Command for argmin or argmax?

Question

How can you get the argmin or argmax in Latex? Two solutions I found are:

\underset{x}{\operatorname{argmax}} 

\DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min}

Any other ideas?

How do these solutions (especially the second) feel not right? The \DeclareMathOperator is the way to go in this case.
The second one use italics for argmin. Most reference I see use the normal font for argmin. The first one use the normal font and works OK, but looks a little cumbersome to me. I wonder if there is an of the shelf solution, given that argmin is a relatively common symbol.
You are right. I tried before but forgot the \ in front of \argmin. Stupid me.
It would really help, when asking this kind of questions, to specify what is wrong with the solutions you found, and what features are you actually looking for.

Jan Hlavacek · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-12 04:05:03Z

up vote 28 down vote accepted

As Pieter says in his comment, \DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min} is indeed the correct LaTeX way to do that.

answered Nov 12 '10 at 4:05

Jan Hlavacek
9,5892147

12

If you use \DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{\arg\!\min} you get rid of the ugly space between arg and min. – rbp Apr 6 '11 at 21:39

2

@rbp Why should one use \arg\min when simply argmin does the same? – egreg Jul 8 '12 at 15:31

@egreg you're right. I arrived at this one from some experimentation with other options, and didn't look back :) – rbp Jul 9 '12 at 11:56

And don't forget to load the "amsmath" package... \usepackage{amsmath} \DeclareMathOperator*{\argmin}{arg\,min} etc. – user24477 Jan 16 at 15:49

Michael Litvin · Answer 2 · 2012-05-22 19:55:15Z

up vote 4 down vote

I use \newcommand{\argmin}{\operatornamewithlimits{argmin}}.

answered May 22 '12 at 19:55

Michael Litvin
411

2 Answers