# All Questions

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### Connectedness in the language of path-connectedness

Is there a topological space $(C,\tau_C)$ and two points $c_0\neq c_1\in C$ such that the following holds? A space $(X,\tau)$ is connected if and only if for all $x,y\in X$ there is a ...
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### Examples of great mathematical writing

This question is basically from Ravi Vakil's web page, but modified for Math Overflow. How do I write mathematics well? Learning by example is more helpful than being told what to do, so let's try to ...
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### No limit shape for random Young diagrams under z-measure?

In their paper Random partitions and the Gamma kernel (Advances in Mathematics 194 (2005) 141–202), Borodin and Olshanski state that: An important difference between the Plancherel measures and ...
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### Two questions about Whittaker functions

I am watching the video: Modeling p-adic Whittaker functions, Part I. I have two questions about Whittaker functions in the video. From 33:00 to 37:00, it is said that after changing of variables, ...
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### Ring epimorphisms, and epimorphism in the category of small preadditive cats

This question is related to this other question I have asked some time ago. Let $R$ and $S$ be two rings and let $\phi:R\to S$ be a ring homomorphism. It is well-known that $\phi$ is an epimorphism ...
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### Link between Harris recurrence and Ergodicity

Is it possible to obtain Harris recurrent Markov chain from Ergodic chain (in Birkhoff sense) under certain assumption? That is, suppose we know a Markov chain is ergodic (in Birkhoff sense); is it ...
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### Generalizations of the Four-Color theorem

The four color theorem asserts that every planar graph can be properly colored by four colors. The purpose of this question is to collect generalizations and strengthenings of the four color theorem ...
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### Rellich's theorem from compact resolvent

On a compact Riemannian manifold, we know that the Laplacian $\Delta$ has compact resolvent. In proving this, one typical way is to use Rellich's theorem about the compact embedding of $H^1(M)$ into ...
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### Can a finite von Neumann algebra be strongly morita equivalent to a properly infinite von neumann algebra?

Can a finite (by finite I mean when the projection $1$ is finite) von Neumann algebra be strongly morita equivalent to a properly infinite von Neumann algebra? (Strong morita equivalence is the same ...
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### What are the most attractive Turing undecidable problems in mathematics?

What are the most attractive Turing undecidable problems in mathematics? There are thousands of examples, so please post here only the most attractive, best examples. Some examples already appear on ...
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### configuration space and iterated loop space

Let the topological monoid $M$ be the configuration space $C(\mathbb{R}^n;X)=C_n(X)$ as in the book The geometry of iterated loop spaces, Theorem 5.2. I want to prove that the map $\alpha_n$ in ...
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### Why is a topology made up of 'open' sets? [closed]

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't think I've ever been able to genuinely motivate the definition of a topological space in an undergraduate course. Clearly, the definition distills the essence of ...
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### Why do we teach calculus students the derivative as a limit?

I'm not teaching calculus right now, but I talk to someone who does, and the question that came up is why emphasize the $h \to 0$ definition of a derivative to calculus students? Something a teacher ...
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### Equidistribution of Hecke points and $p = (a+bi)(a-bi) = e^{i\theta}\sqrt{a^2 + b^2}$

I have seen two versions of a result called "Hecke Equidistribution" and I wanted to know if they were the same or different. #1 Let $p = 4k+1 = (a+bi)(a-bi) = e^{i\theta}\sqrt{a^2 + b^2}$. Then ...
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### Fermat's last theorem over larger fields

Fermat's last theorem implies that the number of solutions of $x^5 + y^5 = 1$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ is finite. Is the number of solutions of $x^5 + y^5 = 1$ over $\mathbb{Q}^{\text{ab}}$ finite? Here ...
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### Non-homeomorphic spaces such that taking away a point makes them homeomorphic

Are there topological spaces $X,Y$, each having more than $2$ points, such that $X\not\cong Y$, and there is a bijection $\varphi: X\to Y$ such that for all $x\in X$ the spaces $X\setminus \{x\}$ ...
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### Set of regular points in an Alexandrov space with curvature bounded below

