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The tag was created last month. It has empty tag info. Just by the name, there are two common uses of the word similarity in mathematics, namely similarity of matrices and similarity of geometrical objects.

Using a word with several meanings as a name of a tag often leads to inconsistent usage of this tag.

Currently there are 7 questions having this tag. Most of them seem to be about matrices. But I found also questions about cosine similarity.

Do we need this tag? If yes, what should it contain and what should tag-wiki look like? Would it be better to have a separate tag for matrix similarity and similarity in geometry?

EDIT: Since no answers were posted for some time, I have posted some poll answers, which math.SE users could upvote based on their preferences. (I think that posting answer with arguments why the tags should be kept/removed is better than simply polling. But since some arguments have already been posted in comments and no answer has been posted, I thought that this might be a good way to provide an option for members of this site to show their opinion on the matter.)

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    $\begingroup$ I noticed it as well, the other day, and considered adding it to the tagging thread. It seems early enough in the tag's history to be salvageable through specification, if it can be decided which meaning to use. If we decide on matrix similarity, I think it would be nice to include more general algebraic conjugation as well. $\endgroup$
    – pjs36
    Jun 6, 2016 at 13:15
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    $\begingroup$ @pjs36 I have decided to post it as a separate thread since there are several possible outcomes, which should be discussed. (Keep as one tag, divide into two tags, remove altogether, ...) $\endgroup$ Jun 6, 2016 at 13:17
  • $\begingroup$ @psj36 By conjugation you mean conjugation in group theory? (You could post the suggestion to create the tag for both conjugation and matrix similarity - if that's what you meant - as an answer; so that other users can comment and vote on that suggestion.) $\endgroup$ Jun 6, 2016 at 13:36
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, I had group theoritical conjugation in mind. If I can figure out exactly what I'm proposing, and how to word it, I'll do that (I'm glad you posted a separate thread, I think it warrants more discussion than an answer in the tag organization thread should have). $\endgroup$
    – pjs36
    Jun 6, 2016 at 16:17
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    $\begingroup$ I vote to kill the tag because it's too vague to be useful. We could simply have similar-matrices to cover the linear algebra case, and a tag with a better name than geometric-similarity for geometry. $\endgroup$
    – user296602
    Jun 6, 2016 at 17:01
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    $\begingroup$ It doesn't appeal to me as a useful tag, even with refinement to one topic or the other. My rule of thumb is whether the tag is useful for search, i.e. for classification. Matrix similarity seems all too close to "eigenvalues-eigenvectors" or to "matrix-decomposition" for classification purposes, while geometric similarity seems covered by "geometry" or possibly some of the more specialized tags. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Jun 6, 2016 at 17:20

3 Answers 3

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Please, upvote this answer if you think that the tag is not useful and should be removed.

Please, downvote this answer if you think that the should stay. (So that the total score of this answer gives an indication of general opinion on this tag.)

If the decision is that we should keep this tag, the tag info should specify that the tag is intended for both similarity of matrices and similarity in geometry. And that adding other tags to distinguish between these two possibilities should is recommended.

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  • $\begingroup$ I have accepted this answer, since the voting seems to be clearly in favor of removing this tag (at the moment 17 upvotes and no downvotes). I will start slowly removing the (similarity) tag from questions. $\endgroup$ Jun 20, 2016 at 14:46
  • $\begingroup$ The tag (similarity) is now completely removed. $\endgroup$ Jun 22, 2016 at 5:12
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Please, upvote this answer if you think that separate tag for similarity in geometry can be useful and should be created. (It could be called, for example, or . This would mean that if the tag is removed, the questions about similarity of geometric objects should be retagged with this new tag.)

If you disagree, please, downvote this answer. (So that the total score of this answer gives an indication of general opinion on this tag.)

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Please, upvote this answer if you think that separate tag for similarity of matrices can be useful and should be created. (It could be called, for example, or ). This would mean that if the tag is removed, the questions about matrices should be retagged with this new tag.)

If you disagree, please, downvote this answer. (So that the total score of this answer gives an indication of general opinion on this tag.)

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