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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How does this picture called?

Some time ago I saw this in my teacher's room. She called this picture in honor of some scientists (Lagrange,Lie or Liouville, or some other, but I don't remember). Please, name this picture. Thank you!
Dmytro
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Can I take cryptography after doing pure Mathematics $?$

This is not a mathematics problem . May be it's not appropriate to ask this here but I don't know anywhere else to go for advice . I have taken Pure Mathematics at the university and quite enjoying doing it . Since I was thinking about doing…
user80631
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Proof that something is undefined?

How can one tell the difference when the result is undefined or math just doesn't know how to provide a value for that particular equation? (the value still exists however) For example, how could one prove that by definition division by zero is…
user26649
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example of a function that could only be defined recursively

is there a function that can be proved is only defineable recursively? the converse seems to be trivially false, i.e. every iteritive function is trivially defined recursively with 0 for coefficients for antecedal terms, how ever can a function such…
jimjim
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Reverse mathematics in undergraduate program

This might be different from colleges to colleges, but anyway: Is reverse mathematics covered in usual undergraduate math programs? If so, how far is it covered? Just a curious question, as reverse mathematics seems something somehow different from…
user1894
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Good text suggest to abstract algebra and point set topology as well as metric space, or you may consider as introductory to topology

I am going to take courses about those topic. i want some text which is suitable for beginner and with some difficult example or questions.
Mathematics
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Nonlinear Programming and Linear Programming

Why would a nonlinear programming solver come p with a different solution than a linear programming solver if all the constraints are linear? Isn't a linear programming solver basically a "subset" of a nonlinear programming solver?
tobias jona
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General question about mathematical ideas

There are certain ideas in mathematics which, although very general, may easily be characterized. Some of these ideas are so important that they revolutionize more than one field. For example: The idea of looking for conserved quantities. This is…
Joe
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Has Weyl justified the terminology "Classical" to matrix groups?

In the theory of finite groups, the research is devoted to specific families of groups such as "nilpotent groups, solvable groups, matrix groups (or classical groups)", etc. Among these families, the groups of matrices like $GL_n$, $SL_n$, $U_n$,…
Groups
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Simple Proof in Pure Mathematics that has applicability

I'm writing a report on the philosophy of pure mathematical knowledge, and how pure mathematics isn't what people commonly consider it, as non-applied. I want to see if anyone has an example of, or can make up a simple mathematical…
hariq
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"Successful applications in engineering outpace mathematical rigor" - other way 'round?

I saw the above quote on Jeremy Kun's and it really hit a note with me. This was in the context of the Fourier transform, in that physicists were using it to discover elegant identities before there was a rigorous mathematical foundation for it. I…
bcf
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Is there a rigorous mathematical definition of "trivial"?

I have heard the words "trivial" and "non-trivial" a lot in reference to all sorts of mathematics. To give you an idea of what I mean, consider the following differential equation: $$(y'')^x-x^2y'+y^2=0$$ This differential equation most likely has…
Tdonut
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Dividing finite numbers by infinite numbers

I am no great mathematician but I have a question which I can't seem to find a answer for. How can one divide a finite by a infinite number? For example if you have a circle with a circumference of exactly 40 to get the diameter of that circle you…
Dan
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What is it like to understand complicated/advanced mathematics?

Whenever I see very complex equations, they look, in a way, beautiful even though I don't understand them. This was directly taken from another question: "- Definition 1 - Given an open subset $U \subset \mathbb{R}^n$, a smooth differential…
ZTqvhI5vpo
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What is your favorite estimation exercise?

A fun question I ask students or interviewees (in engineering) is: This is not my question, this is an example: Using only what you know now, how many cans of soda would you estimate are produced per day (on average) in the United…
Michael Haren
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