Let $X^n$ be an $n$-dimensional Alexandrov space with curvature bounded below. A point $x\in X$ is called regular if the space of directions $\Sigma_x$ is isometric to the standard sphere $S^{n-1}$. ...
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### Schubert calculus and Pieri's formula

In the lecture notes Grassmannians: the first example of a moduli space. MIT Open Course Ware. page 7: Are there any formal publications (books/papers) where I can find the formula?
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### Counting the size of the largest sets of independent strings

This question derives from a PPCG coding challenge I posed previously but despite asking on math.se and offering a bounty, no progress has been made. For a given positive integer $n$, consider all ...
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### Is an irreducible ideal in $R$ also irreducible in $R[x]$?

Let $R$ be a commutative Noetherian ring and $I\subset R$ an ideal that is irreducible in the sense that if $I = J_1 \cap J_2$, then $I=J_1$ or $I=J_2$. Is (the ideal generated by) $I$ irreducible in ...
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### Non-standard numbers and exponential form of Zeta function

Basic idea For a long time I was looking for a numerical system that would allow to compare infinite sets. In contrast to Cantor's approach that empathizes the possibility of on-to-one correspondence ...
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### For a 3-manifold $Y$, when does $Y\times S^{1}$ admits a Riemannian metric with positive scalar curvature?

Let $Y$ be an orientable, smooth 3-manifold and let $X=Y\times S^{1}$. My question is that: when does $X$ admits a Riemannian metric with positive scalar curvature? An obvious case is when $Y$ ...
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### How big is the lattice of all functions?

Define the lattice $(\mathcal{L},\prec)$ as the set of all function $f:\mathbb{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{N}$ satisfying $f(n)\leq f(n+1)\leq f(n)+1$, where two functions are considered equal if they differ ...
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### Path-connected Hausdorff interval topologies

Let $(P,\leq)$ be a poset with more than $1$ point such that the interval topology $\tau_i(P)$ is path-connected and $T_2$. Does this imply that $[0,1]$ order-embeds into $P$? (This is a follow-up ...
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### Matrix equation $XAXBXC=I$

Let $A,B,C$ be unitary matrices. Does there always exist a unitary matrix $X$ such that $$(XA)(XB)(XC)=I,$$ where $I$ is the identity matrix? The quadratic equation $(XA)(XB)=I$ has the solution ...
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### Understanding Segal's definition of conformal field theory

I have a fundamental problem in understanding Segal's definition of a conformal field theory: On the one hand his monoidal CFT-functor is a formalization of the fact that, physically, the integrand ...
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### Riemannian metrics preserved by diffeomorphisms

Let $f \neq Id$ be a diffeomorphism (of a smooth manifold $M$) which admits some Riemannain metric on $M$ making it an isometry. How many different metrics are preserved by $f$? Note that ...
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### Flat cohomology of an ordinary liftable Calabi-Yau threefold

Let $k$ be a perfect field of characteristic $p>0$ and consider an ordinary liftable Calabi-Yau threefold $X_{0}/k$. By this I mean that $H^{i}(X_{0},B_{X_{0}/k}^{j})=0$ for all $i\geq 0$ and ...
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### Counting number of $2\times 2$ unimodular matrices of particular type

From set of numbers from $\Bbb S=\{0,1,\dots,m\}$, how many distinct $3\times 3$ unimodular matrices parametrized by $(a,b,c,d,e,f)\in\Bbb S^6$ of following type can one form? \begin{bmatrix} a^2 ...
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### Convergence to equilibrium via gradient descent

J. B. Rosen proved that in concave games of n players (which assumes that Cartesian product of strategy profiles is convex) if the game satisfies the condition of diagonally strictly concave then ...
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### Can someone explain some of the steps in this paper clearly?

I'm having trouble understanding the steps this paper makes to come to the conclusion $p_{f}(d) \sim e^d\sqrt{d}$ Marek Wolf, First occurrence of a given gap between consecutive primes, preprint, ...