All Questions
542 questions
21
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What should be taught in a 1st course on Riemann Surfaces?
I am teaching a topics course on Riemann Surfaces/Algebraic Curves next term. The course is aimed at 1st and 2nd year US graduate students who have have taken basic coursework in algebra and manifold ...
- 3,284
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are the Dynkin diagrams E6, E7 and E8 always drawn the way they are drawn?
The Dynkin diagrams of type ADE are ubiquitous in mathematics as solutions of various classification problems. The diagram E6 is usually drawn by five dots in a row with a sixth dot above the third, ...
- 61
16
votes
9
answers
4k
views
How to motivate the skein relations?
I am teaching an advanced undergraduate class on topology. We are doing introductory knot theory at the moment. One of my students asked how do we know to use this skein relation to compute all these ...
- 30.5k
40
votes
16
answers
11k
views
"Homotopy-first" courses in algebraic topology
A first course in algebraic topology, at least the ones I'm familiar with, generally gets students to a point where they can calculate homology right away. Building the theory behind it is generally ...
14
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Mathematical symbols, their pronunciations, and what they denote: Does a comprehensive ordered list exist?
Often, certain symbols in mathematics denote different things in different fields. Is there any sort of ordered list that will tell you what a certain symbol means in alphabetical order by the symbol'...
- 19.6k
63
votes
22
answers
44k
views
What are the worst notations, in your opinion? [closed]
With which notation do you feel uncomfortable?
16
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Metric on one-point compactification
Is there a standard construction of a metric on one-point compactification of a proper metric space?
Comments:
A metric space is proper if all bounded closed sets are compact.
Standard means found in ...
- 45k
2
votes
2
answers
465
views
When forcing with a poset, why do we order the poset in the order that we do?
In forcing, we take a collection of forcing conditions and impose a partial order on them. The convention is that if $p$ is stronger than $q$, then we say $p < q$. This is perfectly fine, but it ...
- 1,793
2
votes
1
answer
897
views
Text/structure for an analysis course for students with pre-existing understanding of some applied aspects of analysis
Greetings,
I'm teaching a one-off course (perhaps never to be repeated) in a curriculum that's in transition, and I'm looking for advice on a textbook, or stories from people who have taught similar ...
8
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to teach introductory statistic course to students with little math background?
Next semester I will teach an elementary statistic course for the first time (which I am actually quite excited about). A brief description can be found here. I am told to expect very little math ...
12
votes
1
answer
775
views
Teaching Methods and Evaluating them
Hey,
As a lowly graduate student, I'm on a committee (I'm not sure how important my role really is) trying to evaluate how effective different approaches teaching undergraduates. We are looking at ...
2
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Undergraduate Derivation of Fundamental Solution to Heat Equation
It is well known that the 1-dimensional heat equation $$\frac{\partial}{\partial t} u(x,t)=a\cdot\frac{\partial^2}{\partial x^2} {u(x,t)}$$ has the fundamental solution $$K(x,t)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{4\pi a ...
- 5,935
28
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why is "h" the notation for class numbers?
A student asked me why $\mathcal{O}_K$ is the notation used for the ring of integers in a number field $K$ and why $h$ is the notation for class numbers. I was able to tell him the origin of $\...
- 50.6k
51
votes
6
answers
5k
views
What does it take to run a good learning seminar?
I'm thinking about running a graduate student seminar in the summer. Having both organized and participated in such seminars in the past, I have witnessed first-hand that, contrary to what one might ...
18
votes
12
answers
10k
views
Looking for an introductory textbook on algebraic geometry for an undergraduate lecture course
I am now supposed to organize a tiny lecture course on algebraic geometry for undergraduate students who have an interest in this subject.
I wonder whether there are some basic algebraic geometry ...
17
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Bourbaki's epsilon-calculus notation
Bourbaki used a very very strange notation for the epsilon-calculus consisting of $\tau$s and $\blacksquare$. In fact, that box should not be filled in, but for some reason, I can't produce a \Box.
...
- 19.6k
1
vote
2
answers
865
views
Cayley-Dickson form of a quaternion
It is known that using the Cayley-Dickson construction a quaternion $q$ can be written in a symplectic form as $q=x+\mathbf{i}y$ with $x,y \in \mathbb{C}$.
I read in a couple of references that $x$ is ...
- 177
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Maximal Ellipsoid
John's Theorem can be stated as "To every compact, convex body, there is a unique inscribed ellipsoid, whose volume is maximal among all inscribed ellipsoids." It goes on to classify this maximal ...
- 1,588
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 ...
3
votes
1
answer
977
views
Notation for "the inclusion map is a homotopy equivalence"
It's sometimes convenient to have different notations for "$A$ is a subset of $B$" depending on what the inclusion map does:
If it's non-surjective, $A\subsetneq B$ or $A\subset B$, depending on your ...
