Stack Exchange

Alex Becker

Chicago, IL

http://mathoverflow.net/users/13832/alex-becker

Third year mathematics major at the University of Chicago, currently on leave. My research interest is billiards on polygons. You can contact me about mathematics at [email protected]. For moderation issues, you will generally get a faster response by raising a flag on this site.

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Top Questions
395 votes

The Ring Game on $K[x,y,z]$

commutative-algebra combinatorial-game-theory noetherian asked Jun 16, 2012 at 3:40
math.stackexchange.com

78 votes

Gerrymandering on a high-genus surface/can I use my powers for evil?

geometry combinatorial-geometry asked Jul 6, 2012 at 23:41
math.stackexchange.com

63 votes

What use is the Yoneda lemma?

algebraic-geometry category-theory yoneda-lemma asked Jan 2, 2012 at 3:17
math.stackexchange.com

47 votes

Enlightening proof that the algebraic numbers form a field

abstract-algebra algebraic-number-theory asked Mar 15, 2013 at 7:35
math.stackexchange.com

34 votes

Can every number be written as a small sum of sums of squares?

number-theory algorithms asked Feb 25, 2013 at 10:26
math.stackexchange.com

34 votes

Talks vs. poster presentations: Which is better for advertising your research and building research networks?

conference presentation poster asked Jul 2, 2013 at 6:46
academia.stackexchange.com

31 votes

How much background material should a mathematical research paper include?

research publications citations research-undergraduate asked Jun 5, 2013 at 21:19
academia.stackexchange.com

21 votes

Why is the trace of a matrix the sum along its diagonal?

linear-algebra matrices asked Oct 24, 2013 at 0:18
math.stackexchange.com

19 votes

Given a fiber bundle $F\to E\overset{\pi}{\to} B$ such that $F,B$ are compact, is $E$ necessarily compact?

general-topology algebraic-topology compactness fiber-bundles asked Mar 28, 2012 at 4:12
math.stackexchange.com

18 votes

Primary ideals of Noetherian rings which are not irreducible

commutative-algebra ideals noetherian asked Mar 23, 2011 at 4:46
math.stackexchange.com

1 2 3

Top Answers
135
Why is $\infty \cdot 0$ not clearly equal to $0$?
math.stackexchange.com

95
The Monty Hall problem
math.stackexchange.com

87
why geometric multiplicity is bounded by algebraic multiplicity?
math.stackexchange.com

78
Is there any difference between mapping and function?
math.stackexchange.com

65
Is it possible that "A counter-example exists but it cannot be found"
math.stackexchange.com

59
How can I get sequence $4,4,2,4,4,2,4,4,2\ldots$ into equation?
math.stackexchange.com

56
How do you split a long exact sequence into short exact sequences?
math.stackexchange.com

55
Expected time to roll all $1$ through $6$ on a die
math.stackexchange.com

49
The fundamental group of the Möbius strip
math.stackexchange.com

49
How to write a good mathematical paper?
math.stackexchange.com

41
Help find hard integrals that evaluate to $59$?
math.stackexchange.com

40
Am I too young to learn more advanced math and get a teacher?
math.stackexchange.com

32
How to know if a point is inside a circle?
math.stackexchange.com

29
The closure of an irreducible subset of an irreducible space is irreducible.
math.stackexchange.com

27
How to avoid arithmetic mistakes?
math.stackexchange.com

27
Is there a proof that $\pi \times e$ is irrational?
math.stackexchange.com

26
Is the statement "1/3 of the natural numbers are divisible by 3" true? Is anything similar to it true?
math.stackexchange.com

26
Why do we use the Euclidean metric on $\mathbb{R}^2$?
math.stackexchange.com

26
$S=1+10+100+100+10000+... = -1/9$? How is that
math.stackexchange.com

25
Show $\frac{x_1}{x_n} + \frac{x_2}{x_{n-1}} + \frac{x_3}{x_{n-2}} + \dots + \frac{x_n}{x_1} \geq n$
math.stackexchange.com

25
Odd and even functions- a direct sum?
math.stackexchange.com

25
What's the difference between a monoid and a group?
math.stackexchange.com

24
What is the geometric meaning of singular matrix
math.stackexchange.com

24
Methods to check if an ideal of a polynomial ring is prime or at least radical
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23
Ring homomorphism with $\phi(1_R) \neq1_S$
math.stackexchange.com

22
Is each power of a prime ideal a primary ideal?
math.stackexchange.com

22
Proving that an additive function $f$ is continuous if it is continuous at a single point
math.stackexchange.com

21
Ring Inside an Algebraic Field Extension
math.stackexchange.com

20
Is $\mathbb{Q}[\sqrt2]$ = $\mathbb{Q}[\sqrt2+1]$?
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20
How prove this integral limit $=f(\frac{1}{2})$
math.stackexchange.com

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