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Deletion Sorting
Project

This is a collection of discussions on the deletion of articles related to Mathematics. It is one of many deletion lists coordinated by WikiProject Deletion sorting. Anyone can help maintain the list on this page.

Adding a new AfD discussion
Adding an AfD to this page does not add it to the main page at WP:AFD. Similarly, removing an AfD from this page does not remove it from the main page at WP:AFD. If you want to nominate an article for deletion, go through the process on that page before adding it to this page. To add a discussion to this page, follow these steps:
  1. Edit this page and add {{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/PageName}} to the top of the list. Replace "PageName" with the relevant article name, i.e. the one on the existing AFD discussion. Also, indicate the title of the article in the edit summary as it is particularly helpful to add a link to the article in the edit summary. When you save the page, the discussion will automatically appear.
  2. You should also tag the AfD by adding {{subst:delsort|Mathematics|~~~~}} to it, which will inform editors that it has been listed here. You may place this tag above or below the nomination statement or at the end of the discussion thread.
There are a few scripts and tools that can make this easier.
Removing a closed AfD discussion
Closed AfD discussions are automatically removed by a bot.
Other types of discussions
You can also add and remove other discussions (prod, CfD, TfD etc.) related to Mathematics. For the other XfD's, the process is the same as AfD (except {{Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/PageName}} is used for MFD and {{transclude xfd}} for the rest). For PRODs, adding a link with {{prodded}} will suffice.
Further information
For further information see Wikipedia's deletion policy and WP:AfD for general information about Articles for Deletion, including a list of article deletions sorted by day of nomination.


Archived discussions (starting from September 2007) may be found at:
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Mathematics

Polya's shire theorem

Polya's shire theorem (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)
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References are too sparse to support a full article, and I find no good place to merge this to. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:35, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Directed infinity

Directed infinity (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)
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There is only one source, from the website Wolfram, which itself doesn't quote any other sources. I found nothing about it when roaming the internet for information (except this WP article, and the Wolfram post). Moreover, the "rules for manipulation" look like original work, and are mathematically unsound. 𝓔𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓹𝔂 fighter 💬 09:37, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

List of humorous names in mathematics

List of humorous names in mathematics (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)
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Essentially WP:OR, personal taste (or lack of it) whether something is "humorous" ("killing field", hilarious; "mother functor", if you pronounce it completely wrong it almost sounds like, well, you guessed it) and not a defining characteristic for most of these. Fram (talk) 14:48, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There is obviously subjectivity in humour, but firstly there are numerous compilations of these online, even in fairly reputable places refs 1,2,3,4; secondly many of them are deliberate jokes e.g. look at the name origin section on Cox–Zucker machine and lastly there are similar pages e.g. in mathematics Mathematical joke or elsewhere Lists of pejorative terms for people where inclusion or exclusion of examples can't be completely objective.
Feel free to change the list, but you know, have some fun too. WikiNukalito (talk) 15:57, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Adding to this request to keep, as per Wikipedia:Notability#Stand-alone lists and references 1,2,3,4 these terms have ' been discussed as a group or set by independent reliable sources'. The items are not just personal taste, they're all in the lists in the quoted references. WikiNukalito (talk) 12:28, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
That is not really similar to this article. Azuredivay (talk)
Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Liz Read! Talk! 22:31, 27 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
There's nothing quite as fun as explaining jokes on Wikipedia... Taste is subjective but to re-iterate, these are intentional jokes, with well documented and well known stories (The 'Ten Martini Problem', Cox–Zucker machine etc etc.) or if not intentional, then referenced in articles [1] about such things.
This kind of list is not unusual on here either Wikipedia:Unusual_place_names, Wikipedia:Unusual articles, List of humorous units of measurement... and the criteria for inclusion is not particularly subjective either - intended to be funny or well accepted to be. If you think some entries on the list don't meet those criteria, delete them. I would have perhaps improved the list if it hadn't been flagged for deletion 10 seconds after I created it. The people applying subjective criteria are the ones calling it tasteless.
Move it to 'List of mathematics considered humorous', if that helps to preserve the sanctity of the encyclopedia which hosts articles like Breast-shaped hill and -ussy WikiNukalito (talk) 19:04, 28 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ https://chalkdustmagazine.com/features/things-with-silly-names/

