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{{Short description|Mathematics question and answer website}}
'''MathOverflow''' is a [[mathematics]] [[Comparison of Q&A sites|question-and-answer (Q&A) website]], which serves as an [[online community]] of [[mathematician]]s. It allows users to ask questions, submit answers, and rate both, all while getting merit points for their activities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/science/open-science-challenges-journal-tradition-with-web-collaboration.html|title=Cracking Open the Scientific Process|first=Thomas|last=Lin|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 16, 2012|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-date=May 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510145126/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/science/open-science-challenges-journal-tradition-with-web-collaboration.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It is a part of the [[Stack Exchange Network]], but distinct from [https://math.stackexchange.com math.stackexchange.com].
It is primarily for asking questions on mathematics research – i.e. related to [[List of unsolved problems in mathematics|unsolved problems]] and the extension of knowledge of mathematics into areas that are not yet known – and does not welcome requests from non-mathematicians for instruction, for example [[Homework|homework exercises]]. It does welcome various questions on other topics that might normally be discussed among mathematicians, for example about [[Academic publishing|publishing]], [[Peer review|refereeing]], [[Doctoral advisor|advising]], getting [[Tenure
== Origin and history ==▼
▲It is primarily for asking questions on mathematics research – i.e. related to [[List of unsolved problems in mathematics|unsolved problems]] and the extension of knowledge of mathematics into areas that are not yet known – and does not welcome requests from non-mathematicians for instruction, for example [[Homework|homework exercises]]. It does welcome various questions on other topics that might normally be discussed among mathematicians, for example about [[Academic publishing|publishing]], [[Peer review|refereeing]], [[Doctoral advisor|advising]], getting [[Tenure#Academic_tenure|tenure]], etc. It is generally inhospitable to questions perceived as tendentious or argumentative.
The website was started by [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]] graduate students and postdocs Anton Geraschenko, David Zureick-Brown, and Kim Morrison on 28 September 2009 based on the idea of Sándor Kovács's NSF CAREER Grant.<ref name=keller/> The hosting was supported by [[Ravi Vakil]].<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_15713739 |newspaper = [[The Mercury News]] |date = August 8, 2010 |title = Stanford and UC Berkeley create massively collaborative math |first = Lisa M. |last = Krieger |access-date = February 21, 2014 |archive-date = March 14, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314001737/http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_15713739 |url-status = live }}</ref> The site originally ran on a separate installation of the StackExchange 1.0 software engine; on June 25, 2013, it was integrated in the regular [[Stack Exchange Network]], running SE 2.0.<ref>{{cite web |title = Math Overflow 2.0 |url = http://aperiodical.com/2013/06/mathoverflow-2-0/ |author = Christian Perfect |work = The Aperiodical |date = 25 June 2013 |access-date = 19 February 2014 |archive-date = 1 July 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130701140607/http://aperiodical.com/2013/06/mathoverflow-2-0/ |url-status = live }}</ref>
▲== Origin ==
=== Naming ===
According to MathOverflow FAQ, the proper spelling is "MathOverflow" rather than "Math Overflow".
== Use of mathematical formulas ==
== Quotes ==▼
The original version of the website did not support [[LaTeX]] markup for mathematical formulas. To support most of the functionality of LaTeX, [[MathJax]] was added in order for the site to transform math equations into their appropriate forms. In its current state, any post including "Math Mode" (text between $'s) will translate into proper mathematical notation.
