Wikipedia:WikiProject Numbers
This WikiProject is aimed at improving editing practice on articles devoted to numbers. General guideline advise is given below to assist in creating and improving these articles.
Guidelines
[edit]How far to go?
[edit]- See also Wikipedia:Notability (numbers).
There are a lot of numbers[citation needed]. Which numbers should get articles and what those articles should say is a rather important question.
- Integers: Continuous from −1 to 299. Multiples of 100 from 300 to 900, then multiples of 1000 to 9000. Afterwards, only powers of 10 (from 1 up to 1012, higher than that only if they have a standard word name and commonly used SI prefix) and numbers with some remarkable mathematical property.
- Fractions: Pages for fractions with small denominators, such as 1/2, are acceptable at this point (this is the only such article; articles for 1/3 and 1/4 could be warranted). If needed, redirects for equivalent fractions can be created.
- Reals: Important mathematical constants such as e and π.
- Imaginaries: i.
- Non-numerical entities: NaN, with a possible redirect from Not a Number.
- Number bases: Those that are actually used (or have been used in the past) for practical calculations, such as binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal, vigesimal, and sexagesimal.
Creating a new article or adding onto an existing one
[edit]Care should be taken to only create a new article on a number if there is sufficient known information to create an article that consists of more than just "N comes after N − 1 and before N + 1". As a guideline, you ought to know at least three interesting properties of a number. What constitutes interesting can be debated (see Wikipedia:Evaluating how interesting an integer's mathematical property is for one possible way of gauging this), but the point is that the careless creation of number article stubs is to be avoided. Also, and as importantly in many respects, which cultural and scientific properties (or otherwise) can be attributed to the number? For a complete number article, there need-be at least one accompanying important cultural association aside from mathematical properties present. If you only know one interesting mathematical property, consider jotting it down in an article on a near round number. For instance, if you want to write an article on 1050, see if something about it has already been written on it at 1000. That's the point of the series of stubs at the ends of articles like 500 and 7000, to see if there are numbers outside the declared project range that might merit their own article.
So, before creating a new article on a number, go over a checklist:
- See if the number has already been written about at an article on a near round number (rounding down, i.e. if searching for the number 455, seek the page 400).
- Name at least three interesting and unrelated mathematical properties of the number (or one earth-shatteringly interesting property, such as odd perfect number, or a quasiperfect number of either parity).
- Fill out a Docuan table (see below) with the basic properties of the number (factorization, binary representation, etc.)
- Understand whether other fields have associations with the number, so as to include whichever philosophical, cultural and scientific links that are relevant.
- Follow the template below once you have sufficient information to start a new article, or add onto an existing one.
Template for numbers
[edit]![]() | The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption. |
Outline
[edit]Each article on a number should consist of at least one of two major sections, the first dealing with the actual mathematical context of the number and the second with non-mathematical properties of the number, such as practical and cultural (including symbolic, and historical) associations of the number. Generally, the article should open with simple mathematical properties of the number and list some simple associated objects (its associated polygon, factors, whether it is a prime, etc.) it should then move onto topics, including more obscure number facts (type of prime), its role in mathematical history and associations with more obscure objects (number of platonic solids, interesting group with n elements, etcetera). Facts that should not be included in a number article include: figurate numbers, arbitrary properties of the number (for example its square or square root), anything having to with a specific base of expression, the aliquot sum, its position in a specific OEIS sequence (unless several works of mathematical literature consider this to be of interest).
Stub template
[edit]This template (originally developed by Docu) is a subtractive template; i.e. given a number N that has all relevant mathematical properties (even mutually exclusive ones), including extra-mathematical properties. To use this template, replace the in-line generic statements with appropriate information:
N (number)
N (spell out number in bold) is the natural number following N − 1 and preceding N + 1. It is mainly known culturally (or in mathematics) for X and Y reason.