Delete. This might be considered humorous by a ten-year old boy, but it's basically childish. Athel cb (talk) 15:06, 28 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  • Rename to "unusual names" and rework the paragraph. Tepkunset (talk) 18:13, 30 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete or merge to Mathematical joke. WP:LISTCRITERIA states Selection criteria (also known as inclusion criteria or membership criteria) should be unambiguous, objective, and supported by reliable sources. The current version of the article cites reliable primary sources for considering some individual terms humorous (e.g. Cox–Zucker machine), but only cites one reliable source covering the topic itself (the article in Chalkdust Magazine; e.g. the citations 1,3,4 mentioned above are unacceptable WP:USERGENERATED sources). Compare Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of chemical compounds with unusual names (7th nomination), which reached consensus to keep based on two reliable secondary book sources. I was not able to uncover analogous sources covering this topic in Google Books and Scholar. Unless other editors are able to improve the sourcing situation, I recommend either deleting or merging with Mathematical joke (the main article associated with Category:Mathematical humor). Preimage (talk) 13:31, 1 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    If you want another 'reliable' source, try [1]. I did not have to try too hard to find this. As you say, the individual terms often have explanations of their names on their own pages. I would be happy to improve this article, but not if it's going to be deleted soon.
    The inclusion criteria is no more vague that any of the many lists of 'unusual' items e.g. Place names considered unusual. As suggested by many, changing 'humorous' to 'unusual' is fine with me, though it seems like a minor difference. WikiNukalito (talk) 20:52, 3 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete Definitely WP:OR. My cursory examination of the sources (a sample of four) doesn't establish that RS believe the names are humorous, rather (it appears) the editor(s) find them humorous. Chetsford (talk) 20:31, 1 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Generalized game theory

Generalized game theory (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)
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This concept doesn't seem to meet notability guidelines, since most of the articles that talk about this concept are from the authors themselves. The current sentence in the lead "The theory was developed by Tom R. Burns, Anna Gomolinska, and Ewa Roszkowska but has not had great influence beyond these immediate associates" is especially problematic for a Wikipedi article.

However, the article has a lot of content and has been around since 2008, so it could benefit from a deeper look from the community to validate this 7804j (talk) 19:31, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Withdrawn by nominator. Will proceed to merge as proposed by another contributor as soon as this discussion is closed 7804j (talk) 19:13, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  • Weak keep - I wrote this page after AfDs for two other pages on work related to Burns. While the concept is primarily used in the work of Burns and his research group, it is used in multiple peer reviewed articles and represents a significant part of the research agenda of that group. The theory remains in use within that group (and even if it didn't, I'd still !vote wk). Smmurphy(Talk) 22:43, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Merge: Since the concept seems to be almost exclusively tied to the originating author, the article contents should be merged to Tom R. Burns, who does have a wikipedia page. The concept on its own does not merit the page existence, as per nomination. Pragmatic Puffin (talk) 08:51, 15 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I think that's a good idea, so I'll withdraw my nomination and proceed with the merge once this discussion is closed 7804j (talk) 19:11, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I propose to extend the "merge" to this article as well. 7804j (talk) 15:00, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Star Mississippi 02:33, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Malinaccier (talk) 18:41, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Merge: The basic material is verifiable in reliable, but not fully independent sources. Because of the lack of independence, I don't think it satisfies notability according to WP:GNG. Given that the topic is closely associated with Tom R. Burns and we try to preserve verifiable content per WP:PRESERVE, a merge to Tom R. Burns is a reasonable alternative to deletion. --{{u|Mark viking}} {Talk} 20:41, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Mathematics proposed deletions

Mathematics miscellany for deletion

Mathematics redirects for discussion

  1. ^ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/x-rated-math-words-dirty_n_5547923
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