{math-mode} is about typesetting mathematical content, e.g. tweaking the appearance of spacing and symbols in a formula, or producing specific mathematical constructs. For questions about "wrapper" environments like equation or align, consider the tag {equations}.
141
votes
7answers
6k views
Why is \[ … \] preferable to $$ … $$?
I've heard that you should use \[ ... \] for displayed equations instead of $$ ... $$, but why is that?
I'd assumed that it's so that you can more easily tell which are starting and which are ending ...
119
votes
8answers
4k views
Are \( and \) preferable to dollar signs for math mode?
Along the lines of Why is \[ ... \] preferable to $$?, what reasons are there (if any) to favor \( ... \) over $ ... $?
27
votes
3answers
2k views
\subseteq + \circ as a single symbol (“open subset”)
I'm trying to create symbols \opn for "open subset" and \cls "closed subset". I want them to look like this:
My current solution is:
...
40
votes
4answers
5k views
When not to use \ensuremath for math macro?
I have gotten into the habit of using \ensuremath around math components in every macro that I define, so that I can use the same macro inside and outside of math mode. But egreg's comments in ...
18
votes
4answers
3k views
Define additional math operators to be typeset in roman
Mathematical operators, such as function names, should be set in roman type, not italics. Latex already has commands for some operators, including \max, \min, and \log. How can I define additional ...
41
votes
3answers
2k views
Spacing around \left and \right
Why does the addition of a \left and \right introduces an extra space around the formula? Specifically, why do $\cos(\theta)$ and $\cos\left(\theta\right)$ render differently?
Is there a way to use ...
21
votes
4answers
2k views
How to draw arrows between parts of an equation to show the Math Distributive Property (Multiplication)?
there is a part of my paper where I use the distributive property and it's not that clear for the reader to see (I'm using in proposional logic for a proof). The logic equation (part of) is:
(l_{1}) ...
19
votes
2answers
3k views
Separate long math text under sum symbol into different lines?
I have the following equation, where there is a lot of stuff under the sum symbol:
\begin{equation}
d(\vec{x},\vec{y})=
\sum_{Z_{xy}\in\vec{Z}_{xy},\forall x\in\vec{x},\forall y\in\vec{y}}
...
14
votes
4answers
3k views
How to make \left, \right pairs of delimiter work over multiple lines?
I have a very long equation that must be separated into two lines, and it has several pairs of nesting \left \right delimiters. Unfortunately, it seems that they need to be on the same line in order ...
40
votes
6answers
31k views
How can I get bold math symbols?
To make Latin-letter variables bold I can use e.g. \mathbf{a}, but while putting Greek letters or symbols such as \nabla inside \mathbf doesn't cause any errors or warnings, it also doesn't do ...
32
votes
4answers
31k views
How can I split an equation over two lines
I am having the following equation:
\begin{equation}
Q(\lambda,\hat{\lambda}) = -\frac{1}{2} P(O \mid \lambda ) \sum_s \sum_m \sum_t \gamma_m^{(s)} (t) \left( n \log(2 \pi ) + \log \left| C_m^{(s)} ...
17
votes
2answers
3k views
Overlay symbol with another
Is it possible to overlay a symbol with another?
I want to write an equal sign with a question mark overlayed (or the other way around).
Note I don't want
\stackrel{?}{=}
I want the question ...
33
votes
2answers
4k views
“Closed” (square) root symbol
I found a cool trick in the LaTeX wikibook which allows the square root sign to be altered such that it "closes" over its contents.
Here's an example:
("closed" root on the left, normal one on the ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Vertically asymmetric size variation for parentheses
One of the difficulties I have with writing formulas in LaTeX is that the standard sizing tools for the variable-size operators (parentheses, etc.) do not account for "high" symbols and "low" symbols ...
19
votes
2answers
4k views
Can I get a \widebar without using the mathabx package?
One can use \bar to put a bar over a letter in math mode, but often the bar isn't wide enough. An alternative is \overline, but this isn't an accent, so it doesn't take into account the skew of the ...
17
votes
4answers
9k views
Show inline math as if it were display math
I'm very familiar with how symbols display differently in inline mode (with $) vs. how display math shows them (with \[ or $$). Two examples would be with limits
$\lim_{n\righarrow \infty}f(x)$
...
24
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the “correct” way of embedding text into math mode?
Lets say I have something like:
\[ Let x = number of cats \]
(This is a contrived example, but pretend we are actually inside a long align environment block...) "Let" and "number of cats" need to ...
