Greatest Hits
391
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Proofs without words
Can you give examples of proofs without words? In particular, can you give examples of proofs without words for non-trivial results?
(One could ask if this is of interest to mathematicians, and I ...
1024
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288
answers
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Examples of common false beliefs in mathematics
The first thing to say is that this is not the same as the question about interesting mathematical mistakes. I am interested about the type of false beliefs that many intelligent people have while ...
136
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2
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Consequences resulting from Yitang Zhang's latest claimed results on Landau-Siegel zeros
Very recently, Yitang Zhang just gave a (virtual) talk about his work on Landau-Siegel zeros at Shandong University on the 5th of November's morning in China. He will also give a talk on 8th November ...
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108
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10
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What are the benefits of writing vector inner products as $\langle u, v\rangle$ as opposed to $u^T v$?
In a lot of computational math, operations research, such as algorithm design for optimization problems and the like, authors like to use $$\langle \cdot, \cdot \rangle$$ as opposed to $$(\cdot)^T (\...
95
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2
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Perfectly centered break of a perfectly aligned pool ball rack
Imagine the beginning of a game of pool, you have 16 balls, 15 of them in a triangle <| and 1 of them being the cue ball off to the left of that triangle. Imagine that the rack (the 15 balls in a ...
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240
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29
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Intuitive crutches for higher dimensional thinking
I once heard a joke (not a great one I'll admit...) about higher dimensional thinking that went as follows-
An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are discussing how to visualise four ...
185
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3
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Issue UPDATE: in graph theory, different definitions of edge crossing numbers - impact on applications?
QUICK FINAL UPDATE: Just wanted to thank you MO users for all your support. Special thanks for the fast answers, I've accepted first one, appreciated the clarity it gave me. I've updated my torus ...
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40
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The factorials of -1, -2, -3, … [closed]
Well, $n!$ is for integer $n < 0$ not defined — as yet.
So the question is:
How could a sensible generalization of the factorial for negative integers look like?
Clearly a good generalization ...
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256
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29
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Mathematical games interesting to both you and a 5+-year-old child
Background: My daughter is 6 years old now, once I wanted to think on some math (about some Young diagrams), but she wanted to play with me...
How to make both of us to do what they want ? I guess ...
277
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47
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Examples of unexpected mathematical images
I try to generate a lot of examples in my research to get a better feel for what I am doing. Sometimes, I generate a plot, or a figure, that really surprises me, and makes my research take an ...
86
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13
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If you break a stick at two points chosen uniformly, the probability the three resulting sticks form a triangle is 1/4. Is there a nice proof of this?
There is a standard problem in elementary probability that goes as follows. Consider a stick of length 1. Pick two points uniformly at random on the stick, and break the stick at those points. What ...
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416
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89
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Video lectures of mathematics courses available online for free
It can be difficult to learn mathematics on your own from textbooks, and I often wish universities videotaped their mathematics courses and distributed them for free online. Fortunately, some ...
55
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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 ...
81
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19
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Reading list for basic differential geometry?
I'd like to ask if people can point me towards good books or notes to learn some basic differential geometry. I work in representation theory mostly and have found that sometimes my background is ...
241
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37
answers
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Best algebraic geometry textbook? (other than Hartshorne)
I think (almost) everyone agrees that Hartshorne's Algebraic Geometry is still the best.
Then what might be the 2nd best?
It can be a book, preprint, online lecture note, webpage, etc.
One suggestion ...
164
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The "Dzhanibekov effect" - an exercise in mechanics or fiction? Explain mathematically a video from a space station
The question briefly:
Can one explain the "Dzhanibekov effect" (see youtube videos from space station or comments below) on the basis of the standard rigid body dynamics using Euler's equations? (Or ...
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355
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Widely accepted mathematical results that were later shown to be wrong?
Are there any examples in the history of mathematics of a mathematical proof that was initially reviewed and widely accepted as valid, only to be disproved a significant amount of time later, possibly ...
189
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34
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What is convolution intuitively?
