User Peter Shor

111 votes

What recent discoveries have amateur mathematicians made?

answered Oct 30, 2010 at 15:45

64 votes

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?

answered Jun 3, 2011 at 5:18

43 votes

Most intricate and most beautiful structures in mathematics

answered Dec 17, 2010 at 18:10

40 votes

Demonstrating that rigour is important

answered Sep 3, 2010 at 22:07

40 votes

How much reading do you do before you attack a problem?

answered Jul 23, 2010 at 16:13

39 votes

Accepted

Undecidability in Conway's Game of Life

answered Nov 9, 2010 at 0:02

37 votes

When should a result be made into a paper?

answered Oct 11, 2010 at 12:52

31 votes

Is there a version of inclusion/exclusion for vector spaces?

answered Mar 12, 2010 at 22:32

28 votes

What are the big problems in probability theory?

answered Aug 30, 2010 at 21:45

28 votes

Accepted

Is #k-XORSAT #P-complete?

answered Aug 14, 2010 at 19:49

28 votes

Undergraduate math research

answered Nov 12, 2010 at 23:39

28 votes

Mathematical "urban legends"

answered Jan 24, 2011 at 22:22

26 votes

Which mathematical ideas have done most to change history?

answered Mar 15, 2011 at 23:04

24 votes

Problems known to be in both NP and coNP, but not known to be in P

answered Jul 17, 2010 at 19:51

24 votes

Do names given to math concepts have a role in common mistakes by students?

answered Jul 19, 2010 at 1:41

23 votes

Noteworthy, but not so famous conjectures resolved recent years

answered Nov 23, 2020 at 21:02

20 votes

Accepted

Complete problems for randomized complexity classes

answered Aug 4, 2010 at 3:45

19 votes

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

answered Dec 3, 2009 at 23:52

18 votes

Accepted

Why do statistical randomness tests seem so ad hoc?

answered Sep 2, 2010 at 23:11

18 votes

Accepted

Quantum PCP Theorem

answered Nov 7, 2010 at 13:03

15 votes

Accepted

Are there any known quantum algorithms that clearly fall outside a few narrow classes?

answered Jul 28, 2010 at 4:16

15 votes

How do professional mathematicians learn new things?

answered Aug 3, 2010 at 4:11

14 votes

What are some slogans that express mathematical tricks?

answered Oct 1, 2010 at 15:47

14 votes

Accepted

Secret Santa (expected no of cycles in a random permutation)

answered Dec 21, 2010 at 17:17

13 votes

Accepted

Is a given point in the interior of the convex hull of a given finite collection of points?

answered Sep 17, 2013 at 20:17

13 votes

Most 'obvious' open problems in complexity theory

answered Aug 13, 2010 at 23:52

12 votes

Covering a circle with red and blue arcs

answered Jun 22, 2010 at 16:35

12 votes

Examples of non-rigorous but efficient mathematical methods in physics

answered Dec 13, 2010 at 3:33

11 votes

Accepted

Existence of unknowable algorithms ?

answered Apr 6, 2013 at 16:53

11 votes

Relativistic Cellular Automata

answered Nov 17, 2010 at 15:32

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70 Answers

What recent discoveries have amateur mathematicians made?

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?

Most intricate and most beautiful structures in mathematics

Demonstrating that rigour is important

How much reading do you do before you attack a problem?

Undecidability in Conway's Game of Life

When should a result be made into a paper?

Is there a version of inclusion/exclusion for vector spaces?

What are the big problems in probability theory?

Is #k-XORSAT #P-complete?

Undergraduate math research

Mathematical "urban legends"

Which mathematical ideas have done most to change history?

Problems known to be in both NP and coNP, but not known to be in P

Do names given to math concepts have a role in common mistakes by students?

Noteworthy, but not so famous conjectures resolved recent years

Complete problems for randomized complexity classes

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

Why do statistical randomness tests seem so ad hoc?

Quantum PCP Theorem

Are there any known quantum algorithms that clearly fall outside a few narrow classes?

How do professional mathematicians learn new things?

What are some slogans that express mathematical tricks?

Secret Santa (expected no of cycles in a random permutation)

Is a given point in the interior of the convex hull of a given finite collection of points?

Most 'obvious' open problems in complexity theory

Covering a circle with red and blue arcs

Examples of non-rigorous but efficient mathematical methods in physics

Existence of unknowable algorithms ?

Relativistic Cellular Automata