Experimental Mathematics (journal)

"Experimental Mathematics" is a quarterly mathematical journal published by A. K. Peters, Ltd. The journal publishes papers in experimental mathematics, broadly construed. The journal's mission statement describes its scope as follows: "Experimental Mathematics publishes original papers featuring formal results inspired by experimentation, conjectures suggested by experiments, and data supporting significant hypotheses." [ [http://www.expmath.org/expmath/philosophy.html Statement of Philosophy & Publishing Criteria.] Experimental Mathematics]

History

The journal "Experimental Mathematics" was founded in 1992 by David Epstein, Silvio Levy and Klaus Peters. [ [http://msp.warwick.ac.uk/gtm/1998/01/biog.html Foreword by Igor Rivin, Colin Rourke and Caroline Series.] Epstein birthday schrift. Geometry & Topology Monographs, vol. 1. Geometry & Topology Publications, Coventry, 1998. DOI: 10.2140/gtm.1998.1] The launching of the journal in 1992 was surrounded by some controversy in the mathematical community about the value and validity of experimentation in mathematical research.James Robert Brown. [http://books.google.com/books?id=ex3Fh3AP0PIC&pg=PA186&dq=%22David+Epstein%22+%22Experimental+Mathematics%22&lr=&ei=Xu6eSIm9AoHAigG9wKT6BA&sig=ACfU3U2fGCGMAxvdk33Zd44dzIe6kdIdhA#PPA186,M1 Philosophy of Mathematics: Introduction to a World of Proofs and Pictures.] Taylor & Francis, 1999.ISBN-13: 9780415122740; pages 186–187.] [William Bown. [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117804.500-newwave-mathematics-a-new-generation-of-mathematicians-isrebelling-against-the-ancient-tradition-of-theorem-and-proof-newwavemathematicians-prefer-to-experiment-with-free-thinking-on-a-computer-buttraditionalists-fear-that-they-may-be-about-to-lose-something-special-.html New-wave mathematics: A new generation of mathematicians is rebelling against the ancient tradition of theorem and proof.] New Scientist. August 3, 1991] Some critics of the new journal suggested that it be renamed as the "Journal of Unproved Theorems". [Ursula Martin. [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fBnnAcpuXmsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA301&dq=%22David+Epstein%22+%22Experimental+Mathematics%22&ots=_d6w4AENi8&sig=kDGT6pkvfj4A6D8zUSwJcn-AHTM#PPA326,M1 Computers, Reasoning and Mathematical Practice.] Computational Logic: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Computational Logic, Held in Marktoberdorf, Germany, July 29-August 10, 1997. (U. Berger and H. Schwichtenberg, editors), pp. 301–346. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1999.ISBN-13: 9783540645894; page 326.] In a 1995 article in the "Notices of the American Mathematical Society", in part responding to such criticism, David Epstein and Silvio Levy described the journal's aims as follows:"But the main difference reflects the philosophy above: we are interested not only in theorems and proofs but also in the way in which they have been or can be reached. Note that we do value proofs: experimentally inspired results that can be proved are more desirable than conjectural ones. However, we do publish significant conjectures or explorations in the hope of inspiring other, perhaps better-equipped researchers to carry on the investigation. The objective of Experimental Mathematics is to play a role in the discovery of formal proofs, not to displace them." [David Epstein and Silvio Levy. [http://www.ams.org/notices/199506/index.html Experimentation and Proof in Mathematics.] Notices of the American Mathematical Society. vol. 42 (1995), no. 6, pp. 670–674]

"Experimental Mathematics" was the first mathematical research journal to concentrate on experimental mathematics and to explicitly acknowledge its importance for mathematics as a general research field. The journal's launching was described as "something of a watershed".

In recent years a number of other research journals in pure mathematics have substantially expanded their coverage of experimental mathematics. Thus in 2004 the "Journal of Algebra" launched a new section called "Computational Algebra". [ [http://www.elsevier.com/framework_products/promis_misc/yjabr.pdf Announcement. Launch of a new section: Computational Algebra.] Journal of Algebra. vol. 276 (2004), pp. 1–2]

Despite the initial controversy, the journal "Experimental Mathematics" quickly established a solid reputation and is now a highly respected mathematical publication. The journal is reviewed cover-to-cover in Mathematical Reviews and Zentralblatt MATH and is indexed cover-to-cover in the Web of Science.According to the 2007 issue of Journal Citation Reports, the journal "Experimental Mathematics" had the impact factor of 0.575. [ [http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/products/jcr/ 2007 Journal Citation Reports, Science Edition.] Thomson Scientific, 2007.]

The current editorial board of "Experimental Mathematics" includes David Mumford, Peter Sarnak and Bernd Sturmfels, among others. [ [http://www.expmath.org/expmath/board.html Editorial Board.] Experimental Mathematics. Accessed August 11, 2008]

Editorial board

Editor-in-Chief

*Yuri Tschinkel, Courant Institute

Founding Editor

*David Epstein, University of Warwick

ee also

*Experimental mathematics

References

External links

* [http://www.expmath.org/ Experimental Mathematics, the journal's website]