normal high asterisk in equation mode

Question

I was looking back at some of the equations that I had written and noticed that the asterisks weren't behaving how I was expecting it to (I also understand that my expectations may differ from other users).

The point is, I'm trying to get Q* but instead I get something like this Q✶. I've tried using the caret (^) for superscript but it looks awfully small.

Does anyone know a way to get the asterisk to behave as if it is in the normal text environment while in the equation mode?

Answer 1

The text asterisk is raised, while the math asterisk is used for denoting an operation.

You can use \mbox{*} or \text{*} (if you load amsmath).

However, in general $Q^{*}$ is preferred.

You can get the behavior automatically:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

%%% magic code starts
\mathcode`*=\string"8000
\begingroup
\catcode`*=\active
\xdef*{\noexpand\textup{\string*}}
\endgroup
%%% magic code ends

\begin{document}
$a^{\ast} Q*$
\end{document}

I've added \ast that is the usual math asterisk for a comparison.

I'd recommend using the first form.