All Questions
8,438 questions
394
votes
115
answers
110k
views
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 ...
263
votes
29
answers
89k
views
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 ...
174
votes
7
answers
17k
views
Does $\DeclareMathOperator\Aut{Aut}\Aut(\Aut(\dots\Aut(G)\dots))$ stabilize?
Purely for fun, I was playing around with iteratively applying $\DeclareMathOperator{\Aut}{Aut}\Aut$ to a group $G$; that is, studying groups of the form
$$ {\Aut}^n(G):= \Aut(\Aut(\dots\Aut(G)\dots))....
- 13k
165
votes
28
answers
56k
views
Cool problems to impress students with group theory [closed]
Since this forum is densely populated with algebraists, I think I'll ask it here.
I'm teaching intermediate level algebra this semester and I'd like to entertain my students with some clever ...
161
votes
37
answers
17k
views
Conceptual reason why the sign of a permutation is well-defined?
Teaching group theory this semester, I found myself laboring through a proof that the sign of a permutation is a well-defined homomorphism $\operatorname{sgn} : \Sigma_n \to \Sigma_2$. An insightful ...
- 64k
158
votes
8
answers
7k
views
Resources for mathematics advising.
This question is possibly ill-advised. (If it is not right for this site I will delete it.)
I, suddenly, have students.
It is very clear to me that there is nothing in my education that has ...
154
votes
7
answers
85k
views
Where to buy premium white chalk in the U.S., like they have at RIMS? [closed]
While not a research-level math question, I'm sure this is a question of interest to many research-level mathematicians, whose expertise I seek.
At RIMS (in Kyoto) in 2005, they had the best white ...
150
votes
31
answers
70k
views
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 ...
123
votes
25
answers
18k
views
"Mathematics talk" for five year olds
I am trying to prepare a "mathematics talk" for five year olds from my daughter's elementary school. I have given many mathematics talks in my life but this one feels
very tough to prepare. Could the ...
115
votes
3
answers
5k
views
The number $\pi$ and summation by $SL(2,\mathbb Z)$
Let $f(a,b,c,d)=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}+\sqrt{c^2+d^2}-\sqrt{(a+c)^2+(b+d)^2}$. (it is the defect in the triangle inequality)
Then, we discovered by heuristic arguments and then verified by computer that
$$\...
- 5,063
114
votes
34
answers
86k
views
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 ...
113
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Does every non-empty set admit a group structure (in ZF)?
It is easy to see that in ZFC, any non-empty set $S$ admits a group structure: for finite $S$ identify $S$ with a cyclic group, and for infinite $S$, the set of finite subsets of $S$ with the binary ...
- 3,511
110
votes
11
answers
13k
views
Why do Groups and Abelian Groups feel so different?
Groups are naturally "the symmetries of an object". To me, the group axioms are just a way of codifying what the symmetries of an object can be so we can study it abstractly.
However, this heuristic ...
- 13k
109
votes
28
answers
41k
views
Why should one still teach Riemann integration?
In the introduction to chapter VIII of Dieudonné's Foundations of Modern Analysis (Volume 1 of his 13-volume Treatise on Analysis), he makes the following argument:
Finally, the reader will ...
103
votes
13
answers
37k
views
How misleading is it to regard $\frac{dy}{dx}$ as a fraction?
I am teaching Calc I, for the first time, and I haven't seriously revisited the subject in quite some time. An interesting pedagogy question came up: How misleading is it to regard $\frac{dy}{dx}$ as ...
103
votes
4
answers
5k
views
How feasible is it to prove Kazhdan's property (T) by a computer?
Recently, I have proved that Kazhdan's property (T) is theoretically provable
by computers (arXiv:1312.5431,
explained below), but I'm quite lame with computers and have
no idea what they actually can ...
- 10.1k
97
votes
19
answers
38k
views
Collecting proofs that finite multiplicative subgroups of fields are cyclic
I teach elementary number theory and discrete mathematics to students who come with no abstract algebra. I have found proving the key theorem that finite multiplicative subgroups of fields are cyclic ...
94
votes
2
answers
7k
views
$A$ is isomorphic to $A \oplus \mathbb{Z}^2$, but not to $A \oplus \mathbb{Z}$
Are there abelian groups $A$ with $A \cong A \oplus \mathbb{Z}^2$ and $A \not\cong A \oplus \mathbb{Z}$?
