Will mathematics journals accept a non-novel theorem, but with different approach

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Suppose a researcher comes up with a mathematical theorem, which can be obtained trivially from discovered theorems, but with an approach, that was never used before to describe or prove the theorem.



Then do the journals accept the paper because of the new approach or reject the paper because of no novelty?







share|improve this question






















  • See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
    – zibadawa timmy
    Aug 27 at 10:33






  • 3




    What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
    – Evariste
    Aug 27 at 13:00







  • 9




    @Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
    – leftaroundabout
    Aug 27 at 13:18















up vote
20
down vote

favorite
3












Suppose a researcher comes up with a mathematical theorem, which can be obtained trivially from discovered theorems, but with an approach, that was never used before to describe or prove the theorem.



Then do the journals accept the paper because of the new approach or reject the paper because of no novelty?







share|improve this question






















  • See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
    – zibadawa timmy
    Aug 27 at 10:33






  • 3




    What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
    – Evariste
    Aug 27 at 13:00







  • 9




    @Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
    – leftaroundabout
    Aug 27 at 13:18













up vote
20
down vote

favorite
3









up vote
20
down vote

favorite
3






3





Suppose a researcher comes up with a mathematical theorem, which can be obtained trivially from discovered theorems, but with an approach, that was never used before to describe or prove the theorem.



Then do the journals accept the paper because of the new approach or reject the paper because of no novelty?







share|improve this question














Suppose a researcher comes up with a mathematical theorem, which can be obtained trivially from discovered theorems, but with an approach, that was never used before to describe or prove the theorem.



Then do the journals accept the paper because of the new approach or reject the paper because of no novelty?









share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Aug 26 at 21:02









Buffy

15.5k55187




15.5k55187










asked Aug 26 at 20:27









hind

633414




633414











  • See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
    – zibadawa timmy
    Aug 27 at 10:33






  • 3




    What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
    – Evariste
    Aug 27 at 13:00







  • 9




    @Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
    – leftaroundabout
    Aug 27 at 13:18

















  • See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
    – zibadawa timmy
    Aug 27 at 10:33






  • 3




    What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
    – Evariste
    Aug 27 at 13:00







  • 9




    @Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
    – leftaroundabout
    Aug 27 at 13:18
















See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
– zibadawa timmy
Aug 27 at 10:33




See also the potential duplicate: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111704/…
– zibadawa timmy
Aug 27 at 10:33




3




3




What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
– Evariste
Aug 27 at 13:00





What if Alan Turing didn't publish his paper because of the (previously published) Church's Lambda calculus paper for the Entscheidungsproblem? :)
– Evariste
Aug 27 at 13:00





9




9




@Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
– leftaroundabout
Aug 27 at 13:18





@Evariste Utopia! Everybody would be using functional languages instead of imperative ones. ... ...maybe.
– leftaroundabout
Aug 27 at 13:18











3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
45
down vote













There is more to mathematics than theorems. Sometimes the best part is the methodology of the proof, especially if it can be used to also solve important problems in the field. If everybody has been thinking in a certain way about a class of problems for a hundred years and you give them a new way to think about it, you have made an important contribution.



So yes, a journal would publish that. But your paper needs to be clear about the novelty and importance of your approach.



My own dissertation had interesting theorems, but was noted for the proof of one of them that was something entirely new and unexpected.






share|improve this answer
















  • 4




    I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
    – user2768
    Aug 27 at 9:51






  • 2




    @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 10:46






  • 3




    @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 12:09






  • 3




    @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
    – alephzero
    Aug 27 at 12:25






  • 3




    @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
    – Wildcard
    Aug 27 at 19:56

















up vote
17
down vote













Edward Witten not only published a paper of this kind (entitled 'A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem'), but the paper strongly contributed to getting him a Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics. Both proofs in the paper had already been proved by Schoen and Yau using different methods: the key is that he was using new methods to carry out the proof.






share|improve this answer



























    up vote
    2
    down vote













    In my area, proving Schur positivity is a big thing.
    One can do that using RSK, bijections, involutions, crystals, dual equivalence, or representation theory.



