Questions tagged [gm.general-mathematics]
Questions about mathematics which don't fall into the other arXiv categories. If you have a general question about mathematics but it is not research level, it's off-topic but it might be welcomed on Mathematics Stack Exchange.
343
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2
answers
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Are there any undergraduate-friendly research areas in algebra? [closed]
I don't know if this question is more appropriate for the academia stack exchange, but I'm posting it here because it's more closely related to math itself.
I'm not actually an undergraduate, I'm a ...
6
votes
1
answer
193
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Results with a flavor “every automorphism of automorphisms is inner”
It seems that there are a number of results which take more or less the following form: let $X$ be some (specific) kind of structure, let $Y$ be the group of automorphisms of $X$ or perhaps ring of ...
2
votes
1
answer
247
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Where can I access American Mathematical Monthly problems given an index?
I don't know if this is the appropriate website to ask, so I understand if this post gets closed. I want to explore (and maybe solve) some of the currently-unsolved problems submitted by readers on ...
50
votes
1
answer
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What mathematical problems can be attacked using DeepMind's recent mathematical breakthroughs?
I am a research mathematician at a university in the United States. My training is in pure mathematics (geometry). However, for the past couple of months, I have been supervising some computer science ...
0
votes
1
answer
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4 triangular faces 6 vertices not tetrahedron [closed]
I have made a solid and would like to know its' name, volume and related formulas. It is made using a flat potato chip bag. The end opposite the factory seal is sealed perpendicular to the factory ...
0
votes
0
answers
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Showing that the congruence speed of any integer exponentiation $a^b$ is constant and $\geq 1$ iff $a>1$ is a multiple of $10$
Years ago, I defined the "congruence speed" (radix-$10$) of the integer tetration $^{b}a$ as $V(a,b)$, which is the number of the new(!) rightmost digits that freeze when we move from $b \in ...
4
votes
2
answers
507
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Zentralblatt MATH volume numbering
Recently, I learned how to read some of codes that appear on specific pages in zbMATH Open, formerly known as Zentralblatt MATH.
For example, in the above review, the circled code "Zbl 1218....
8
votes
1
answer
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Examples of ZBMath reviews that motivated you to read the paper
This is community wiki question.
I will be writing my first review for ZBMath. I would like to take some suggestion through examples.
In general, abstract is too small and introduction is too lengthy ...
6
votes
1
answer
365
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When are the chirp signals orthogonal?
Assume that we have two bounded-time chirp signals,
\begin{align}
x(t)&=\exp\Big(j\pi(\alpha t^2+\beta t+\gamma)\Big),\quad 0\leq t\leq T,\\
y(t)&=\exp\Big(j\pi(\alpha' t^2+\beta' t+\gamma')\...
0
votes
1
answer
103
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Can orientation preserving diffeomorphism in $\mathbb{R}^d$ be presented by flowmap of dynamical systems? (time-varying case)
Because flowmaps are homeomorphic maps on a compact domain $\Omega$, I was wondering if there is any literature that proves that diffeomorphism $\Phi(x)$ can be expressed as a flowmap of a certain ...
2
votes
1
answer
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What's the lower bound of the correlation coefficient?
Suppose a random variable $X \in \mathbb{R}$ follows a discrete distribution $p$ and takes $n$ values. We assume $E[X]=0$ and $|X|\le M$, where $M$ is a constant. Given a smooth and monotonic ...
1
vote
1
answer
320
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Book on analysis and algebra at the undergraduate level [closed]
I am writing this post because I would like to know what are your references concerning math book showing the interplay between analysis and algebra at an undergraduate-advanced undergraduate level.
...
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votes
1
answer
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If a continuous function is differentiable at a point, is it differentiable in some neighborhood around that point? [closed]
This seems like it should be true but I was wondering if anyone could prove it. Thanks!
2
votes
1
answer
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Any theorem shows that flowmap $\phi_{\sum_{i=1}^n a_i f_i(x)}^\tau$ can be approximated by $\phi_{f_{\theta(t)}(x)}^{\tau'}$?
Given a control family $F:=\{f_1,\dotsc,f_n\}$, and $\phi_f^\tau(x)$ is the flowmap of the dynamical system
$$
\begin{cases}
z'(t)=f(z),\\
z(0)=x,
\end{cases}
$$ at end time point $\tau$.
Suppose $a_i&...
0
votes
1
answer
101
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What's the lower bound for this quantity?
Suppose $p$ is a discrete distribution with $n$ values and the random variable $x$ satisfies $\mathbb{E}_p[x] = 0$ and $|x| < \infty$. Given $\alpha \in (0,1)$, does there exist a lower bound for ...