In mathematics
← N − 1 N N + 1 → | |
← x0 x1 x2 x3 x4 N x6 x7 x8 x9 → | |
List of numbers ‧ Integers | |
← y 2y 3y 4y 5y 6y 7y 8y 9y 10y → | |
Cardinal | en |
Ordinal | Nth |
Factorization | 1 × N (prime) or pa × pb × ... |
Divisors | 1, pa, pb, pc, ..., pa × pb, ..., N |
Roman numeral | "N" |
Binary | "N2" |
... | ... |
Hexadecimal | "N16" |
N is the xth prime number (or composite number), the previous being N − 2y, with which it comprises a twin (or cousin, sexy, ..., for y = 1, 2, 3, ...) prime.
A polygon with N sides is called an n-gon.
N is part of the first few, or part of the last, members of a specific sequence.
N is a Mersenne prime, or a Fermat prime, or a special and well-studied other prime.
There are exactly N of (special groups, platonic solids, or other objects).
There is a prominent mathematical object with N number of subobjects.
Use {{Infobox number}} template to generate a formal number infobox that displays basic information.
In Science
N is the atomic number of elementium.
In Popular Culture
N is important in Religion A's sacred texts.
See § Extra-mathematical associations for more information.
See also
- The year N A.D.
References
- Pencil, Sharp (January 2004). "Integers". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
- Eraser, Smooth (January 2022). "Constants". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
Naming compliance
[edit]For most cases, articles should be named N (number), with the literal spelling of the numbers redirected accordingly (e.g., Four hundred and ninety-six redirects to 496 (number)).
Numbers deserving their own article that are greater than 999, should have the article title written in digits without any separators between the digits of the integer part. Writing the number with separators may of course be acknowledged in the body of the article. Thus, the article on the taxicab number 1,729 should be 1729 (number), though the article can mention that the number may be written "1,729" or "1.729."
Besides −1, there are no articles on negative integers. Adding information about a negative number therefore can fall under articles representative of numbers' positive, absolute values. One half is the chosen article name for 1⁄2.
Non-mathematical properties
[edit]It is preferable to have a stub article than to pad an article with trivial or tenuously related information. Normal Wikipedia policies, and guidelines, should be considered when choosing which content to include. Specifically, any scientific and cultural associations of a number, and otherwise, must be verifiable, and covered with due weight.
A scientific notion referenced in a number article depends on the mathematics of its properties and characteristics, and how substantial they are, as aforementioned. Examples include:
- a statement such as, there is theoretical and empirical evidence to suggest that brain computation is organized via power-of-two-based permutation logic,
- three soap films meet along a Plateau border at 120 degree angles.
As well as any other scientific fact that is arithmetically, geometrically, or algebraically tied to the number itself, including by statistical significance, and where equalities near almost integer values.
Other associations or attributes
[edit]Highly culturally important references to numbers can be included, such as lucky or unlucky numbers (as a form of numerology), as long as there is a direct reference to mathematical properties of the number, even if mystical (i.e. The One in the philosophy of neoplatonism). See the essay Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content for guidance on how to select appropriate cultural references.
What not to include
[edit]Do not include content that relates to the article's title only as an identifier, or label, or simple enumeration, or measurement, or as a trivial mention. For example:
- Route 66 does not have a significant relationship with the number 66 - rather, the "66" is an identification code.
- 86 (novel series) is not about the number 86.
- The 35 in 35 mm film is a measurement, not a property of, or reference to, the number 35.
- The 9 in ISO 9 is a simple enumeration of a series of items, with no significant relationship with the number 9.
- The centre-forward in association football wearing the number 9 shirt is a trivial mention of the number 9.
If there is plausible ambiguity between such items and the given string of characters, the place to mention it would be on a disambiguation page for the number.
