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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Amusing variations on difficult problems

I'll start with an example of what I mean. Everyone is familiar with Fermat's Last Theorem: $$a^n + b^n ≠ c^n \text{for $n > 2$}$$ A while ago (while reading Gödel, Escher, Bach) I encountered the following amusing equation: $$n^a + n^b ≠…
GregRos
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What are the "real math" connections between Euclidean Geometry and Complex Numbers?

Some background: I am a high school student and I am very interested in math. I have done a lot of the extracurricular learning I have done is through doing math problems from various competitions, whether that be the Crux Mathematicorum or the…
MT_
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Publishing mathematics content in a blog

I would like just to publish few math-related blog entries on blog.com. For drawing and animation, I can use pictures (for animation, they would be animated gifs). However, what to do with equation, and similar content? Note that blog editors offer…
VividD
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Why most of the continuous transforms are based on integral operator?

I am curious about why most of the continuous transforms, for instance fourier/ Laplace are based on integral operator? OR, In other words, why integral operator provides the "best" correlation between two functions? Thanks
kaka
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Advice on getting first paper reviewed

I am an amateur mathematician, and have written my first paper. How would I go about getting it reviewed / published? I have absolutely experience of what journals might expect, and do not know any mathematicians. I do not know which journals are…
martin
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Can one write a PhD thesis before going into a PhD progam?

Let's say I write a PhD thesis by looking at papers on arxiv. Can I use this as my PhD thesis one I enter into the program? In other words, can you write a PhD thesis before going to graduate school? Note. I took a year off and did intensive study.…
Ross Ton
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Status of videos from the Arf-Kervaire invariant problem conference at MSRI

This is not a real maths question (math-related though). A couple of years ago Mike Hill, Mike Hopkins and Doug Ravenel solved the Arf-Kervaire invariant problem. There was a conference at the MSRI about that (see…
Willem Noorduin
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What are some strategies to come up with exercises?

Like many programming books, there are mathematics books which do not provide exercises. Although similar in theory, how can I come up with exercises that will help illuminate a subject? The difference here is that when I pick up a programming book,…
user1876508
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Soft question. Why do concrete problems motivate abstract theory?

From what I learnt, I found that mathematicians develop abstract theory often in order to solve concrete, classical problems. For example, I read that ideals were introduced to solve problems in number theory, and that functional analysis was…
Spook
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What is the connection between Chinese remainder theorem and Lagrange interpolation?

In Surprising Generalizations, it is mentioned that Chinese remainder theorem and Lagrange interpolation are specific instances of the same thing, my question is what is their common generalisation/abstraction ? Thank you PS : Should there be a…
jimjim
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What programs do mathematician use to input mathematics?

I am starting a graduate class this fall that requires our work to be typed and printed. My question is what is the standard application/site/way to do this? I am fairly used to $\LaTeX$ thanks to this site, but I don't exactly know how to get a…
Pax
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Possible Research Topics for High School

I am a highschool student some experience with Math Olympiads and I will be taking a Scientific Research class next year. I would like to ask for interesting Mathematics topics that I could consider - I have tried going online for possible research…
MatheMazier
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Masters in mathematics with bachelors in different subject

I have a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering, and I'm fairly interested in discrete mathematics, is it possible to study masters in mathematics? If so would it be worth pursing it?
Rnet
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In mathematical reasoning what are usefulness and efficiency?

I am reading about mathematical reasoning in proofs, and the author, Terence Tao, speaks about usefulness and efficiency in proofs. He states that Being true is different from being efficient. For instance the statement $2 = 2$ is true, but…
GirnarTea
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Is it important to be able to remember all proofs in my course?

I am following the course materials for module Pure mathematics from Open university. It includes a significant number of proofs. While I mostly understand the proofs. I forget the details about 5 minutes after reading a proof. My question is this:…
Adam
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