- 63.1k
93
votes
20
answers
10k
views
Short papers for undergraduate course on reading scholarly math
(I know this is perhaps only tangentially related to mathematics research, but I'm hoping it is worthy of consideration as a community wiki question.)
Today, I was reminded of the existence of this ...
91
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Non-amenable groups with arbitrarily large Tarski number?
Just out of curiosity, I wonder whether there are non-amenable groups with arbitrarily large Tarski numbers. The Tarski number $\tau(G)$ of a discrete group $G$ is the smallest $n$ such that $G$ ...
- 10.1k
87
votes
5
answers
10k
views
When is $A$ isomorphic to $A^3$?
This is totally elementary, but I have no idea how to solve it: let $A$ be an abelian group such that $A$ is isomorphic to $A^3$. is then $A$ isomorphic to $A^2$? probably no, but how construct a ...
- 63.1k
87
votes
2
answers
4k
views
History of $\frac d{dt}\tan^{-1}(t)=\frac 1{1+t^2}$
Let $\theta = \tan^{-1}(t)$. Nowadays it is taught:
1º that
$$
\frac{d\theta}{dt} = \frac 1{dt\,/\,d\theta} = \frac 1{1+t^2},
\tag1
$$
2º that, via the fundamental theorem of calculus, this is ...
- 31.5k
86
votes
44
answers
21k
views
Demystifying complex numbers
At the end of this month I start teaching complex analysis to
2nd year undergraduates, mostly from engineering but some from
science and maths. The main applications for them in future
studies are ...
86
votes
16
answers
9k
views
Teaching homology via everyday examples
What stories, puzzles, games, paradoxes, toys, etc from everyday life are better understood after learning homology theory?
To be more precise, I am teaching a short course on homology, from ...
85
votes
23
answers
11k
views
Solving algebraic problems with topology
Often, topologists reduce a problem which is - in some sense - of geometric nature, into an algebraic question that is then (partiallly) solved to give back some understanding of the original problem.
...
84
votes
12
answers
21k
views
Is Euclid dead?
Apparently Euclid died about 2,300 years ago (actually 2,288 to be more precise), but the title of the question refers to the rallying cry of Dieudonné, "A bas Euclide! Mort aux triangles!" (...
84
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How do I verify the Coq proof of Feit-Thompson?
I probably don't have the appropriate background to even ask this question. I know next to nothing about formal or computer-aided proof, and very little even about group theory. And this question is ...
- 29.8k
81
votes
4
answers
12k
views
Can a group be a universal Turing machine?
This question was inspired by this blog post of Jordan Ellenberg.
Define a "computable group" to be an at most countable group $G$ whose elements can be represented by finite binary strings, with the ...
- 114k
80
votes
7
answers
20k
views
Teaching statements for math jobs?
What is the purpose of the "teaching statement" or "statement of teaching philosophy" when applying for jobs, specifically math postdocs? I am applying for jobs, and I need to write one of these ...
78
votes
3
answers
10k
views
5/8 bound in group theory
The odds of two random elements of a group commuting is the number of conjugacy classes of the group
$$ \frac{ \{ (g,h): ghg^{-1}h^{-1} = 1 \} }{ |G|^2} = \frac{c(G)}{|G|}$$
If this number exceeds ...
- 22.8k
76
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Which graphs are Cayley graphs?
Every group presentation determines the corresponding Cayley graph, which has a node for each group element, and arrows labeled with the generators to get from one group element to another.
My main ...
- 236k
75
votes
5
answers
3k
views
When the automorphism group of an object determines the object
Let me start with three examples to illustrate my question (probably vague; I apologize in advance).
$\mathbf{Man}$, the category of closed (compact without boundary) topological manifold. For any $M,...
74
votes
51
answers
28k
views
An example of a beautiful proof that would be accessible at the high school level?
The background of my question comes from an observation that what we teach in schools does not always reflect what we practice. Beauty is part of what drives mathematicians, but we rarely talk about ...
74
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Groups that do not exist
In the long process that resulted in the classification of finite simple groups, some of the exceptional groups were only shown to exist after people had computed (most of) their character tables and ...