16
votes
12
answers
10k
views
How seriously should a graduate student take teaching evaluations? [closed]
Pretty much the question in the title. If a grad student gets bad reviews as a TA, how much does that hurt them later? How much do good reviews help? What if the situation is more complex? (For ...
21
votes
5
answers
38k
views
What does ! above = mean [closed]
Can someone please explain what the symbol $\stackrel{!}{=}$, consisting of an exclamation mark (!) above an equals sign (=) means? Below is the example I'm trying to decipher:
The normalization ...
- 329
14
votes
1
answer
961
views
Founding of homological without quite involving derived categories
I am looking at the foundations of homological algebra, e.g. the introduction
of Ext and Tor, and am unsatisfied. The references I look at start with
"this is called a projective module, this is ...
- 27.9k
9
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Notation for eventually less than
Is there some existing notation for
\[f(n)\leq g(n)\] for sufficiently large n
Apart from just writing that itself?
I'm thinking of something compact like the ...
- 7,013
45
votes
10
answers
4k
views
effective teaching
Eric Mazur has a wonderful video describing how physics is taught at many universities and his description applies word for word to the way I learned mathematics and the way it is still being taught, ...
32
votes
7
answers
71k
views
Notation for the all-ones vector [closed]
What's the most common way of writing the all-ones vector, that is, the vector, when projected onto each standard basis vector of a given vector space, having length one? The zero vector is frequently ...
- 439
23
votes
13
answers
7k
views
Pedagogical question about linear algebra
Last semester I taught a linear algebra class that is intended to introduce young students (at a sophmore-junior level) to "abstract mathematics". It seems that a major conceptual hurdle for many of ...
23
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Curriculum reform success stories at an "average" research university
Greetings all,
There's a never-ending story that many of us have sunk our teeth into. How do we go about teaching subjects like calculus and analysis "well?" Most universities that I'm familiar ...
32
votes
22
answers
9k
views
Origins of Mathematical Symbols/Names
I'm not sure if this has been asked. I'll explain the question by an example.
Fields are often denoted by the letter k, which comes from the German word Körper, meaning body (like corpse, corporeal).
...
6
votes
2
answers
945
views
Notation/name for "Artin-Schreier roots"?
If x is an element of a field K and n is a positive integer, we have both a symbol and a name for a root of the polynomial t^n - x = 0: we denote it by x^{1/n} and call it an nth root of x.
Of course ...
- 65.4k
0
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How to teach addition of negative numbers? [closed]
I have a friend with dyscalculia and was teaching her some some mathematics (namely, solving a linear equation, simplifying certain expressions, and what (affine linear) functions are).
She ...
- 648
26
votes
18
answers
34k
views
Undergraduate differential geometry texts
Can anyone suggest any basic undergraduate differential geometry texts on the same level as Manfredo do Carmo's Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces other than that particular one?
(I know a ...
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 ...
33
votes
11
answers
13k
views
Lecture notes on representations of finite groups
Next term I am supposed to teach a course on representation of finite groups. This is a third year course for undegrads. I was thinking to use the book of Grodon James and Martin Liebeck "...
42
votes
11
answers
17k
views
Blackboard rendering of math fonts
I learned most of my math font rendering from watching others (for example, I draw ζ terribly). In most cases it is passable, but I'm often uncomfortable using fonts like Fraktur on the board. ...
- 52.7k
2
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Examples of random variables
I'm looking for a list of examples of random variables to use in teaching a measure-theoretic probability course. For example, the Rademacher functions are an explicit construction of independent ...
- 5,227
9
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Where can I find questions motivating important ideas in math?
I would like questions that demonstrate why a mathematical tool or technique is useful, and which can be used to introduce that idea. Ideally, this would be a compilation of problems organized by the ...
17
votes
10
answers
109k
views
What are the qualities of a good (math) teacher? [closed]
In forming your answer you may treat the qualifier math or maths as optional, since part of the question is whether there is anything peculiar to the subject of mathematics that demands anything ...
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Math History Question about the exponential function
While tutoring a student recently, I have come across the situation of explain logarithms by first introducing functions of the form $$f(x)= a^x$$ where $a \ge 0,x\in \mathbb{R}$. My student then ...
- 297
2
votes
0
answers
526
views
How much of math could be taught without using mathematical notation? [closed]
Given that mathematics is not about number, and that it is not even about the cryptic notation used to describe mathematical problems, how much of mathematics could be taught without reference to ...
22
votes
13
answers
8k
views
Category theory sans (much) motivation?
So I have a friend (no, really) who's taking algebra and is struggling to gain intuition for it. My story is as follows: I used to hate abstract algebra, with pretty much a burning passion, until I ...
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 ...