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I am not a native English speaker, but as a mathematician (well, PhD student in mathematics) I need to write daily in this language. Sometimes, I have doubts about the correct formulation of certain sentences, and as I tend to be a perfectionist, this makes me waste a lot of time on research on the web. Sometimes, however, I am not able to find what I am looking for. This is one of these times.

A section of an article I am writing is dedicated to notions already well-known in the literature, and in particular to a theorem called the Homotopy Transfer Theorem. I want to make this explicit in the title of the section, thus I named it

Reminder of the Homotopy Transfer Theorem.

However my advisor (who is also not a native English speaker) told me that I should write

Reminder on the Homotopy Transfer Theorem.

As already mentioned, I looked online but my research was not conclusive. For example, in this discussion in a forum they say that it is a matter of "what sounds better". Does anyone have a rule on which one to use - of, or on - or, if both are correct, an opinion on which one sounds better in this case?

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  • PS: I am not sure if I tagged the question correctly. If you have suggestions for further or different tags, feel free to tell me or to directly edit the question.
    – Daniel Robert-Nicoud
    Commented Feb 1, 2017 at 18:19

2 Answers 2

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A reminder of the theorem can mean just reminding people that it exists.

A reminder on the theorem or (better) a reminder about the theorem means that the reminder includes some information about the theorem.

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Reminder of.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/reminder

Examples:

‘As the room emptied out at the end of the hearing, they remained the only physical reminders of the traumatic testimony that had expired.’

‘The sound of nearby gunfire interrupts the inspection, a stark reminder of the dangers never far away.’

‘The walls remain, a purposeful reminder of the waste of war, and the roofless interior become a sort of peace park for contemplation.’

‘His faced loomed before her, a bittersweet reminder of her past.’

‘They probably served as visual reminders of wartime experiences - either as private memories or collective talking points for survivors.’

‘The film is a poignant reminder of the reasons to live - love, laughter, vibrancy.’

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