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I'm not sure if this the correct place to post this question, so if anyone knows of a better site, let me know! =)

I'm sure anyone who does mathematical research asks whether or not someone has published a result on a problem that you are currently working on. Does anyone know of databases that allow for one to search for all articles or authors that have worked on the problem? Specifically, are there any databases that are designed with mathematics papers in mind?

I've tried resources like Google Scholar, but I am curious about how professional mathematicians go about determining if the problem they are working on has already been solved.

Thank you!

J. Dunivin
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Does anyone know of databases that allow for one to search for all articles or authors that have worked on the problem?

Yes, you can search all the published papers. There isn't any more structured way to do so, because it's typically not trivial to say if two problems are in fact the same problem. Humans usually can do that, but machines cannot, so you cannot have machine do the search for you.

If Google search yields no results, typically one asks people in the field if they know anything about this particular problem. If you are doing mathematical research in some given area, you do so usually because your advisor suggested it to you, you got interested by someone's presentation at research seminar, or saw interesting paper. All of these provide avenue to get in touch with people in the field, and get their thoughts about the status of some question.

xyzzyz
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