Finally, do not include other general content in the body of the article that is untied to the number as a mathematical object:
- telephone number calling codes,
- bus routes,
- firearms (i.e. Glock 17),
- military and transportation classes of vehicles, aircraft, or otherwise,
- album titles or song titles that include a numeral, or books (except for when they deal directly with the mathematics of a number, or reference it thoroughly in some way),
- sports jerseys (identified with numbers, or letters and numbers), NASCAR car numbers, etc.,
- world records of any sort, aside from records that could be of cultural interest in mathematics, such as enumerating digits of pi by memory, etc.
- marketed items, such as bubble gum 5.
Or any notion or item that is not directly relatable to mathematical aspects of the number (in this case, only its numeral is being referenced). If need-be, a hatnote atop the article can be used to link to another article if an important disambiguation is needed. This permits the article to remain focused on information that is primarily number-theoretical.
Citations
[edit]Just as with any information in Wikipedia, articles on numbers need to cite sources. (See Wikipedia:Citing sources for general information on citing sources). Some statements that are easily verified with a pocket calculator might not need citations (e.g., the fact that 2*3 = 6), but anything slightly more difficult to verify does.
It is not the place of this project to prescribe a citation format. Until Wikipedia decides on a uniform citation format, number articles may use whatever citation format would be acceptable in a mathematics journal.
Web versions of respected professional journals. The OEIS and Mathworld are not sufficient sources to for mathematical facts and should be avoided. It is acceptable for a number article to have few citations if the linked 'word' articles have primary and secondary sourcing.
Edit summaries
[edit]Every project member (indeed anyone who edits Wikipedia) is encouraged to write brief but complete edit summaries. (See Wikipedia:Edit summary for advice on writing edit summaries for articles on any topic).
For articles about numbers, or mathematics in general, it is advisable to use "linear algebra" (algebra typeset into a single line, without superscripts or subscripts) or pseudocode.
For example, instead of writing "Corrected mathematical formula to sum of reciprocals of squares of factorials instead of sum of reciprocals of factorials of squares, corrected links to Italian, Chinese Wikipedias", you could write "Corrected formula Sum(1/n!^2) instead of Sum(1/n^2!), corrected it:, zh:"
In edit summaries, use the mathematical operators available on the standard keyboard (+, -, *, /, ^) even though a different operator (e.g., ×) would be more appropriate in the article text.
Although Greek letters can technically be used in edit summaries, it is preferable to use the name of the letter spelled out in the English alphabet. For example, "Changed e to pi in formula", "Mu(100) is 0, not 1" (The article text should of course fully avail itself to any applicable Greek letters).
Some shorthand notations that might be useful:
n, num, # | An arbitrary integer |
p | An arbitrary prime number |
x, num, # | An arbitrary real number |
val | Value |
tri; sq, ^2; pentag; hexag; heptag, etc. | Triangular; square; pentagonal; hexagonal; heptagonal, etc. |
sum; prod | Sum; product |
!; !!; super!, $!; hyper!; ¡!, i!; !sum; 1/! | Factorial; double factorial; superfactorial; hyperfactorial; alternating factorial; factorial sum; reciprocal of factorial |
bin; oct; dec; hex | Binary; octal; decimal; hexadecimal |
Infobox, Docuan table | The table with binary, hexadecimal representation, factorization and other general data points about the number |
Progress
[edit]The following is the status of the project as of January, 2023.
Priority of mathematics articles
[edit]Following the level of priority set by WikiProject Mathematics:
Top-priority
[edit]There are four main top-priority mathematics number articles:
Currently, articles for 0 and 1 are well-written within their respective mathematics sections, however they are not generally referenced (even though they contain due links, they could use primary sourcing where possible, even when generalizing). The article for π is a featured article, and the article for e is a good article.
High-priority
[edit]Another fourteen relevant mathematics number articles are categorized as high-priority:
These have all recently been improved (2022-).
Mid-priority
[edit]At least four relevant mid-priority mathematical article are listed:
Low-priority
[edit]Articles that are listed as low-priority include:
- Integers: 261 and 666, as well as 2,147,483,647 and 4,294,967,295
- Constants: δs, √7
Methodical priority assignments to integer number articles have not really taken place, which is something that could be further investigated. For example, 24 (number) could be elevated to mid-priority, given the many important geometric and algebraic properties ligated to it. 12 is another such candidate.