*[[Terence Tao]] characterized it as "venerable newsgroup ''sci.math'', but with more modern, '[[Web 2.0]]' features."<ref>[http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/math-overflow/ Math Overflow], Terence Tao blog, 20 October, 2009.</ref> ▼
*According to [[Gil Kalai]], MathOverflow "is ran [sic] by an energetic and impressive group of very (very very) young people".<ref>[http://gilkalai.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/math-overflow/ Math Overflow], Gil Kalai's blog, November 13, 2009.</ref> ▼
As of April 4, 2012, there were 16,496 registered users on MathOverflow,<ref name=MO>{{official website|http://www.mathoverflow.net}}</ref> most of whom were located in the United States (35%), India (12%), and the United Kingdom (6%). By December 11, 2018, the number of registered users had grown to 87,850.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.sharenator.com/w/mathoverflow.net |title = Sharenator MO Statistics |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://archive.today/20120909064947/http://www.sharenator.com/w/mathoverflow.net |archivedate = 2012-09-09 }}</ref> As of June 2019, 123,448 questions have been posted.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Newest Questions|url=https://mathoverflow.net/questions|access-date=2021-03-28|website=MathOverflow|archive-date=2021-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325051914/https://mathoverflow.net/questions|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Jordan Ellenberg]] comments that the website "offers a constantly changing array of new questions" and is "addictive" in a "particularly pure form", as he compares it to the [[Polymath Project]].<ref>[http://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/why-math-overflow-works-and-why-it-might-not/ Why Math Overflow works, and why it might not], Jordan Ellenberg's blog, 17 October, 2009.</ref> ▼
*Jared Keller in [[The Atlantic]] writes, "Math Overflow is almost an anti-social network, focused solely on productively addressing the problems posed by its users." He quotes Scott Morrison saying "Mathematicians as a whole are surprisingly skeptical of many aspects of the modern Internet... In particular, things like [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], etc. are viewed as enormous wastes of time."<ref>Jared Keller, [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/beyond-facebook-how-the-worlds-mathematicians-organize-online/63422/ Beyond Facebook: How the World's Mathematicians Organize Online], ''[[The Atlantic]]'', September 28, 2010.</ref>▼
In 2011, questions were answered an average of 3.9 hours after they were posted, and "Acceptable" answers took an average of 5.01 hours.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~dzb/slides/MO_slides.pdf |author = David Zureick-Brown |title = MathOverflow (presentation slides) |date = 29 March 2011 |access-date = 25 March 2013 |archive-date = 15 January 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150115110318/http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~dzb/slides/MO_slides.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref>
== Reception ==
▲* [[Terence Tao]]
* [[John C. Baez]] writes that "website 'Math Overflow' has become a universal clearinghouse for math questions".<ref>{{cite web |author = John C. Baez |url = https://www.ams.org/notices/201003/rtx100300333p.pdf |title = Math Blogs |journal = [[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]] |date = March 2010 |author-link = John C. Baez |page = 333 |volume = 57 |issue = 3 |access-date = 2021-04-28 |archive-date = 2021-05-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210508112359/https://www.ams.org/notices/201003/rtx100300333p.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref>
▲* According to [[Gil Kalai]], MathOverflow
▲* [[Jordan Ellenberg]] comments that the website "offers a constantly changing array of new questions" and is "addictive" in a "particularly pure form", as he compares it to the [[Polymath Project]].<ref>
▲* Jared Keller in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' writes
== See also ==
* [[nLab]]
* [[PhysicsOverflow]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
*{{cite conference
| last1 = Tausczik | first1 = Yla R.
| last2 = Kittur | first2 = Aniket
| last3 = Kraut | first3 = Robert E.
| contribution = Collaborative Problem Solving: A Study of MathOverflow
| doi = 10.1145/2531602.2531690
| isbn = 978-1-4503-2540-0
| ___location = New York, NY, USA
| pages = 355–367
| publisher = ACM
| title = Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '14), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| year = 2014}}
*{{cite conference
| last1 = Montoya | first1 = Leydi Viviana
| last2 = Ma | first2 = Athen
| last3 = Mondragón | first3 = Raúl J.
| editor1-last = Ghoshal | editor1-first = Gourab
| editor2-last = Poncela-Casasnovas | editor2-first = Julia
| editor3-last = Tolksdorf | editor3-first = Robert
| contribution = Social Achievement and Centrality in MathOverflow
| doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-36844-8_3
| ___location = Berlin and Heidelberg
| pages = 27–38
| publisher = Springer
| title = Complex Networks IV: Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Complex Networks (CompleNet 2013)
| year = 2013}}
*{{cite conference
| last1 = Martin | first1 = Ursula
| last2 = Pease | first2 = Alison
| editor1-last = Carette | editor1-first = Jacques
| editor2-last = Aspinall | editor2-first = David
| editor3-last = Lange | editor3-first = Christoph
| editor4-last = Sojka | editor4-first = Petr
| editor5-last = Windsteiger | editor5-first = Wolfgang
| contribution = Mathematical Practice, Crowdsourcing, and Social Machines
| doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-39320-4_7
| ___location = Berlin and Heidelberg
| pages = 98–119
| publisher = Springer
| series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science
| title = Intelligent Computer Mathematics: MKM, Calculemus, DML, and Systems and Projects 2013, Held as Part of the International Conference on Intelligent Computer Mathematics (CICM 2013), Bath, UK, July 8-12, 2013, Proceedings
| volume = 7961
| year = 2013| arxiv = 1305.0900
}}
== External links ==
* {{official website}}
* {{cite web |url = https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/03/podcast-86/ |title = Podcast #86 |date = 23 March 2010 |publisher = Stack Exchange Blog }} — podcast with [[Joel Spolsky]] and [[Jeff Atwood]] (creators of Stack Exchange) and Anton Geraschenko (creator of MathOverflow).
{{Fog Creek Software}}
[[Category:Mathematics websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2009]]
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