As the character limit for tag names was raised to 35, we can now replace some awkwardly abbreviated tag names (like geometric-invariant-theor) with their fully spelled out names.
I've already done that for a few tags:
moment-generating-functns
geometric-invariant-theor
pseudo-differential-ope...
Suppose $3$ points are drawn uniformly at random from $[0,1]$. Call them $x_1,x_2,x_3$ with $x_1\leq x_2\leq x_3$. I am interested in the distances between them.
Fix $0<a<b<1$. I want to compute the probability $P$ that
$$x_2-x_1 < a, \ \ \ \ x_3 -x_2 < a,\ \ \ \ x_3-x_1 > b$$
In other words,...
@MichaelHardy I am not sure to which extent the new tag is going to be useful. In any case, I assume you wanted to write integration rather than integation. In any case, if we want to discuss the new tag further, we can do so in chat or on meta. (Feel free to ping me in chat to let me know that you saw this and I can remove this comment - it is not related to the question, just to the newly created tag.) — Martin Sleziak10 secs ago
@MartinSleziak : On very numerous occasions I've seen questions posted in which all or nearly all of a complete answer was about figuring out what the bounds of integration are. There is an obvious reason why many students have difficulty with that: namely, you can't figure it out just by unconsciously applying a memorized algorithm.
@MichaelHardy I can see that there are worse tags than this. But I am not sure to which extent this tag is going to be useful - that's why it would, in my opinion, be better if it is clear that you are tag-creator.
Which is the reason why I pinged you (instead of creating a new tag with correct spelling myself).
I have deleted my comment on the main site - since the main intention was to get the message accross to you.
I have noticed in the list of tag synonyms that recently the synonym combinations $\to$ combinatorics has been suggested. (It is possible to vote on this synonym here.)
First of all, since this synonym affects large number of questions, I do not think it should be created without being discussed...
@jvdhooft I have seen that you suggested synonym (combinations) $\to$ (combinatorics). I have created a post on meta to discuss this synonym. Sorry for pinging you on an unrelated post, but since you suggested this synonym, it seemed polite to notify you about this. Feel free to ping me in chat after you see this comment - then it is no longer needed and I can remove it. — Martin Sleziak18 secs ago
Users with sufficient score in a tag can suggest synonyms for this tag. (Details can be found, for example, in this tag-info.) Hypothetically, it is possible that 5 users vote on a synonym before anybody notices them and in this way some synonyms which are "problematic" might be created. (The wor...
@MartinSleziak I have seen your comment, it can be removed. I realize that combinations are in fact a separate topic, yet almost all questions tagged with this topic relate to combinatorics in general. This is why I proposed to merge the two topics two months ago. Instead, it might be appropriate to provide a detailed explanation in the tag's Wiki, to clarify when this tag should or should not be used.
You say you're "not sure to which extent this tag is going to be useful". You didn't say you're confident that it won't be useful; only that you're not sure of the extent to which it will. I predict that if it is not used much, then it's because people won't know how to use it. In these kinds of problems, mathematicians often fail to realize that students' not knowing how to deal with bounds of integration is the whole cause of their difficulty. And
that's part of a more general gap in mathematicians' understanding of how students think. And that in turn results from inattention to the purposes for which students and professors are in classrooms.
@MichaelHardy The only thing I wanted was to correct the spelling.
You probably agree that the tag is much more likely to be useful if it actually contains the word integration.
Let's leave then to the community to decide whether or not the new tag is going to be useful.
Re: I predict that if it is not used much, then it's because people won't know how to use it. Of course, you are one of the users who can add the tag to suitable questions.
@MichaelHardy Well, simply by deleting the old tag and creating a new one with the correct spelling.
It's possible that the tag system will write error that there already exists a very similar tag, so the new tag cannot be created - in which case you'll have to wait until the automatic system, which is run once in 24 hours, deletes the empty tag.