Can a transcendental number such as pi, be raised to an irrational, but algebraic power resulting in an algebraic solution? Complex solutions would be acceptable. There might be a quick proof here, or there might not be. - Thanks for any help you can offer answering this! (And I promise that this isn't for a class or anything like that!)
posted by ch3cooh on Mar 2, 2013 - 3 answers

Consider two rings that are intertwined. (These lie in 3-dimensional space, but when you draw it on paper it looks like a venn diagram.) In 3-dimensional space they cannot be unlinked. The questions is, if you had one more dimension, can you unlink them?
posted by gzimmer on Jul 15, 2011 - 14 answers

Is it too late for me to get into physics? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jun 30, 2009 - 15 answers

is there a book on the mathematics of chess? [more inside]
posted by randomizer on Oct 18, 2007 - 6 answers

Mefi mathematicians: How can I prepare to teach basic math? Much more inside! [more inside]
posted by snsranch on Mar 2, 2006 - 15 answers

Graph theory seems hot right now. Don't know much about it, though. If one wanted to learn some of the most practical, useable, and interesting results from the field where would one turn? Bonus points for applicability in social sciences and/or web apps. And, tangentially, if one was potentially interested in focusing on graph theory and the social sciences, where would one look at grad school? [more inside]
posted by namespan on Jan 26, 2006 - 12 answers