Overview of the Project
[edit]There are continuous individual articles for positive integers from 1 to 299.
- From 300 to 1000, articles contain information for individual integers in ranges of hundreds (i.e. 400 through 499 in one page), with some entries linked to individual articles (such as with 360, and 720).
- From 1000 to 10000, they group in thousands, following the same scheme used for the groups of hundreds; again, some (1001 and 1729 spring to mind) have their own articles.
- From 10000 to 100000 articles grow in increments of ten thousand, with a few articles in between for individual numbers (like 65,536 and 65,537).
- From 105 through 109 articles are grouped in ranges of increments of powers of ten (i.e. the largest consecutive 10n article we have is for one billion).
- There are select number articles greater than 109 such as 2,147,483,647 and 4,294,967,295, and even extending to 1012, a googolplex, and Graham's number.
Navigation bars inside Docuan tables of number articles have been created with the follow functionality:
- Increments of 1 for all numbers between 0 and 270 (including redirects back to 260 between 260-269).
- Increments of 10 from 0 through 300 (bugging between 280 and 300, however).
- Increments of 100 from 0 through 1000 (starting at 100), of 1000 between 1000-9000, and of 10000 between 10000-90000.
- Increments by factors of 101 between 100 and 109 (i.e. 100, 101, 102, ... 109 with links starting at 105).
Status of disambiguation pages:
- 11 is a disambiguation page linking to 11 (number), AD 11 and other articles. Similarly for 12 to 99 inclusive.
- 100 (disambiguation) links to 100 (number page), AD 100, and other articles.
- 101 is a disambiguation page linking to 101 (number), AD 101, and other articles. Similarly from 102 to 150 inclusive.
- The next disambiguation number page is 163 (disambiguation), linking to 163 (number), 163 (the year) and other articles.
Articles for deletion
[edit]Current
[edit]For up-to-date and automatically updated list of articles for deletion, see Category:AfD debates subsection 0–9.
Participation
[edit]If you'd like to be part of the project, simply add your username!
Active members
[edit]- 4pq1injbok
- Allan Nonymous, armed with a frankly unhealthy amount of mathematical knowledge, is here to remove trivial factoids and other WP:CRUFT
- Barnards.tar.gz
- Buaidh (tables of numbers)
- Dhrm77
- Doctormatt
- Egil
- Fritzmann2002 (Working on fractions)
- Gap9551
- Imaginatorium
- KingAntenor
- Mathwriter2718
- Newystats
- Paintspot (standardizing the pages for lists of integers bigger than 300)
- Polyamorph
- Radlrb (focusing on 1 - 35 first, with a priority on 1 - 12)
- Sj (finally found this page. :))
Inactive or past members
[edit]- Bigdon128
- Certes
- Citizensadvice11 (Standardizing, categorizing and citation cleanup)
- Cpu502
- Docu
- EditingMachine
- Eequor
- Jkasd
- Qscgy256
- Radiant!
- ral315
- Reyk
- Rich Farmbrough
- Slord
Userboxes
[edit]Code | Result | |||
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{{Template:User interest numbers}} |
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Usage | ||
{{Template:User WP Numbers}} |
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Usage |
Some of the following talk pages include it: What links here
Talk
[edit]To add a message of this project to talk pages of number articles, use Template:NumberTalk that can be displayed with {{WikiProject Numbers}}.
![]() | Numbers | |||
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Resources
[edit]- Wikipedia:Notability (numbers)
- List of numbers and list of prime numbers
- List of mathematics articles (0–9) containing all mathematics articles starting with a number.
- List of natural number articles containing all natural number articles from 1 to 10,000, including red links.
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]numbertheory.org – lists of important contributions, number theorists, and concepts of interest