Acceptable gaps in mathematical proofs

Mathematicians often intentionally leave gaps in their proofs. Based on interviews with mathematicians about their refereeing practices, this paper examines the character of intentional gaps in published proofs. We observe that mathematicians’ refereeing practices limit the number of certain intenti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Synthese (Dordrecht) 2020, Vol.197 (1), p.233-247
Main Author: Andersen, Line Edslev
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Epistemology
Logic
Mathematical problems
Mathematicians
Metaphysics
Peer review
Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Science
Proof theory
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Mathematicians often intentionally leave gaps in their proofs. Based on interviews with mathematicians about their refereeing practices, this paper examines the character of intentional gaps in published proofs. We observe that mathematicians’ refereeing practices limit the number of certain intentional gaps in published proofs. The results provide some new perspectives on the traditional philosophical questions of the nature of proof and of what grounds mathematical knowledge.
ISSN:0039-7857
1573-0964
DOI:10.1007/s11229-018-1778-8