# Control of spacing between equation lines when using split

I am using this LaTex template (see gmuthesis.sty and GMU_thesis_template.tex in the linked zip file) to generate a thesis. It has some long equations in it. When I render the below equation in the context of the template, I get picture A. When I render it in a barebones document having just the equation, I get picture B. I would like my equations to render like picture B. What setting is controlling the spacing between lines, and how should I change it?

Equation

\documentclass[11 pt]{report}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
$\frac{100}{2} = \frac{\begin{split}&\text{DG:SG:Granule } + \text{DG:SG:Total Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:MOLAX } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:Outer Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:HICAP } + \text{DG:SG:Axo-Axonic } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:HIPP } + \text{DG:SG:Aspiny Hilar } + \text{DG:SG:Basket-PV } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:Basket-CCK } + \text{DG:SG:Non-Ivy / NGF }\end{split}}{\begin{split}&\text{DG:SG:Total Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:MOLAX } + \text{DG:SG:Outer Molecular } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:HICAP } + \text{DG:SG:Axo-Axonic } + \text{DG:SG:HIPP } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:Aspiny Hilar } + \text{DG:SG:Basket-PV } + \text{DG:SG:Basket-CCK } +\\ & \text{DG:SG:Non-Ivy / NGF }\end{split}}$
\end{document}


Picture A

Picture B

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Could you please post a link to the mentioned template? –  karlkoeller Nov 15 '13 at 5:30
@karlkoeller Sorry about that, it's now linked –  Sean Mackesey Nov 15 '13 at 5:34
Also, the code you've posted is not compilable... –  karlkoeller Nov 15 '13 at 5:41
Also, the code you've posted doesn't correspond to the images; what should be the final look? –  Mico Nov 15 '13 at 5:53
I can't get the code to compile. Can I suggest you define the denominator as one term (D for illustration) and the numerator as another (say N) and then express the fraction in those terms. It will not only be easier to read, it will look more attractive. Also, have you used the align environment? –  Jason Whyte Nov 15 '13 at 6:01

(second thought: with every term appearing in the denominator also appearing in the numerator, another choice of definition would make the content of the expression even clearer. I'll leave that for you to discuss with your advisor. ;] )

The maths doesn't have to do absolutely everything. For a (quick, imperfect) example:

\documentclass[11 pt]{report}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
The highly important matter of this thesis is summarised by the fraction
\begin{gather}
X = \frac{N}{D} \\
\noalign{\hbox{where the numerator}}
\begin{aligned}
N &= \text{DG:SG:Granule } + \text{DG:SG:Total Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:MOLAX } +\\
& \text{DG:SG:Outer Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:HICAP } + \text{DG:SG:Axo-Axonic } +\\
& \text{DG:SG:HIPP } + \text{DG:SG:Aspiny Hilar } + \text{DG:SG:Basket-PV } +\\
& \text{DG:SG:Basket-CCK } + \text{DG:SG:Non-Ivy / NGF },
\end{aligned}  \notag \\
\noalign{\hbox{consists of the top terms and the denominator}}
\begin{aligned}
D &=\text{DG:SG:Total Molecular } + \text{DG:SG:MOLAX } + \text{DG:SG:Outer Molecular } +\\
& \text{DG:SG:HICAP } + \text{DG:SG:Axo-Axonic } + \text{DG:SG:HIPP } +\\
& \text{DG:SG:Non-Ivy / NGF } .
\end{aligned} \notag \\
\noalign{\hbox{contains more bottom-related terms that are less granular in nature..}} \notag
\end{gather}

\end{document}


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I was able to solve this problem by providing an extra argument to \\; I replaced each \\ with \\[-20pt]. More info about adjusting line spacing in this way can be found here. I tried several other things as well:

• adjusting jot: \setlength{\jot}{2pt}. I found that if I set the jot size to large values I could INCREASE the spacing between lines, but I wanted to decrease them. Setting jot below a certain limit had no further effect; 2pt did nothing more than 5pt, for instance.
• adjusting baselineskip; no effect
• adjusting baselinestretch; no effect

Here is a good description of jot.

From this description of baselineskip, it looks like this was somehow the problem. If anyone has any insight here, please comment!

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