2
votes
0
answers
330
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How to handle a research identity crisis
I have studied applied math and got a PhD (3yrs) in that field with applications in fluid dynamics. Then in my first postdoc (1.5yrs) I did again a postdoc in applied math but studied applications in ...
0
votes
1
answer
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Is the right-hand term of the autonomous dynamic system equivalent to the original system after being multiplied by a constant?
Given two dynamical systems where $f$ is lipschitz for $x$ : $\begin{cases} x'(t)=af(x),\\ x(0)=x_0,\end{cases} t\in[0,\tau]$ and $\begin{cases} z'(t)=f(z),\\ z(0)=x_0,\end{cases} t\in[0,\tau']$, and ...
26
votes
2
answers
3k
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History of right hand rule
I am not sure if this is the right place to ask, but many mathematicians are knowledgeable and interested also in history of math, so here I am.
I am curious to know when the right-hand-rule for ...
5
votes
0
answers
514
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What sets are known to have cardinality equal to $\mathbb{N}$ or $\mathbb{R}$ but open as to which?
A long time ago a similar question was asked on math.stackexchange.
There are many sets which we know to be either finite or infinitely countable but do not know which cardinality specifically.
An ...
-1
votes
1
answer
119
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Can we use linear map to approximate lipschitz continuous function $f$ in a compact domain after some linear transform?
Suppose $f : \mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}$ is lipschitz continuous function , $K$ is a compact domain, for any $\varepsilon>0$, can we find $d,a\neq 0,c,w,b \in \mathbb{R}$ such that $\|df(ax+c)-(wx+b)\...
0
votes
1
answer
126
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Does this inequality hold for the cumulant generating function?
Suppose a random variable $X$ is zero-mean and the cumulant generating function is
$$
K\left( t \right) =\log \mathbb{E}[e^{tX}].
$$
Given any positive constant $\tau > 0$, does this inequality
$$
\...
2
votes
1
answer
250
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Does this KL divergence inequality hold?
Suppose $p$ and $q$ are two discrete distributions. Given a positive constant $\beta\in(0,1)$, we create a new discrete distribution $y$ such that
$$
\frac{y\left( x \right)}{p\left( x \right)}=\frac{\...
18
votes
7
answers
4k
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Why do infinite-dimensional vector spaces usually have additional structure?
On Mathematics Stack Exchange, I asked the following question: Why are infinite-dimensional vector spaces usually equipped with additional structure? Although it received one good answer, I feel that ...
0
votes
0
answers
59
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A recurrence relation with two variables
How to solve the following recurrence relation?
$$f(i,j) = 2 f(i,j-1) + (\alpha^j+\beta^j) f(i-1,j), 0<\alpha,\beta < 1$$
With the boundary condition
$$ f(0,0) = f(1,0) = f(0,1) = 1 $$
A special ...
-4
votes
1
answer
422
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Amount of mathematical knowledge required for starting Ph.D. in pure mathematics [closed]
How much mathematics should one know before starting a Ph.D. program in pure mathematics? For example what topics one must understand well to pursue a Ph.D. in US University in Number Theory (...
11
votes
1
answer
1k
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Smale's view of mathematical artificial intelligence
This snippet is from Smale's paper Smale, Steve (1999). "Mathematical problems for the next century". In Arnold, V. I.; Atiyah, M.; Lax, P.; Mazur, B. (eds.). Mathematics: frontiers and ...
13
votes
16
answers
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Oddities of evenness
Being initially a little bit perplexed by the observation that the possibility of calculating vertex potentials $\lbrace\pi_1,\dots,\pi_n\rbrace$ for weighted cycle graphs $C_n,\,2\lt n$ such that the ...
54
votes
7
answers
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Are there any fields of academic mathematics whose epistemic status as math is controversial within the academic community?
String theory (and related areas of purely theoretical quantum gravity, like loop quantum gravity) has a unique position within the academic physics community. Many academic physicists don't really ...
6
votes
1
answer
417
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How to solve recurrence relation with 2 variables?
I have the following recurrence relation and boundary condition?
$$
f(n,m) = \frac{\alpha n}{n+m} f(n-1,m) + \frac{\beta m}{n+m} f(n,m-1) + 1
$$
$$
f(n,0) = \frac{1-\alpha^{n+1}}{1-\alpha}, f(0,m) = \...
21
votes
8
answers
4k
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Examples of bad notation and its consequences [closed]
An example of bad mathematical notation that comes in my mind and has caused complications throughout history is the notation for imaginary numbers. The original notation used to represent imaginary ...
7
votes
0
answers
579
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A new and subtle order-theoretic fixed point theorem
Sometimes a very simple argument appears out of the blue and overturns a subject. It is not based on pre-existing theory and heavy involvement in such a theory is actually a handicap in finding such ...