    Some proofs give more insight than others, so there are several different proofs of the same statement, as the different techniques have different pros and cons.






    share|improve this answer




















    • This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
      – Max Barraclough
      Aug 28 at 9:49










    • Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
      – Per Alexandersson
      Aug 28 at 11:17










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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes








    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes








    up vote
    45
    down vote













    There is more to mathematics than theorems. Sometimes the best part is the methodology of the proof, especially if it can be used to also solve important problems in the field. If everybody has been thinking in a certain way about a class of problems for a hundred years and you give them a new way to think about it, you have made an important contribution.



    So yes, a journal would publish that. But your paper needs to be clear about the novelty and importance of your approach.



    My own dissertation had interesting theorems, but was noted for the proof of one of them that was something entirely new and unexpected.






    share|improve this answer
















    • 4




      I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
      – user2768
      Aug 27 at 9:51






    • 2




      @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 10:46






    • 3




      @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 12:09






    • 3




      @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
      – alephzero
      Aug 27 at 12:25






    • 3




      @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
      – Wildcard
      Aug 27 at 19:56














    up vote
    45
    down vote













    There is more to mathematics than theorems. Sometimes the best part is the methodology of the proof, especially if it can be used to also solve important problems in the field. If everybody has been thinking in a certain way about a class of problems for a hundred years and you give them a new way to think about it, you have made an important contribution.



    So yes, a journal would publish that. But your paper needs to be clear about the novelty and importance of your approach.



    My own dissertation had interesting theorems, but was noted for the proof of one of them that was something entirely new and unexpected.






    share|improve this answer
















    • 4




      I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
      – user2768
      Aug 27 at 9:51






    • 2




      @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 10:46






    • 3




      @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 12:09






    • 3




      @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
      – alephzero
      Aug 27 at 12:25






    • 3




      @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
      – Wildcard
      Aug 27 at 19:56












    up vote
    45
    down vote










    up vote
    45
    down vote









    There is more to mathematics than theorems. Sometimes the best part is the methodology of the proof, especially if it can be used to also solve important problems in the field. If everybody has been thinking in a certain way about a class of problems for a hundred years and you give them a new way to think about it, you have made an important contribution.



    So yes, a journal would publish that. But your paper needs to be clear about the novelty and importance of your approach.



    My own dissertation had interesting theorems, but was noted for the proof of one of them that was something entirely new and unexpected.






    share|improve this answer












    There is more to mathematics than theorems. Sometimes the best part is the methodology of the proof, especially if it can be used to also solve important problems in the field. If everybody has been thinking in a certain way about a class of problems for a hundred years and you give them a new way to think about it, you have made an important contribution.



    So yes, a journal would publish that. But your paper needs to be clear about the novelty and importance of your approach.



    My own dissertation had interesting theorems, but was noted for the proof of one of them that was something entirely new and unexpected.







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered Aug 26 at 20:51









    Buffy

    15.5k55187




    15.5k55187







    • 4




      I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
      – user2768
      Aug 27 at 9:51






    • 2




      @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 10:46






    • 3




      @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 12:09






    • 3




      @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
      – alephzero
      Aug 27 at 12:25






    • 3




      @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
      – Wildcard
      Aug 27 at 19:56












    • 4




      I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
      – user2768
      Aug 27 at 9:51






    • 2




      @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 10:46






    • 3




      @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
      – BCLC
      Aug 27 at 12:09






    • 3




      @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
      – alephzero
      Aug 27 at 12:25






    • 3




      @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
      – Wildcard
      Aug 27 at 19:56







    4




    4




    I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
    – user2768
    Aug 27 at 9:51




    I largely agree, but, not every proof methodology is interesting. How can the OP determine whether their methodology is interesting?
    – user2768
    Aug 27 at 9:51




    2




    2




    @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 10:46




    @user2768 Why isn't that for the journals rather than the OP to determine?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 10:46




    3




    3




    @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 12:09




    @user2768 wait what? I'm not familiar with publishing actually. How will journals know if something is publishable or not if they don't decide if it's publishable or not?
    – BCLC
    Aug 27 at 12:09




    3




    3




    @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
    – alephzero
    Aug 27 at 12:25




