Linked Questions

2 votes
1 answer
130 views

Difference in essential spectrum between Schrodinger operators

I am considering two Schrodinger operators on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ and compare their essential spectrum. The operators are both of the form $H=A+V$ where $A$ is the adjacency operator on the $\mathbb{Z}^2$-...
189 votes
79 answers
42k views

Which math paper maximizes the ratio (importance)/(length)?

My vote would be Milnor's 7-page paper "On manifolds homeomorphic to the 7-sphere", in Vol. 64 of Annals of Math. For those who have not read it, he explicitly constructs smooth 7-manifolds which are ...
76 votes
34 answers
7k views

Dimension leaps

Many mathematical areas have a notion of "dimension", either rigorously or naively, and different dimensions can exhibit wildly different behaviour. Often, the behaviour is similar for "nearby" ...
63 votes
52 answers
23k views

Colloquial catchy statements encoding serious mathematics

As the title says, please share colloquial statements that encode (in a non-rigorous way, of course) some nontrivial mathematical fact (or heuristic). Instead of giving examples here I added them as ...
5 votes
5 answers
269 views

Peculiarities in low dimensions or low order or etc

I have been pondering about certain conjectures and theorems viewed as either low vs high dimensions, or smaller vs larger primes, or anything of the sort "low vs high order". Let me mention a couple ...
0 votes
0 answers
145 views

Stability of Schrodinger operators on bounded domains

Consider a Schrodinger operator $H=H_0+V$, where $H_0$ is a $L_2$ realization of the negative Laplace operator $-\Delta$ with homogeneous Neumann boundary condition on a bounded, smooth domain $\Omega\...
9 votes
3 answers
707 views

When are $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $\mathbb{R}^m$ essentially similar?

Here is a rather vague and subjective question: for which $n$ and $m$ are $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $\mathbb{R}^m$ ``essentially similar''? The answer depends partly on what type of mathematician is ...
3 votes
1 answer
199 views

Bounded solutions for Schrödinger equation at the edge of the essential spectrum

Let $V:R^d\to R_+$ be with a compact support. The Schrödinger operator $H_a=-\Delta - a V$ acting in $L^2(R^d)$ has then (at most) finitely many negative eigenvalues. Denote the number of negative ...
18 votes
1 answer
654 views

Higher dimensional generalization of: Any quadrilateral tiles the plane?

Any (non-self-intersecting) quadrilateral tiles the plane.     (MathWorld image.) Q. What is the strongest known generalization of this statement to higher dimensions? I.e., $\mathbb{R}^d$ ...
4 votes
1 answer
722 views

binary intersection property in finite dimension

I have recently discovered a survey article called "The Hahn-Banach Theorem: The Life and Times" by Narici and Beckenstein and I have read it with great amusement: I was particularly fascinated by ...
14 votes
2 answers
1k views

Exotic spheres and stable homotopy in all large dimensions?

Given that the kervaire invariant one problem has been solved in (almost) all dimensions....my question is whether there exists an exotic sphere in all sufficently lagre dimensions? Given the Kervaire-...