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votes
1
answer
460
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How much would a mathematician cost? [closed]
Recently our department lost one of the best professors who was attracted by a better University. If we were a football club, and he were a leading player, we would receive many millions of ...
60
votes
10
answers
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What do you do when you're stuck?
I'm pretty sure almost all mathematicians have been in a situation where they found an interesting problem; they thought of many different ideas to tackle the problem, but in all of these ideas, there ...
12
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7
answers
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Books containing new results
In Endless controversy about the correctness of significant papers, Denis Serre writes:
The research community is able to point out incorrect statements, at least among those which have some ...
6
votes
3
answers
696
views
How do I solve the following definite integral (preferably by an asymptotic method)?
$$ \int_{1}^{\infty} \frac{\sin^2 (\mu \sqrt{x^2 -1})}{(x+1)^{\frac{9}{2}} (x-1)^{\frac{3}{2}}} \,dx $$
Note: $\mu$ here is an extremely small constant.
I have tried:
Estimating the integral by ...
47
votes
2
answers
5k
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Well known theorems that have not been proved
I believe that there are numerous challenging theorems in mathematics for which only a sketch of a proof exists. To meet the standards of rigor, a complete proof of these theorems has yet to be ...
11
votes
9
answers
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What are examples of problems we know how to solve for primes (or prime powers), but not for composites?
I am interested in seeing examples of research problems which fall into one of the two following categories:
A problem which is solved in the case of primes (or prime powers), but which remains open ...
-4
votes
1
answer
284
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Limit of recursion relation
Consider the sequence of functions $\{F_n\}_{n\in \mathbb{N}}$, where each $F_n$ is defined on $\{0,...,n\}$ by recurrence of the following form: $$ F_n(0)=3 \textrm{
and }F_n(k)=\frac{1}{k^2}+\frac{\...
41
votes
11
answers
4k
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Topology in non-mathematical literature
A great piece of knowledge that I heard from a talk of Robert Ghrist, is that one of the earliest instances of non-trivial manifolds (i.e. of dimension higher than 2) appears in Dante's Paradise, ...
5
votes
0
answers
588
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Bourbaki-Witt in a textbook, other than in logic?
The Bourbaki-Witt theorem states that, in a chain-complete poset, the subset $X$ generated by an inflationary monotone function $s$ from the least element and joins of chains satisfies
$$ \forall x,y\...
1
vote
0
answers
84
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Invariance signature in infinite dimension
Let $V$ be an infinite dimensional vector space and suppose we have a smooth family $\{g_t\}_{t\ge 0}$ of symmetric bi-linear forms such that:
$g_0$ is positive-definite
$g_t$ is non-degenerate for ...
5
votes
0
answers
323
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What's with the speaker's initial thing?
If you've ever been to a math talk (at least in pure maths in the UK) you've probably seen something like this written:
Theorem (E.--Johnson--Smith, 2022+) The XYZ conjecture is true.
At some point ...
1
vote
0
answers
190
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On the definition of "natural" in Mathematics [duplicate]
Often in mathematics we found objects which are qualified as "being natural". The first example appears in the vector space $\mathbb R^n$, where we say that we have the "natural basis&...
6
votes
1
answer
262
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Classification results
A typical classification result for a class $C$ of objects looks like that:
Theorem. Each object of $C$ is isomorphic to one object of the following list: [insert list here].
Examples are the ...
5
votes
0
answers
176
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Generalization of IMO5 from 1987
The following question appeared as question 5 on the IMO in 1987:
Prove that for all $n \geq 3$ one can find $n$ distinct points on the Euclidean plane with the property that the distance between any ...
4
votes
1
answer
539
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Novel examples, proofs or results in mathematics from arithmetic billiards
The goal of the post is get a repository of mathematical results, proofs or examples by users of the site, arising from arithmetic billiards in number theory, analysis, geometry,….
Wikipedia has an ...
9
votes
1
answer
373
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Why are discreteness and smoothness in physics inversed with respect to geometry?
In a closed (say differentiable) Riemannian manifold you see only continuous features when looking at small neighbourhoods of points. From afar,
discrete features appear ((co)homology, closed ...
8
votes
1
answer
691
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Question on pure mathematics helping climate change research
While I am a pure mathematics tenured professor, still at a relatively young age, and fairly passionate about my area of research, I cannot help but feel that it may be more useful to humanity if I ...
39
votes
5
answers
8k
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Is spherical trigonometry a dead research area?
When I was an undergrad, the field of spherical trigonometry was cited as a once-popular area of math that has since died. Is this true? Are the results from spherical trigonometry relevant for ...
50
votes
13
answers
13k
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Is amateur research in mathematics viable?
After a long reflection, I've decided I won't go to graduate school and do a thesis, among other things. I personally can't cope with the pressure and uncertainty of an academic job.
I will therefore ...