Talk:Main Page

Archive
I have moved everything up till now into Archive $17$.

Keep on truckin'. --prime mover (talk) 10:32, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

Looking for Algebra
I cannot find a variant of algebra defined in my source. Namely, it states that "An algebra is a vector space V in which an associative and distributive multiplication is defined". Do we have such a thing? Also, from Definition:Bilinear Mapping I can recover distribution, but not associativty ($(x \oplus y) \oplus z = x \oplus (y \oplus z)$). A disambiguation will be needed. --Julius (talk) 23:25, 13 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Have you seen this page? Definition:Algebra (Abstract Algebra) It looks like what you're talking about is an Definition:Associative Algebra. Is this right?


 * We use disambiguation if the same word is used for two completely different things. If what you're talking about *is* the same as an Definition:Associative Algebra, just that your work assumes associativity by default, then what you're looking to do is set up an "also known as" section, which we are now implementing as transclusions. --prime mover (talk) 06:23, 14 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I will map the details accordingly without introducing a new definition. Although, technically, the given definition involves only one operation. Shouldn't we say "associative wrt $\oplus$" if there are multiple (not necessarily associative) operations involved?


 * Another addition that is really needed is a simple proof that a vector space with a bilinear product is an algebra over field. A lot of books only bother with vector spaces, but we don't, so we should establish this link and save ourselves from reinventing the wheel.--Julius (talk) 11:28, 14 February 2023 (UTC)

Change in behaviour of double-click in "Edit source" tool
A few days ago I noticed that the behaviour of double-click has changed subtly in the "Edit source" tool.

Previously, if you had for example a string "Definition:Circle", and you double-clicked "Circle", the editor would pick up the whole string "Definition:Circle".

Then the other day the behaviour changed, and double-clicking on "Circle" picked up only "Circle". This was a brilliant enhancement, because it then made editing so much easier.

But now it's back the way it was. Clicking on a string with a colon in the middle of it picks up the entire string, colon and all.

How easy would it be to go back to the way we had it a few days ago, where the editor recognises the colon as being a word delimiter? --prime mover (talk) 08:02, 15 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Sorry -- ignore this. It's browser dependent. I had logged on using Google Chrome this morning. That one behaves so as to pick up the entire string, colon and all.


 * When I use Brave, which I usually do but not earlier, it picks up the part of the string either side of the colon, which is what I want.


 * So, as I say, no problem. --prime mover (talk) 08:37, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

Incoming opinions from scientists using Proofwiki
During the previous week I took liberty of reaching out to various people who, accoriding to Google Schoolar, used Proofwiki in one way or another. The rate of response is modest, but there are a few distinct recommendations. I will not display all of them here at once. Instead, comments about specific articles will land in their discussion pages, while here I will gradually present those concerning the website as a whole.--Julius (talk) 00:27, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

Failure to pay attention to house style
I'm considering deleting with extreme prejudice some of these recent pages which are contemptuously non-compliant. Come on, everyone else can pick up the rules, so can you. --prime mover (talk) 21:43, 9 March 2023 (UTC)


 * "Left-Truncatable Prime/Various Number Bases" was amazingly bad. Just a wall of numbers. No proof. No logic. No coherence. I am in favor of deleting nonsense. --Robkahn131 (talk) 23:38, 10 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Okay let's talk about this: should we feel obligated to provide webspace for research projects? Good to support such endeavours in the philosophical, but are we going to go so far as to allow people to decide they are going to use as their publishing platform? What's the consensus please, regulars? --prime mover (talk) 00:20, 12 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Too many contributors have put a great deal of time and energy into contributing something of value. Junk pages reflects poorly on all of us. I am in favor of holding each other accountable. All pages must adhere to house-style. If a page goes rogue and defines things differently, it should at least mention how the topic is defined elsewhere. --Robkahn131 (talk) 01:37, 12 March 2023 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure what openning up to original research would mean and how it might impact me. So far much of the original research put up on  has been questionable or non-compliant. And that is deflating. Like yourself, in principle I want to support original research, but originality can't be allowed to trump quality.


 * Then there is the question of using as a publishing platform for their work. This seems to be at odds with why most of us are contributing, which could become a source of conflict. --Leigh.Samphier (talk) 04:22, 12 March 2023 (UTC)


 * If you have reached the point where you are unable to give someone the benefit of the doubt that they are genuine then you have no choice but to delete the pages. If there is still some willingness to give them a small benefit of the doubt, then move the offending pages under the apropriate User: page. --Leigh.Samphier (talk) 04:22, 12 March 2023 (UTC)


 * It will be noted that I have temporarily blocked User:Richard47 as I am fed up of tidying up his non-compliant pages, most of which appear to be nothing but copypasta from OEIS and whatever other sources. The user a) has shown little willingness to write compliant pages, b) insists on asserting a non-standard definition of Definition:Minimal Prime because he "likes it", c) pastes up pages of unformatted lists of numbers with no attempt to justify their validity.
 * While there are one or two definitions raised of concepts that we currently have no record of, the effort of tidying them up for compliance is too tedious to be contemplated.
 * IMO it is not unreasonable to expect that a mathematician should be intelligent enough to be able to learn how to use this site, particularly when encouraged to do so repeatedly.
 * If anyone has any reservations about this, and are concerned that we may be cutting off a source of valuable content, then feel free to comment. --prime mover (talk) 09:42, 14 March 2023 (UTC)