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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Infinite number of mistakes in a proof

Writing my Bachelors Thesis has opened my eyes to what seems to be a horrible paradox. I am turning my thesis in this Friday, and have been proof reading for weeks now. Every time I print my thesis, read it through with critical eyes or have someone…
utdiscant
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Which languages are preferable to study for a mathematician?

I am already fluent in portuguese and english, and I can also read spanish well. I have to read a text which is in french, and I'm having some difficulties. Knowing that there are a lot of people out there in the field of mathematics that are able…
Marra
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What material is good for extra-studying

I am an undergraduate Math student, i find the courses that I am in are too easy (calculus, linear algebra, Discrete math, logic). I want to become a successful mathematician. I want to know what material i should study by myself? Should I just do…
Lux
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Error function etymology: Why the name?

I've recently been introduced to the error function: $$\operatorname{erf}(z) =\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}\int_0^z e^{-t^2}dt$$ Naturally, I wondered about the origin of its name: The error of... what? I'm so used to uncertainty analysis in scientific…
zahbaz
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Recalling Proofs

When I am able to follow a proof presented in class or in a textbook, I usually can prove the same corollary or theorem a couple days later using the same arguments. But after a week of seeing the proof, I have no idea how I should prove it and get…
Student
  • 3,353
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The Big Book of Proof

Some time ago, I came across an anecdotal story about the "Big Book of Proofs" that God always keeps up in the heaven, which records valid proofs of all theorems in the world. A noted mathematician was quoted as saying that if he was to die…
A.Magnus
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Dependencies of various of areas of mathematics

Specifically, I want to learn category theory to improve my programming ability in Haskell, but it seems like that would be difficult without a knowledge of abstract algebra, and it seems that a solid understanding of linear algebra is useful to…
rlms
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What's so special about $\mathbb N$?

Through recursion, inversion, extension and all kinds of simple shenanigans the successor function leads to definitions of $+, \cdot, /, x^k, \exp, \sin, \partial, \int$ and other special functions. It seems to have uncanny utility. In particular,…
Karolis Juodelė
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Suggestions for high school?

I am currently a sophomore in high school who is very interested in mathematics and (theoretical) physics, and was wondering if the diverse set of mathematicians at MSE had any suggestions as to any self study texts I could read in order to enrich…
Juan Sebastian Lozano
  • 2,704
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Beside transcendental or uncomputable numbers what other types of numbers are there?

What other types/categories of numbers are there that we know of today (i.e. some one has done some work on them, like Chaitin's uncomputable $\Omega$ number)? Of course there are uncountably many types/categories of numbers (besides the trivial…
jimjim
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Are all numbers real numbers?

If I go into the woods and pick up two sticks and measure the ratio of their lengths, it is conceivable that I could only get a rational number, namely if the universe was composed of tiny lego bricks. It's also conceivable that I could get any real…
vittulainen
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Why is four dimensions more difficult?

Some time ago, a professor I know said that there are results in four dimensions that are harder to prove (for example, the Smooth Poincaré Conjecture, though I'm not specifically interested in it). Qualitatively, why and how can it be that in a…
WhiteLion
  • 465
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What drives you forward when you stuck?

I know that discrete Mathematics grows harder and harder with the progress. But sometimes my brain just seems to stop working even with the easiest material. (e.g. the mechanics behind rewriting linear maps into matrices) As an undergraduate…
李智修
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What does "working mathematician" mean?

What does "working mathematician" mean? Is this term derogatory? What properties of a "working mathematician" are considered undesirable, and what attitude contrasts them?
Aleksei Averchenko
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Ratio of time reading and solving

I am learning a lot of material on my own and I enjoying it but I have a constant problem: I really don't know how much time to spend actually reading theorems, corollaries and stuff and how much time to spend solving the exercises. I like both but…
Inquest
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