Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mathematics/Archive/2014/Sep

τ=2π in the FAQ
I never heard of this. Is it even something worth including in the FAQ? JMP EAX (talk) 22:40, 3 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Search this page's archives for tau and you will see many discussions over the years. After doing so, perhaps you will become a Tauist. --Mark viking (talk) 22:52, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I see. By the way, there's an article that has been stuck in draftland for a couple of years: Draft:Tau (Proposed mathematical constant). JMP EAX (talk) 00:50, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Discussion notification
I have posted a request to change the URL for Zentralblatt MATH linked to from WP templates and modules from HTTP to HTTPS. Please feel free to comment there.  It Is Me Here  t /  c  16:03, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Edward Nelson dead?
An anonymous editor has edited Edward Nelson to claim that he is no longer with us. I am very sorry to hear this, if true &mdash; he was my favorite ultrafinitist, by a lot. I corresponded with him briefly at one point while I was in grad school. Can anyone confirm or refute? --Trovatore (talk) 01:49, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


 * http://www.math.princeton.edu/news/home-page/professor-emeritus-edward-nelson-passed-away-september-10th. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:33, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Taylor series in several variables section
First formula - shouldn't there be a factorial of the sum of indexes instead of the product of factorials of all indexes? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.104.183.88 (talk) 11:48, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


 * See Talk:Taylor series.  Sławomir Biały  (talk) 12:06, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


 * To 78.104.183.88: No. When differentiating with respect to one variable, the others are held constant. So only the exponent of the one variable is brought down and needs to be cancelled out. JRSpriggs (talk) 12:29, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

List of mathematical shapes
ALERT, has been greatly expanded by 300kB this month, by users occupying IP ranges 99.xxx.xxx.xxx and 108.xxx.xxx.xxx who have also been reverting each other. Some of the new additions are not mathematical shapes at all, and a proposal to rename the page exists at talk:List of mathematical shapes. Up until this rash of activity it was only 2.5kB large -- 70.51.46.146 (talk) 05:18, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Problem at Ramsey theory
Could use more eyes at Ramsey theory. An editor has been putting in unpublished (look carefully at the references) new results and has been reverted three times now. Bill Cherowitzo (talk) 04:03, 23 September 2014 (UTC)
 * You mean Ramsey's theorem. I have applied temporary semiprotection to encourage the IP and the new editor to work for consensus. So far nobody has used the article talk page. EdJohnston (talk) 04:13, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Suren Arakelov
Can anyone point to a reliable source for his biographical details? In particular, is there any support for the assertion that he is of Armenian descent? The article currently has no references that give anything about him personally, as opposed to Arakelov theory, and if nothing emerges then the article may have to be deleted on BLP and general notability grounds. Deltahedron (talk) 15:28, 28 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Interesting case. This compilation of information about people whose names are embedded in Math Subject Classifcation has a good bit of information about him distributed through the document. It was compiled by Dave Rusin. It looks to have good information, but isn't a peer-reviewed document. --Mark viking (talk) 18:37, 28 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I saw that too, it's linked from the Russian-language version. I can't see that being a reliable source: it's effectively a personal blog quoting personal emails.  I'm certainly not going to include assertions of mental illness based on that.  Deltahedron (talk) 18:54, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

Unsourced material at Midy's theorem
Somebody restored unsourced material at Midy's theorem here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Midy%27s_theorem&oldid=prev&diff=626394495 on the grounds that "this is referred to in other places in article". More precisely, the material derives from an unpublished 2005 article in a pdf at a personal homepage. If this has been published in the meantime by all means we can use this, but otherwise it seems more reasonable to remove these mentions "in other places in article". Tkuvho (talk) 10:22, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
 * This reference may be helpful.  Deltahedron (talk) 10:46, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
 * This published article by Ross is certainly a fine source if it proves the relevant generalization of Midy's theorem. Why should the page rely on an unpublished pdf from a homepage rather than a published article by Ross? Tkuvho (talk) 11:08, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I restored the section headed "Extended Midy's theorem" because it had been excised without considering the rest of the article. As a result, the following section, which starts "Midy's theorem and its extension ...", could have left the casual reader baflled as to what the "extension" part refered to. There are further references to the extended theorem in the "Proof" section of the article. If we now have a better source for the extension, then certainly go ahead and add it to the article (I can only see a preview of the Ross article on JSTOR, so I am not clear whether this covers the extended theorem or not). Gandalf61 (talk) 14:23, 29 September 2014 (UTC)