frown and mathop/stackrel/overset

Question

I need something like \stackrel{\frown}{MM'} to express the fact that MM' is some path. But I am not really satisfied by the look of the result. The \frown is too high. Would you please have a suggestion?

Edit 1: I just discovered that the font I'm using, ie kpfonts, offers a nice widearc command which suits my needs.

Answer 1

You may try \wideparen from the yhmath package:

\usepackage{yhmath}
...
$\wideparen{MM'}$

Answer 2

You can use arcs package for this. It provide \overarc command. But this package seems broken on my computer. :(

You can also use \wideparen provided by yhmath font package. yhmath is compatible with default CM fonts.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yhmath}

\begin{document}
$\wideparen{MM'}$
\end{document}

MnSymbol package, mathdesign package, and maybe some other math font packages, also provide \wideparen. It would be great if you use MinionPro with MnSymbol, or Utopia with mathdesign fonts.

For example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utopia]{mathdesign}

\begin{document}
$\wideparen{MM'}$
\end{document}

Answer 3

Accent seems like a way to go (example with XITS and XeTeX, in Plain):

\def\frown{\XeTeXmathaccent"0"1"23DC}
$$ \frown{MM'} \int\limits_{\frown{MM'}} $$
\bye

Answer 4

from fourier added in preamble

\DeclareFontEncoding{FMX}{}{}%%%
\DeclareFontSubstitution{FMX}{futm}{m}{n}%%%
\DeclareSymbolFont{largesymbols}{FMX}{futm}{m}{n}
\DeclareMathAccent{\widearc}{\mathord}{largesymbols}{216}

Use

\[\widearc{MM'} + \int\limits_{\widearc{MM'}}\]

Answer 5

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,amsmath}
\newcommand\bigfrown[2][\textstyle]{\ensuremath{%
  \array[b]{c}\text{\scalebox{2}{$#1\frown$}}\\[-1.3ex]#1#2\endarray}}

\begin{document}

foo \bigfrown{MM'} bar

\[\int\limits_{\protect\bigfrown[\scriptstyle]{MM'}}\]

\end{document}

Answer 6

If you don't mind having straight lines instead of an arc, you could use \overbracket from the mathtools package:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mathtools}

\begin{document}

$\overbracket{MM'}$

\end{document}