# What's the recommended way to raise a possible proof as a question?

I am a self-taught math amateur who came to this site primarily to learn. It is a great place for asking any mathematical question! The site has provided me with an unprecedented ability to gain understanding on what would otherwise be esoteric topics (gamma function, log-convex functions, Stirling approximation, Ramanujan's proof of Betrand's postulate, Jitsuro Nagura's classic 1952 proof, etc.) Thank you very much for this great learning experience! :-)

As a result of all these tips and hints, I've started coming up with what might be elementary mathematical proofs. I assumed that I was making some mistake somewhere and asked the question such as "Where is my mistake..." or "Is this valid...".

Interestingly, all 3 of my proposed proofs have gotten upvotes (8 upvotes for the first, 15 upvotes for the second, and 5 upvotes for a third). Unfortunately, I didn't get any answers such as "this is well known" or "you have a gap in step 2" or "it might be worth developing more". I am wondering on the best way to proceed to get this type of feedback.

Should I at this point create a bounty for the question? Should I pose the question on a different site? Would it be appropriate for me to ask a more directed question to the site such as "Is there anything here that might merit consideration for being posted on arxiv.org?"

Thanks very much,

-Larry

Update: I have received comments on the third attempted proof. Mistakes were found which invalidate the argument.

• Could you please link to the 3 proposed proofs. – Math Gems Apr 13 '13 at 16:44
• Bounties are the usual way of getting more eyes. – Aryabhata Apr 13 '13 at 16:44
• Thanks for the request, Math Gems! I've added the links to the three proposed elementary proofs. – Larry Freeman Apr 13 '13 at 17:14
• Thanks, @Aryabhata, I've started a bounty of $50$ for one of my questions. Cheers. – Larry Freeman Apr 13 '13 at 19:15
• Do you have a brother called Gordon? – Asaf Karagila Apr 14 '13 at 0:07
• No. My only brother is named Scott. – Larry Freeman Apr 14 '13 at 1:48
• I believe it is not necessary to adjust the numbers each time you receive an upvote, comment or answer. It should go without saying that these numbers are bound to change, and were correct at the time of writing. – Martin Apr 18 '13 at 11:51
• Sorry. I'll stop doing that. – Larry Freeman Apr 18 '13 at 14:14
• meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/4597/… – Michael Greinecker Apr 19 '13 at 0:03
• Thanks, Michael. I appreciate the answer. I realize that it's dangerous to ask for review of a proof so I tried to keep my argument short and my logical steps clear. My hope is that even when mistakes are found, my question is still of interest to ambitious undergraduates or early graduate students. – Larry Freeman Apr 19 '13 at 2:57