    @BCLC Journals use reviewers to advise the editors on which papers are worth publishing. So it comes back to Buffy's "People with a lot of experience" - i.e. the reviewers.
    – alephzero
    Aug 27 at 12:25




    3




    3




    @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
    – Wildcard
    Aug 27 at 19:56




    @user2768, wait what?? Pursuing knowledge without knowing whether someone else will agree it should be published is a waste of time?? And scientific love of inquiry and knowledge just goes out the window into the garbage dump, does it? What a sad commentary on the state of academia.
    – Wildcard
    Aug 27 at 19:56










    up vote
    17
    down vote













    Edward Witten not only published a paper of this kind (entitled 'A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem'), but the paper strongly contributed to getting him a Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics. Both proofs in the paper had already been proved by Schoen and Yau using different methods: the key is that he was using new methods to carry out the proof.






    share|improve this answer
























      up vote
      17
      down vote













      Edward Witten not only published a paper of this kind (entitled 'A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem'), but the paper strongly contributed to getting him a Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics. Both proofs in the paper had already been proved by Schoen and Yau using different methods: the key is that he was using new methods to carry out the proof.






      share|improve this answer






















        up vote
        17
        down vote










        up vote
        17
        down vote









        Edward Witten not only published a paper of this kind (entitled 'A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem'), but the paper strongly contributed to getting him a Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics. Both proofs in the paper had already been proved by Schoen and Yau using different methods: the key is that he was using new methods to carry out the proof.






        share|improve this answer












        Edward Witten not only published a paper of this kind (entitled 'A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem'), but the paper strongly contributed to getting him a Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics. Both proofs in the paper had already been proved by Schoen and Yau using different methods: the key is that he was using new methods to carry out the proof.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Aug 27 at 9:58









        Tom

        3266




        3266




















            up vote
            2
            down vote













            In my area, proving Schur positivity is a big thing.
            One can do that using RSK, bijections, involutions, crystals, dual equivalence, or representation theory.



            Some proofs give more insight than others, so there are several different proofs of the same statement, as the different techniques have different pros and cons.






            share|improve this answer




















            • This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
              – Max Barraclough
              Aug 28 at 9:49










            • Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
              – Per Alexandersson
              Aug 28 at 11:17














            up vote
            2
            down vote













            In my area, proving Schur positivity is a big thing.
            One can do that using RSK, bijections, involutions, crystals, dual equivalence, or representation theory.



            Some proofs give more insight than others, so there are several different proofs of the same statement, as the different techniques have different pros and cons.






            share|improve this answer




















            • This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
              – Max Barraclough
              Aug 28 at 9:49










            • Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
              – Per Alexandersson
              Aug 28 at 11:17












            up vote
            2
            down vote










            up vote
            2
            down vote









            In my area, proving Schur positivity is a big thing.
            One can do that using RSK, bijections, involutions, crystals, dual equivalence, or representation theory.



            Some proofs give more insight than others, so there are several different proofs of the same statement, as the different techniques have different pros and cons.






            share|improve this answer












            In my area, proving Schur positivity is a big thing.
            One can do that using RSK, bijections, involutions, crystals, dual equivalence, or representation theory.



            Some proofs give more insight than others, so there are several different proofs of the same statement, as the different techniques have different pros and cons.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Aug 27 at 19:16









            Per Alexandersson

            2,5971319




            2,5971319











            • This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
              – Max Barraclough
              Aug 28 at 9:49










            • Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
              – Per Alexandersson
              Aug 28 at 11:17
















            • This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
              – Max Barraclough
              Aug 28 at 9:49










            • Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
              – Per Alexandersson
              Aug 28 at 11:17















            This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
            – Max Barraclough
            Aug 28 at 9:49




            This doesn't answer the question, which was about what journals will accept.
            – Max Barraclough
            Aug 28 at 9:49












            Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
            – Per Alexandersson
            Aug 28 at 11:17




            Journals accept this - today I saw 'prominent researcher' put a new preprint on arxiv, reproving a theorem related to positivity using crystals, rather than dual equivalence. I have a (published) conjecture on how to prove the same thing using RSK.
            – Per Alexandersson
            Aug 28 at 11:17

















             

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