Mathematical research

An organic chemist devises synthetic routes to newly discovered molecules.

A particle physicist tries to elucidate sub atomic matter. Recently there was the discovery of magnetic electricty, for example.

A human biologist discovers how the body works.

What exactly is the nature of mathematical research?

You study a specialised area of mathematics and try to establish new theory around the topic that hasn't before been written about.

>>2
any notable examples?

>>3
Why not just read a mathematical journal?

inb4 a long-ass thread with a bunch of five paragraph essays written by people who don't know what they're talking about.

You work on computers developing new graphs and shit.

>>2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_mathematics

>>4
Don't expect to understand a word.

>>6
Only if you're a combinatorist (sp?) and only if you by graph mean the things with vertices and edges.

>>4
Could do. Though I meant I've never heard anything mainstream e.g. on the news. And as >>8 points out understanding may be difficult.

>>9
The news are as fickle as with the other sciences, really, but where I live they sometimes manage to pick up on random results, either because they're really huge in the mathematics community, or because it's done by someone local.
I remember hearing about the Fermat's Last Theorem proof through various channels.
There's often some mathematics in popular science magazines, and as you get closer to practical mathematics like statistics or computer science, it will get reported in various technical publications.

>>7
Why are you linking this to me?

Functional Analysis:

Take some well-known function (say Fourier Series) and find some convoluted example when it breaks.

Write a paper

PROFIT (+PhD)

>>12
[quote]Functional Analysis:

Take some well-known function (say Fourier Series) and find some convoluted example when it breaks.

Write a paper

still broke, but at least now you have a PhD[/quote]

fix'd

>>13
Functional Analysis:
Take some well-known function (say Fourier Series) and find some convoluted example when it breaks.
Write a paper
still broke, but at least now you have a PhD

i bet i still got it wrong

>>13
[b]_B[sup]B[/sup][/b]CODE] FAILURE

Math : giving logical sense and definitions to imaginary and unconceivable facts. Kinda like when you're high and try to redefine the Universe, except you're not high so it's not funny at all and can sometimes make sense.

Usually, math research consists in :
1) trying to prove (or disprove) unproved useless thing
2) take already developped theory, use in another field of maths with new notations, new definitions, even new symbols so it can make sense without making sense.
3) Make new proof of facts. 45 demonstrations of something is better than 1.
4) Troll about Axiom of choice

So basically, math is : "YO DAWG I HEARD YOU LIKE BEING A FAGGOT SO I PUT DEFINITIONS IN YOUR TROLLINGS SO YOU CAN MAKE SENSE WHILE YOU MAKE SENSE"

>>16
Though I object to your tone and your adding an "s" to "math", you're probably basically right.

>>16
>>4) Troll about Axiom of choice

...troll about trolling about Axiom of choice
:3

vast

>>19
listen here, jerkface

Btw >>16 here, I just find this lollery, a fukken paradox (Russel I think) : let be A the set of all elements that verifies "x does not belong to x". Then if we assume A is not in A, then A is in A, and if we assume A is in A, then A is not in FUCKING A AAAAAAAAAAAAAAjkshdfkjsfgldghsdfg