All Questions
7 questions
72
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The use of computers leading to major mathematical advances II
I would like to ask about recent examples, mainly after 2015, where experimentation by computers or other use of computers has led to major mathematical advances.
This is a continuation of a question ...
115
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32
answers
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What notions are used but not clearly defined in modern mathematics?
"Everyone knows what a curve is, until he has studied enough mathematics to become confused through the countless number of possible exceptions."
Felix Klein
What notions are used but not ...
18
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12
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5k
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What are some fundamental "sources" for the appearance of pi in mathematics?
I thought it might be fun to ask this question as a way of celebrating Pi Day. One way in which people popularize pi is that they say that even though it's defined in terms of properties of a circle, ...
156
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52
answers
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Experimental mathematics leading to major advances
I would like to ask about examples where experimentation by computers has led to major mathematical advances.
A new look
Now as the question is five years old and there are certainly more examples of ...
15
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27
answers
3k
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Justifying a theory by a seemingly unrelated example
Here is a topic in the vein of Describe a topic in one sentence and Fundamental examples : imagine that you are trying to explain and justify a mathematical theory T to a skeptical mathematician ...
220
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140
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Fundamental Examples
It is not unusual that a single example or a very few shape an entire mathematical discipline. Can you give examples for such examples? (One example, or few, per post, please)
I'd love to learn about ...
54
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30
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What are examples of good toy models in mathematics?
This post is community wiki.
A comment on another question reminded me of this old post of Terence Tao's about toy models. I really like the idea of using toy models of a difficult object to ...