Portal talk:Mathematics/Archive2014

Discrepancy
Number 30 seems to say the same thing as number 40. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.64.236.234 (talk) 15:17, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry, I haven't been able to work out what you mean here. Number 30 and number 40 of what? -- John of Reading (talk) 15:29, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Red error messages on equations using \begin{aligned}
Example

Failed to parse(unknown function '\begin'): {\begin{aligned}\sigma &={\sqrt {\operatorname E[(X-\mu )^{2}]}}\\&={\sqrt {\operatorname E[X^{2}]+\operatorname E[(-2\mu X)]+\operatorname E[\mu ^{2}]}}={\sqrt {\operatorname E[X^{2}]-2\mu \operatorname E[X]+\mu ^{2}}}\\&={\sqrt {\operatorname E[X^{2}]-2\mu ^{2}+\mu ^{2}}}={\sqrt {\operatorname E[X^{2}]-\mu ^{2}}}\\&={\sqrt {\operatorname E[X^{2}]-(\operatorname E[X])^{2}}}\end{aligned}}

Noticed this on many pages now, [|Standard_deviation] for example. Seems to be on history as well. Suspect something has changed at a lower level and broken this. Tried on various versions of firefox, chrome and IE. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.99.20.5 (talk) 08:07, 8 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The main discussion about this seems to be at WP:VPT. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:44, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Change to selected picture
Unless someone strongly objects, I plan to change Portal:Mathematics on Feb. 28th to start using the new Selected picture infrastructure I've been working on. This will mirror the change from Article of the Week to Selected article made back in 2007, as discussed (more or less) above. New pictures can still be added to the list at Portal:Mathematics/Selected picture. I'm not sure if there's an easy way to prevent the selected article and selected picture from being on the same topic (other than just preventing the mere existence of duplicates, which doesn't seem like a good solution). It might not be worth worrying about, since the probability of duplicates might be acceptably low (I'll calculate it later), especially as more pictures are added to the pool (I've only added 18 so far, because I'm greatly expanding the descriptions of the images as I do so). - dcljr (talk) 21:57, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Oops. Forgot to do this. Will do soon... - dcljr (talk) 01:22, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
 * OK, it's now live. If you think the page is no longer balanced, be sure to check after several page reloads. I've tried to pick a "happy medium" value for the number of DYKs (currently 6) to balance the columns "on the average". Will be adding more images to the pool from time to time. - dcljr (talk) 02:00, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Request for help
Hey, Math Portal, I just reverted some edits at Curve that didn't look constructive. But this article doesn't get a lot of views and I'd like it if someone who had more familiarity with geometry than me (i.e. my sophomore year in high school) could confirm that these deletions of text were not an improvement. Thanks! Liz Read! Talk! 22:58, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Capitalization of theorem titles
I started a conversation at Wikipedia Village Pump (misc):Capitalization of theorem titles before it occurred to me it would probably be more appropriate here. I'd appreciate input. --Yoda of Borg (✉) 02:35, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
 * You might get more traffic at Wt:WPM. Thenub314 (talk) 03:47, 24 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks. ... I guess I've never explicitly heard of a WikiProject before, and didn't know they were different from portals. --Yoda of Borg (✉) 03:57, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

Want solution
DearSir, Please resolve the problem below... 2sin2∅+2cos2∅ find the shortest value — Preceding unsigned comment added by Parthibdasgupta1998 (talk • contribs) 16:26, 11 May 2014 (UTC)
 * you should ask at the reference desk, which is at Reference desk/Mathematics. This page is only for discussion of the Maths portal.-- JohnBlackburne wordsdeeds 16:45, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 June 2014
223.196.130.148 (talk) 09:41, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

Mathematics is the study of numbers, quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take years or even centuries of sustained inquiry. However, mathematical proofs are less formal and painstaking than proofs in mathematical logic. Since the pioneering work of Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932), David Hilbert (1862–1943), and others on axiomatic systems in the late 19th century, it has become customary to view mathematical research as establishing truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions. When those mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning often provides insight or predictions.

Through the use of abstraction and logical reasoning, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects. Practical mathematics has been a human activity for as far back as written records exist. Rigorous arguments first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclid's Elements. Mathematics developed at a relatively slow pace until the Renaissance, when mathematical innovations interacting with new scientific discoveries led to a rapid increase in the rate of mathematical discovery that continues to the present day.

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) said, "The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth". Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences". The mathematician Benjamin Peirce (1809–1880) called the discipline, "the science that draws necessary conclusions". David Hilbert said of it: "We are not speaking here of arbitrariness in any sense. Mathematics is not like a game whose tasks are determined by arbitrarily stipulated rules. Rather, it is a conceptual system possessing internal necessity that can only be so and by no means otherwise." Albert Einstein (1879–1955) stated that "as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality".

Mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, and the social sciences. Applied mathematics, the branch of mathematics concerned with application of mathematical knowledge to other fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics and game theory. Mathematicians also engage in pure mathematics, or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind. There is no clear line separating pure and applied mathematics, and practical applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered. Selected article | Selected picture | Did you know... | Topics in mathematics Categories | WikiProjects | Things you can do | Index | Related portals

''There are approximately mathematics articles in Wikipedia.
 * Note. A list of images for this introduction is at Portal:Mathematics/Intro/Image.

♥$♥


 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: As far as I can see, the only change you are proposing is that the characters "♥$♥" are to be added at the end. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:00, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

Requested plot
Can someone provide a couple of plots to the Generalised hyperbolic distribution article in the same spirit of to the stable distribution article?Lbertolotti (talk) 18:19, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Requested Image
Can someone add some examples of self-affinity (but not self-similarity) to the self-affinity article?Lbertolotti (talk) 22:15, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 November 2014
I would like to fix it because I need to for school.

199.120.116.79 (talk) 00:10, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
 * ❌. You need to be much more specific, and say exactly what change you want made. If you want to be able to edit more freely without asking then get an account, which has many other benefits.-- JohnBlackburne wordsdeeds 00:32, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 December 2014
NK JHA MATHS (talk) 17:56, 21 December 2014 (UTC)Respected Sir/Madam ......I am not satisfied with the definition of mathematics because the definition means.....the statement by which everybody can understands the meaning of thsame easily and clearly. If you give me a chance ....then I will try my best for those who are interested in mathematics because my ambition is to be a mathematician. Thanking You..... NK JHA
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Cannolis (talk) 18:13, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Featured pictures discussion
It seems ridiculous to have two languages to describe things,maths and the vernacular. Nouns are sets in space and verbs are sets in time,this explains why verbs have past present and future tenses and nouns do not. The distinction is made in the retina by the stellate retinal ganglion cells which fire when the image moves across their dendritic field,since all men have this arrangement it explains why all languages have nouns and verbs. As Aristotle said all knowledge is A is B,nouns and verbs,that is all you need. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.135.250.238 (talk) 2 December 2005


 * Riiiight. - dcljr (talk) 08:04, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Needs more Mandelbrot. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.210.254.133 (talk) 21:14, 18 June 2011 (UTC)


 * On the contrary, I think fractal images have been overrepresented here. The Mandelbrot set is to this feature what "antidisestablishmentarianism" is to Wiktionary's Word of the Day. There are so many different areas of mathematics, we need to "mix it up" more... (Unless you were being sarcastic. :) - dcljr (talk) 23:57, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Switch to selected-picture format
I plan to switch from this "monthly queue" method of featuring images to a new "random selection" format at the end of this month. See Portal talk:Mathematics for more information. - dcljr (talk) 21:57, 19 February 2014 (UTC)