If random variable $X$ has a probability distribution of $f(x)$ and random variable $Y$ has a probability distribution $g(x)$ then $(f*g)(x)$, the convolution of $f$ and $g$, is the probability ...
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A number theory problem where pi appears surprisingly
For a given positive integer $M$, the sequence $\{a_n\}$ starts from $a_{2M+1}=M(2M+1)$ and $a_k$ is the largest multiple of $k$ no more than $a_{k+1}+M$, i.e.
$$a_k=k\left\lfloor\frac{a_{k+1}+M}{k}\...
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365
votes
113
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Not especially famous, long-open problems which anyone can understand
Question: I'm asking for a big list of not especially famous, long open problems that anyone can understand. Community wiki, so one problem per answer, please.
Motivation: I plan to use this list in ...
73
votes
3
answers
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Czelakowski's claimed proof of the Twin Prime Conjecture
It seems like the article "The Twin Primes Conjecture is True in the Standard Model of Peano Arithmetic: Applications of Rasiowa–Sikorski Lemma in Arithmetic (I)" by Janusz Czelakowski ...
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234
votes
36
answers
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Conway's lesser-known results
John Horton Conway is known for many achievements:
Life, the three sporadic groups in the "Conway constellation," surreal numbers, his "Look-and-Say" sequence analysis, the Conway-Schneeberger $15$-...
81
votes
12
answers
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Why is the gradient normal?
This is a somewhat long discussion so please bear with me. There is a theorem that I have always been curious about from an intuitive standpoint and that has been glossed over in most textbooks I ...
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283
votes
123
answers
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What are some examples of colorful language in serious mathematics papers?
The popular MO question "Famous mathematical quotes" has turned
up many examples of witty, insightful, and humorous writing by
mathematicians. Yet, with a few exceptions such as Weyl's "angel of
...
291
votes
8
answers
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Philosophy behind Mochizuki's work on the ABC conjecture
Mochizuki has recently announced a proof of the ABC conjecture. It is far too early to judge its correctness, but it builds on many years of work by him. Can someone briefly explain the philosophy ...
77
votes
12
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What practical applications does set theory have?
I am a non-mathematician. I'm reading up on set theory. It's fascinating, but I wonder if it's found any 'real-world' applications yet. For instance, in high school when we were learning the ...
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183
votes
47
answers
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Magic trick based on deep mathematics
I am interested in magic tricks whose explanation requires deep mathematics. The trick should be one that would actually appeal to a layman. An example is the following: the magician asks Alice to ...
416
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16
answers
61k
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Why do roots of polynomials tend to have absolute value close to 1?
While playing around with Mathematica I noticed that most polynomials with real coefficients seem to have most complex zeroes very near the unit circle. For instance, if we plot all the roots of a ...
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196
votes
13
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Why doesn't mathematics collapse even though humans quite often make mistakes in their proofs?
To begin with, I am aware of these questions, which seems to be related:
How do I fix someone's published error?, Examples of common false beliefs in mathematics, When have we lost a body of ...
348
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30
answers
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Geometric interpretation of trace
This afternoon I was speaking with some graduate students in the department and we came to the following quandary;
Is there a geometric interpretation of the trace of a matrix?
This question ...
109
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89
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Tweetable Mathematics
Update: Please restrict your answers to "tweets" that give more than just the statement of the result, and give also the essence (or a useful hint) of the argument/novelty.
I am looking for ...
166
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3
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Estimating the size of solutions of a diophantine equation
A. Is there natural numbers $a,b,c$ such that $\frac{a}{b+c} + \frac{b}{a+c} + \frac{c}{a+b}$ is equal to an odd natural number ?
(I do not know any such numbers).
B. Suppose that $\frac{a}{b+c} + \...
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145
votes
31
answers
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What are the most misleading alternate definitions in taught mathematics?
I suppose this question can be interpreted in two ways. It is often the case that two or more equivalent (but not necessarily semantically equivalent) definitions of the same idea/object are used in ...
