Wikipedia:Writing about math
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
 | This is a failed proposal. Consensus for its implementation was not established within a reasonable period of time. If you want to revive discussion, please use the talk page or initiate a thread at the village pump. |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2021) |
Writing about mathematics is a guideline about writing mathematics-related articles. It is designed to ensure that all mathematics articles are well-written. A good article about a mathematical topic should follow this guideline.
Each mathematics article should have an esoteric explanation. However, if possible, a mathematics article should also include a simple explanation understandable by more inexperienced mathematicians. Avoid using advanced mathematical notation when writing a simple explanation.
Example: When writing about integration, mention "area under the curve" along with the Lebesgue integral.
In order to determine the notability of a mathematics topics, check sources. If the topic is referred to by a specific name rather than a number or statement in multiple books, it is likely notable. Trivial propositions and corrolaries are generally not notable and do not merit their own articles. They should however be included in a related mathematics article.
Example 1: The Intermediate value theorem is notable and merits its own article.
Example 2: Irrational number is a notable and merits it. The fact that the square root of 10 is irrational does not merit its own article and can be merged into the page of the irrational number.
A theorem is a proposition that has been or is to be proved on the basis of explicit assumptions.
A good article about a theorem should include the following elements:
- Description of the theorem
- History of the theorem
- Proof of the theorem
- An example of the use of the theorem
- Applications of the theorem in other fields (physics, economics, etc.)
- Notable corrolaries to the theorem
Examples of theorems: Pythagorean theorem, Fermat's Last Theorem
A conjecture is a mathematical statement which appears likely to be true, but has not been formally proven to be true under the rules of mathematical logic.
A good article about a conjecture should include the following elements:
- Description of the conjecture
- History of conjecture
- An example of the use of the conjecture
- Applications of the conjecture in other fields (physics, economics, etc.)
- Notable corollaries to the conjecture
Examples of conjectures: Goldbach's conjecture, Grand Riemann hypothesis, Borel conjecture
Each article about a proven theorem or lemma should contain a proof. A sub-section can be created if the proof is very long (10-32 Kb). If the proof is excessively long (over 32 Kb), an external link and a brief explanation section should be used for the proof. If there are distinct methods of proving the theorem, include them all.
An article about a mathematician should not be treated as an article about mathematics but rather as a biographical article. All articles about mathematicians should strictly follow WP:BIO. A separate article about a mathematician's theorem or conjecture can be created and should be treated as an article about mathematics.