John Bentin

Oxford, United Kingdom

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How few disks are needed to cover a square efficiently?

geometry discrete-geometry tiling asked Aug 14, 2018 at 12:21

math.stackexchange.com

27 votes

Is this a known question about the expression of a function on $\Bbb R^2$ as an infinite sum of products?

reference-request real-analysis asked Jan 3, 2019 at 18:30

mathoverflow.net

24 votes

Can a unit square be cut into rectangles that tile a rectangle with irrational sides?

mg.metric-geometry discrete-geometry tiling asked Jan 15, 2014 at 14:34

mathoverflow.net

24 votes

Is Cauchy induction used for proofs other than for AM–GM?

co.combinatorics induction slick-proof asked Nov 24, 2016 at 15:44

mathoverflow.net

15 votes

Is it OK to thank the examiners in the acknowledgements of the final draft of a PhD thesis?

phd thesis etiquette acknowledgement thesis-committee asked Nov 26, 2016 at 20:26

academia.stackexchange.com

15 votes

Do 1.5% of lithium-ion batteries overheat, explode, or catch fire each year?

safety fire battery asked Mar 2 at 13:57

skeptics.stackexchange.com

14 votes

Which real functions have their higher derivatives tending pointwise to zero?

real-analysis asked May 19, 2013 at 17:34

math.stackexchange.com

14 votes

How fast can the base-bumping function in Goodstein's theorem grow?

lo.logic proof-theory computability-theory asked Aug 13, 2010 at 19:22

mathoverflow.net

13 votes

What examples are there of unrelated physical quantities measured in the same units?

units dimensional-analysis asked Oct 17, 2019 at 16:28

physics.stackexchange.com

13 votes

Why is the 3D case so rich?

big-list low-dimensional-topology asked Aug 23, 2010 at 7:47

math.stackexchange.com

Top Answers

131

Why is the Penrose triangle "impossible"?

math.stackexchange.com

Find $xy+yz+zx$ given systems of three homogenous quadratic equations for $x, y, z$

math.stackexchange.com

To sum $1+2+3+\cdots$ to $-\frac1{12}$

math.stackexchange.com

When do two functions become equal?

math.stackexchange.com

What are usual notations for surjective, injective and bijective functions?

math.stackexchange.com

"a Euler graph" or "an Euler graph"?

math.stackexchange.com

Theorems' names that don't credit the right people

math.stackexchange.com

Suggestions for special lectures at next ICM

mathoverflow.net

What are some surprising appearances of $e$?

math.stackexchange.com

If a thousand people whisper inaudibly, will the resulting sound be audible?

physics.stackexchange.com

Why are there so many papers written in bad English?

academia.stackexchange.com

Why can't we order Complex Numbers?

math.stackexchange.com

What would I call the monthly money I give to my parents?

ell.stackexchange.com

The work of mathematicians outside their professional environment

mathoverflow.net

What are some reasonable-sounding statements that are independent of ZFC?

mathoverflow.net

Piecewise functions: Got an example of a real world piecewise function?

math.stackexchange.com

How did the notation "ln" for "log base e" become so pervasive?

math.stackexchange.com

How to integrate $\int 1/(x^7 -x) dx$?

math.stackexchange.com

Is there a mathematical and information theoretic explanation for this cube packing phenomenon?

mathoverflow.net

Why is “one hundreds” in plural form on this stack of hundred dollar bills?

english.stackexchange.com

Proofs where higher dimension or cardinality actually enabled much simpler proof?

mathoverflow.net

Is the phrase "thanks, but no thanks" appropriate in an email sent to a supervisor?

academia.stackexchange.com

How can five sticks with coinciding ends be arranged in space such that they are at their maximum angles to each other?

math.stackexchange.com

A vector is defined to have a magnitude and *a* direction, but the zero vector has no *single* direction. So, how is the zero vector a vector?

math.stackexchange.com

Is this mechanical puzzle (Loony loop) solvable?

math.stackexchange.com

Have you solved problems in your sleep?

mathoverflow.net

Lagrange's Trigonometric Identity

math.stackexchange.com

Notation for an interval when you don't know which bound is greater

math.stackexchange.com

The concept of duality

mathoverflow.net

Every number is the sum of three squares with signs

math.stackexchange.com