Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [soft-question]

For questions whose answers can't be objectively evaluated as correct or incorrect, but which are still relevant to this site. Please be specific about what you are after.

For questions whose answers cannot be objectively evaluated as correct or incorrect, but which are still relevant to mathematics.se.

12079 questions
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self studying advice on analysis

I am trying to learn analysis on my own but there are times when I can't solve the problem or I get the solution wrong after looking it up, but I will only look up the problems online after I am completely done trying the problems out. The solutions…
user60887
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Is there an easy way to get to a paper, given a citation?

This question isn't about math per se, but I hope it will be of general interest to people studying math so I feel reasonably comfortable asking here. Let me start with an example: Today I had the following citation from a paper: W. Hurewicz, On…
Daniel McLaury
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What is a technical argument (in contrast to a non-technical argument)?

I often see arguments referred to as "technical" but I'm not sure what that really means. Does it mean "unintuitive"? Or does it mean "tedious"? Or something else entirely? I have sometimes seen it used to contrast with an intuitive argument, but I…
dmh
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Study suggestions

I am a 16 year old high school student with too much free time. For the past two years I have been teaching myself university level maths in my free time. I have studied the basic first year subjects such as multivariable calculus, linear algebra…
hwood87
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How can I get better at math?

I am a high school junior taking calculus AB. What should I do to become the best I can at math? Can you suggest any books I should read, a list of problems I can do, etc.? Thanks
Ovi
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Is it okay if I am slow in reading math?

I am in final year of my undergraduate in mathematics from a prestigious institute for mathematics. However a thing that I have noticed is that I seem to be slower than my classmates in reading mathematics. As in, how muchever I try, I seem to…
Reader Manifold
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Not sure what to do with my math degree?

I have an issue I am not sure what to do with my math degree. I graduate from a state school almost a year ago with an M.S in Math yet I have struggled to find a job. This entire time I been tutoring. I have been thinking about the following jobs…
IhateCoding
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Soft Question: Can "invariants" always be defined without making a "specific" choice?

I fear that I might know far too little category theory to formulate this question more precisely, that why it is only a soft question: Give some mathematical object $A$, one can often assign to $A$ a numerical quantity $F(A) \in \mathbb R$ whose…
H1ghfiv3
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Soft question: Pursuing mathematics after medical school?

I know my question is opinion-based but I am desperate and do not know a better place to ask it really. I was in love with mathematics since high school and I was always very good at math and physics back then. But due to economic situations, I was…
Heptapod
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Is it okay that the objective of a math thesis is to give a new proof of old theorem?

In a math thesis, no matter it is in undergraduate or PhD, is it okay that the objective of a math thesis is to give a new proof of old theorem? Even though the new proof may be more complicated or lengthy than the original one. Is it valuable?
user584393
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Why are homomorphisms usually assumed to be functions?

A group homomorphism is usually defined to be a function $\phi$ such that if $x * y = z$, then $\phi x \times \phi y = \phi z$. However, this can be generalized. We could define that a group homomorphism is a relation $\phi$ such that if $x * y = z$…
goblin GONE
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How can One Generalize a Result?

Suppose we are trying to generalize some result, for example, a well known theorem or some theory. The generalization must improve the result in some way. What are the best tactics to do this? Let me try to explain it better: In the common way of…
Tomás
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What are some present day examples of mathematics that needs to be made rigorous?

Hundreds of years ago, calculus, while still very useful, lacked rigor. It was later made rigorous and put on a sound basis by Dedekind and others. Another example is intuitive set theory, which was made rigorous by Zermelo. Are there any present…
user107952
  • 20,508
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How does ring theory connects with analysis?

I'm student who is interested in analysis but now i'm taking some graduate algebra courses. I have to say that i enjoy a lot algebra especially ring theory. I would like a lot to find and study aspects in analysis combined with ring theory and…
Marios Gretsas
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two phds in math

If one gets a phd in math, is it able to be admitted to another phd program in math? It is not for me, for someone else.
abc
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