Erdős: Mathematical problems | Hacker News Reader

Erdős: Mathematical problems

erdos.sdslabs.co

73 pointsabhshkdz24 comments

I can't see an "about" section. I assume that this is a Project Euler alternative, and that solutions should be arrived at as the output of a computer program, proof unnecessary (as opposed to, say a math contest, where no computer assistance is permitted)?

Yes, that is exactly what it is. I'll create an 'about' section soon. Thanks :)

EDIT: http://erdos.sdslabs.co/about

Problems should be arrived at by computer? Some of these are very much non-computational, at least from a mathematician's point of view. For example http://erdos.sdslabs.co/problems/45 for which the answer is immediate if you understand the dynamics of irrational rotations.

Not necessarily, like you rightly pointed out. Some require computation. while others can be worked out by hand.

And technically this is the case for Project Euler as well, they even discuss it explicitly.

For those unfamiliar with Erdős --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s

-- he was a very prolific mathematician whose dedication to his craft was such that he became a vagabond with no home of his own, moving from place to place, living with people who welcomed his visits, offering out-of-pocket rewards for the solution of problems he posed, and remaining very productive for his entire life.

Not unlike one's Bacon number, the number an actor receives by working with Kevin Bacon (1), or working with an actor who in turn worked with Kevin Bacon (2), mathematicians have an Erdős number, based on whether one is a co-author with Erdős (1) or is the co-author of a paper along with someone who is a co-author with Erdős (2), etc..

BTW his name is pronounced like "air-dish":

http://pronouncemath.blogspot.com/2013/04/paul-erdos-pronunc...

Which brings us to those rare individuals who hold an Erdős-Bacon-Sabbath number.

http://erdosbaconsabbath.com/the-list/

Please get the name right in the logo. The letters ö and ő are not the same.

Sorry about that. We'll fix it soon.

Oh ho ho. I found a problem! Sign in with {Google+, Facebook, Twitter}. I'd like to use none of those, please, and still interact with your site. G'night.

Yes. It'll be there soon. Thanks. :)

Perhaps the NSA can provide an NSA+ Login Service. Things would be much more efficient that way.

I like the idea (in fact, I used to be pretty serious about solving problems on project Euler and other such sites) but I think it is misnamed. Erdos was all about proofs not computations. If you made the questions require proofs of general theorems, not "mere computations" then you would really have something different and cool, and appropriately named. Unfortunately, Coq is about as good as it gets when it comes to writing proofs a computer can check, and that would be no fun for anyone. I can't speak for Erdos of course, but I suspect that he would not want his name attached to such a product. He really was all about proofs.

I disagree about Coq. I think a well-curated Project Coq would be delightful. Proving can be a lot of fun.

:) Well, I may have overstated it a bit with "no one." You and I would like it. But Coq, as cool as it is, is definitely not as accessible as say, python.

I doubt there would be sufficient interest in a website with problems like "Prove the sqrt(2) is irrational with coq."

The "feedback and support" widget you are using destroys the usability of your site on mobile. For some problems with short descriptions, the widget obscures the last couple letters on each line of text, making it unreadable. And, since it is floating, it follows the user down the page, obscuring the text everywhere.

Not really on topic, but anyway… I can see 48 problems in "Latest Problems" section — from 1 to 48 inclusive, yet there are "47 unsolved" and "0 solved" (that is total of 47) problems on the left of the screen. Why so? Edited: oh, there's no 43d one.

Bingo, there was some discrepancy, so we had to take #43 off.

I love the application and the design! Is there a way to subscribe so as to be informed of 'new' competitions?

Minor things - * Would love to go read 'about' the app * Add activity to top menu as well * Possibly change 'Users' to ranklist!

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

* About the app: http://erdos.sdslabs.co/about * Added 'Activity' to topbar.

Subscription to new problems is a cool idea. I'll add it to my to-do list.

What's with the South Park references? That part seemed out of place to me.

Two words: Project Euler.

What's your point? Most of us who like math know about project euler and the various online judges. As I see it, the more such sites, the more the variety of problems to solve and that's a good thing.

My point is that a proper name for this particular rip-off would be Project Ramanujan, hosted on a second-level domain where it belongs. Fancy jQuery whistles are not helping, either.

But of course its a good thing. The more Apple rip-offs Samsung can come up with, the better the world will become.

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