228
votes
14
answers
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Have any long-suspected irrational numbers turned out to be rational?
The history of proving numbers irrational is full of interesting stories, from the ancient proofs for $\sqrt{2}$, to Lambert's irrationality proof for $\pi$, to Roger Apéry's surprise demonstration ...
165
votes
50
answers
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17 camels trick
The following popular mathematical parable is well known:
A father left 17 camels to his three sons and, according to the will, the eldest son should be given a half of all camels, the middle son ...
220
votes
8
answers
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Need advice or assistance for son who is in prison. His interest is scattering theory
The letter below is written by my son. I have been sending him text books and looking for answers on the internet to keep his interest up. He has progressed so far on his own and now he needs ...
195
votes
30
answers
76k
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Real-world applications of mathematics, by arxiv subject area?
What are the most important applications outside of mathematics of each of the major fields of mathematics? For concreteness, let's divide up mathematics according to arxiv mathematics categories, e.g....
61
votes
19
answers
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Suggestions for a good Measure Theory book
I have taken analysis and have looked at different measures, but I am currently looking at realizing a certain problem in a different light and feel that I need a better background in various measures ...
126
votes
19
answers
67k
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Periods and commas in mathematical writing
I just realized that I am a barbarian when it comes to writing. But I am not entirely sure, so this might be the right place to ask. When typing display-mode formulae do you guys add a period after ...
62
votes
8
answers
41k
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Example of a good Zero Knowledge Proof
I am working on my zero knowledge proofs and I am looking for a good example of a real world proof of this type. An even better answer would be a Zero Knowledge Proof that shows the statement isn't ...
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160
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46
answers
29k
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Every mathematician has only a few tricks
In Gian-Carlo Rota's "Ten lessons I wish I had been taught" he has a section, "Every mathematician has only a few tricks", where he asserts that even mathematicians like Hilbert ...
51
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11
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What is an important mathematical question?
$\DeclareMathOperator\GL{GL}$Many times I have heard people say sentences like X is an important question/ X is a natural question. I find this very surprising because to me it's all a matter of taste....
227
votes
46
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Most interesting mathematics mistake?
Some mistakes in mathematics made by extremely smart and famous people can eventually lead to interesting developments and theorems, e.g. Poincaré's 3d sphere characterization or the search to prove ...
120
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13
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35k
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What are some noteworthy "mic-drop" moments in math?
Oftentimes in math the manner in which a solution to a problem is announced becomes a significant chapter/part of the lore associated with the problem, almost being remembered more than the manner in ...
196
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25
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The most outrageous (or ridiculous) conjectures in mathematics
The purpose of this question is to collect the most outrageous (or ridiculous) conjectures in mathematics.
An outrageous conjecture is qualified ONLY if:
1) It is most likely false
(Being hopeless is ...
153
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7
answers
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Consequences of the Riemann hypothesis
I assume a number of results have been proven conditionally on the Riemann hypothesis, of course in number theory and maybe in other fields. What are the most relevant you know?
It would also be nice ...
42
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2
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Consequences of Kirti Joshi's new preprint about p-adic Teichmüller theory on the validity of IUT and on the ABC conjecture
Today, somebody posted on the nLab a link to Kirti Joshi's preprint on the arXiv from last month: https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.11635
In that preprint, Kirti Joshi claims that
he agrees with Scholze and ...
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170
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39
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41k
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Most harmful heuristic?
What's the most harmful heuristic (towards proper mathematics education), you've seen taught/accidentally taught/were taught? When did handwaving inhibit proper learning?
26
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1
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What is the cofinality of the co-infinite subsets of ${\bf N}$?
Let ${\mathcal A}$ be the family of subsets $A$ of the natural numbers ${\mathbf N}$ which are co-infinite (i.e., their complement is infinite). We partially order this family by set inclusion. A ...
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Lorentzian vs Gaussian Fitting Functions
This is probably too general a question to ask without some specific context, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway:
What are the practical differences between using a Lorentzian function and using ...
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