Math Data

A system for representing, storing, and sharing mathematical objects and benchmarks.

normal master phd algebra combinatorics optimization 6

Modern science produces increasingly large volumes of data consisting of mathematical (structured) objects. Despite this trend there is no standard way of representing mathematical data. Each group develops in-house formats adequate for their particular application, making data sharing and reuse costly.

The mathdata project addresses several fundamental problems:

  1. Reinventing the wheel — existing data is reproduced each time instead of reused.
  2. Babel effect — knowledge about the same object from different sources is hard to combine.
  3. Modern tools — the math community cannot leverage modern data storage and analytic methods.
  4. Credibility — self-selected benchmarks reduce the credibility of algorithm comparisons.
  5. Reproducibility — results cannot be independently reproduced if data is not shareable.

Goals

  • Develop a language (MathDataLang) for describing mathematical data
  • Implement a database of mathdata objects
  • Build a system for automatic benchmarking
  • Create a community around MathData

Project Parts

Authentication — owner, editor, user, and external roles; LDAP and cross-database authentication.

Backend — git-based storage for reproducibility; scalable distributed architecture.

Frontend — web interface for querying and submitting data.

DataSanitizer — validates instances against MathDataLang definitions.

Resources

Plan

gantt
  title mathdata — Plan
  dateFormat  YYYY-MM-DD
  axisFormat  %b %d
  Schema draft                  :done,   m1, 2025-11-01, 2025-11-10
  Canonical forms + hashing    :active, m2, 2025-11-11, 2025-12-20
  Serializers & round-trips    :        m3, 2025-12-21, 2026-01-30
  Integration demos            :        m4, 2026-01-31, 2026-02-28