- 47.3k
73
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Is ${\rm S}_6$ the automorphism group of a group?
The automorphism group of the symmetric group $S_n$ is $S_n$ when $n$ is not $2$ or $6$, in which cases it is respectively $1$ and the semidirect product of $S_6$ with the (cyclic) group of order $2$. ...
- 1,069
73
votes
2
answers
8k
views
The inverse Galois problem and the Monster
I have a slight interest in both the inverse Galois problem and in the Monster group. I learned some time ago that all of the sporadic simple groups, with the exception of the Mathieu group $M_{23}$, ...
- 4,994
73
votes
9
answers
9k
views
What are "classical groups"?
Unlike many other terms in mathematics which have a universally understood meaning (for instance, "group"), the term classical group seems to have a fuzzier definition. Apparently it originates with ...
- 52.9k
72
votes
9
answers
18k
views
Is there a slick proof of the classification of finitely generated abelian groups?
One of the proofs that I've never felt very happy with is the classification of finitely generated abelian groups (which says an abelian group is basically uniquely the sum of cyclic groups of orders $...
- 44.7k
71
votes
28
answers
8k
views
Results from abstract algebra which look wrong (but are true)
There are many statements in abstract algebra, often asked by beginners, which are just too good to be true. For example, if $N$ is a normal subgroup of a group $G$, is $G/N$ isomorphic to a subgroup ...
71
votes
11
answers
9k
views
How to introduce notions of flat, projective and free modules?
In the coming spring semester I will be teaching for the first time an introductory (graduate) course in Commutative Algebra. As many people know, I have been plugging away for a while at this ...
- 65.4k
70
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Nontrivial finite group with trivial group homologies?
I stumbled across this question in a seminar-paper a long time ago:
Does there exist a positive integer $N$ such that if $G$ is a finite group with $\bigoplus_{i=1}^NH_i(G)=0$ then $G=\lbrace 1\...
- 17.5k
70
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Group cohomology and condensed matter
I am mystified by formulas that I find in the condensed matter literature
(see Symmetry protected topological orders and the group cohomology of their symmetry group arXiv:1106.4772v6 (pdf) by Chen, ...
- 1,369
69
votes
20
answers
19k
views
Fun applications of representations of finite groups
Are there some fun applications of the theory of representations of finite groups? I would like to have some examples that could be explained to a student who knows what is a finite group but does not ...
67
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Why can't a nonabelian group be 75% abelian?
This question asks for intuition, not a proof.
An earlier question,
Measures of non-abelian-ness
was thoroughly answered by Arturo Magidin.
A paper by Gustafson1
proves that, for a nonabelian group,
...
- 151k
67
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is there a 0-1 law for the theory of groups?
Several months ago, Dominik asked the question Is there a 0-1 law for the theory of groups? on mathstackexchange, but although his question received attention there is still no answer. By asking the ...
- 2,371
66
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Heuristic argument that finite simple groups _ought_ to be "classifiable"?
Obviously there exists a list of the finite simple groups, but why should it be a nice list, one that you can write down?
Solomon's AMS article goes some way toward a historical / technical ...
- 64k
66
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Normalizers in symmetric groups
Question: Let $G$ be a finite group. Is it true that there is a subgroup $U$ inside some symmetric group $S_n$, such that $N(U)/U$ is isomorphic to $G$? Here $N(U)$ is the normalizer of $U$ in $S_n$.
...
- 22.5k
65
votes
7
answers
14k
views
Is Thompson's Group F amenable?
Last year a paper on the arXiv (Akhmedov) claimed that Thompson's group $F$ is not amenable, while another paper, published in the journal "Infinite dimensional analysis, quantum probability, and ...
- 2,821
65
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Where are the second- (and third-)generation proofs of the classification of finite simple groups up to?
According the the Wikipedia page, the second generation proof is up to at least nine volumes: six by Gorenstein, Lyons and Solomon dated 1994-2005, two covering the quasithin business by Aschbacher ...
- 35.5k
64
votes
4
answers
8k
views
What is the current status of the Kaplansky zero-divisor conjecture for group rings?
Let $K$ be a field and $G$ a group. The so called zero-divisor conjecture for group rings asserts that the group ring $K[G]$ is a domain if and only if $G$ is a torsion-free group.
A couple of good ...
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