users, called a ...
18
votes
0
answers
549
views
Posting multiple "answers" to an already answered question
This question was asked and correctly answered three weeks ago. Since then another user has posted, as of today, five other "answers" describing his thoughts about related questions, ...
18
votes
0
answers
772
views
Why is the "last seen 96 years ago" feature gone?
User homepages used to display the information "last seen ... (min/days/...) ago". It appears this feature is gone now.
I found it useful, and while it does divulge some otherwise ...
18
votes
0
answers
436
views
Three-vote close?
MO users might be interested in this StackExchange experiment:
Testing three-vote close and reopen on 13 network sites.
There has been considerable discussion around close-votes in MO Meta over the ...
18
votes
0
answers
525
views
Removing questions after answers
I recently gave a simple counter example to a question posed (I'm sure the mods can see the question). Probably the user was embarrassed by this. The question was promptly deleted and with that my ...
18
votes
0
answers
525
views
What "lattices" do we need?
The tag lattices is a problem since a long time. Over the years there were varied discussions about this, but no clear resolution emerged, though some things were done to better the situation. This is ...