31
votes
Publicizing conjectures on MO
The approach which seems to be throwing every conjecture conceivable on the wall and see 'what sticks' should be discouraged, IMHO.
There is also a difference between conjectures and conjectures. I ...
31
votes
Appropriateness of recent LIGO question for MO
It seems that the moderators' opinions are not unified on this question, so I will offer my view wearing my private citizen hat.
The question asks how various parameters of an apparent black hole ...
S. CarnahanMod
- 44.9k
20
votes
Research-level mathematics
"Not research-level" is not a well-defined phrase, and there is wide variance among users as to what it means. But it might mean here that the users who voted to close thought it was too easy to take ...

Todd TrimbleMod
- 51.9k
20
votes
Appropriateness of recent LIGO question for MO
My view is that what should count is the (academic/scientific interest) times (the amount of mathematics involved). So if the academic interest is huge and the mathematical component is modest we ...
19
votes
Accepted
Why does mathoverflow encourage only research level questions while stackoverflow encourages ANY questions?
The purpose of MathOverflow is to serve as a resource for professional mathematicians. If we allowed questions of any level, the vast majority of questions would be low-level questions (as is the ...
18
votes
Appropriateness of recent LIGO question for MO
I find it difficult to understand many of the comments and concerns that this question seems to have raised. The site has a fairly simple and well established procedure for closing/keeping open ...
17
votes
Humans, Go, Computers, Math
In addition to my comment that the thread is too "discussion-y" (meaning too opinion or speculation driven), my feeling about this question is that there is probably no one in our community who can ...

Todd TrimbleMod
- 51.9k
13
votes
Are well-posed questions about the mathematics job search on topic at MO?
One potential problem with the "each topic in the right forum" position is that different forums are frequented by different communities. I expect that many more research mathematicians are likely to ...
10
votes
Any other site besides mathoverflow and mathematics stackexchange?
The reddit website has several forums dedicated to mathematics.
The main math forum has a large audience but there are several others subs such as /r/learnmath, /r/homeworkhelp, /r/cheatatmathhomework,...
10
votes
Why does mathoverflow encourage only research level questions while stackoverflow encourages ANY questions?
I think what my new downvoting friends were trying to say, is that there exists a stackexchange site for non-research MATH questions here:
https://math.stackexchange.com/
I was not aware that this ...
8
votes
Accepted
Can there be a MathOverflow Careers?
EDIT: As quid noted in the comments, the details of the academic hiring process below describe the US market. The European one is somewhat different (especially as regards to dates; their deadlines ...
8
votes
Publicizing conjectures on MO
I don't think the quantity of conjectures is the problem so much as the rate and the perception generated.
For the cases that motivated this question, I agree some improvement could occur. One ...
6
votes
Are well-posed questions about the mathematics job search on topic at MO?
It will appear soon that I was the commenter ;) My view is that by keeping topics separate on separate forums it is easier to find the answer, but that indeed presupposes the role of each site to be ...
5
votes
Publicizing conjectures on MO
Instead of using MO to publicize conjectures, I think it is now more appropriate to use other platforms that more specifically caters to this need.
I immediately thought of SciLag upon seeing this ...
5
votes
Is there a consensus on whether history of mathematics questions are acceptable on MO?
Questions about the history of mathematical concepts are, in my opinion, a good fit for MO. (Well-formulated, focused, not easily answered by internet search etc...) This includes questions about the ...
4
votes
Why does mathoverflow encourage only research level questions while stackoverflow encourages ANY questions?
The last question "Why is the stackexchange mathematics community against simple/googleable questions, while the stackexchange software community is not?" has not been answered, and it can be answered....
3
votes
Are well-posed questions about the mathematics job search on topic at MO?
I believe the best that can be hoped for is a consensus among individuals. It is not clear by any means what the precise scope of this forum is, and even an imprecise scope will change in rough ...
2
votes
Accepted
Is there a consensus on whether history of mathematics questions are acceptable on MO?
Now that there is a Stack Exchange site dedicated to History of Science and Mathematics, I would suggest asking them there rather than here on MO.
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
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