14
votes
4answers
1k views
Is there a test for the different styles inside maths mode?
Is there a test for the different styles within maths mode? What I really want is to be able to save the current style to reinvoke it later on, but a \if along the lines of \ifmmode would work just ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I lower the \widetilde accent, i.e., move it closer to the variable?
I sometimes find that the \widetilde accents sits too high above the math letter it is applied to. An example:
To me it looks as if the first tilde is sitting just in between the two lines; it is ...
34
votes
2answers
2k views
automatic size adjustment for nested parentheses
As I prefer outer parentheses to grow larger in nested expressions, I happen to insert \bigl and \bigr and its larger cousins a lot. I have always wondered whether there is a way to do this ...
51
votes
8answers
7k views
How to typeset $:=$ correctly?
I like to use $:=$ for "is defined to be equal to", but this is never typeset with the symmetry one would like, as the colon is always too low relatively to the equals sign. Is there any way of ...
37
votes
2answers
28k views
Absolute Value Symbols
What is the "best LaTeX practices" for writing absolute value symbols? Are there any packages which provide good methods?
Some options include |x| and \mid x \mid, but I'm not sure which is best...
14
votes
4answers
1k views
Subscripts for primed variables
When I add a subscript to a primed variable, the subscript is rendered lower than when it is a subscript to an unprimed variable.
For example, when I compile
$l_x l'_x l_x l'_x l_x l'_x$
I get
...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
Nice-looking p-th roots
When I take the pth root, the bottom of the p comes very close to the \sqrt symbol. In the New Century Schoolbook font (which I am using), the p actually intersects the \sqrt symbol, which looks even ...
20
votes
5answers
4k views
How can I write multiple lines in a subscript?
Is there a way to force a line break inside a math mode text?
My example:
\[
\underbrace{....}_\text{Some long text that should be multiline}
\]
Trying
\text{Some long text that\\ should be ...
20
votes
4answers
951 views
Can I have a flexible partial derivative macro?
I was thinking about writing a partial derivative macro that has a similar syntax to the Mathematica D function. (example)
The syntax could be like this:
\D{f}{x} expands to \frac{\partial ...
19
votes
5answers
1k views
Macro for \left( and \right)
I know there has been discussion about this topic, but I haven't seen a working solution.
Is it possible to define a macro within LaTeX, such that inside math mode, ( would produce \left( and ) would ...
32
votes
6answers
2k views
Automatic left and right commands
Is it possible to automatically "add" \left and \right commands in front of all brackets? The source code should be left intact, but LaTeX should interpret every pair of brackets as if they were ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Align two inequalities
I am trying to align two inequlities vertically. The \le signs should have the same horizontal positions and the term in the should be centered. My first attempt:
\begin{align*}
\sum a &\le \sum ...
18
votes
4answers
2k views
Using display style fraction in a matrix environment
I'd like use the \dfrac command in a bmatrix environment as follows:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\[
\begin{bmatrix}
\dfrac{\partial f}{\partial x}
\\
...
9
votes
4answers
801 views
How to create my own math operator with limits?
How can i write my own math operator with limits? I want it to look like:
\sum\limits_{e=1}^{m}
but with a capital A (if possible bigger than the normal text) instead of the sum.
Thanks for the ...
6
votes
3answers
629 views
use of tikzpicture matrix in align or gather environment
So far I have found using the matrix command in the TikZ package is the only way of drawing a T-shape around the bottom row and middle column of entries in a matrix. I now need to use this matrix in ...
13
votes
2answers
552 views
Make mathfont respect the surrounding family
How can one make the math mode change its font according to the surrounding text?
I have to use (pdf)latex. xelatex, luatex etc. are not possible alternatives in this case.
\documentclass{scrartcl}
...
7
votes
3answers
388 views
A \boxed alternative with minimal spacing?
The following code comes from this post. The problem is that I would like a way to automate the size of the box so as to be very small with a few of spacing, but the following solution doesn't work ...
34
votes
3answers
1k views
Which command should I use for displayed equations?
A number of related questions have already been asked about this issue:
align vs equation
which is preferable to
what to do with this hyperref note on amsmath
and even eqnarray vs align
But I'm ...
36
votes
2answers
8k views
Allowing line break at ',' in inline math mode?
In the inline math mode ($...$), if the formula is too long, LaTeX will try to break it on operators, e.g.
very long text followed by a very long equation like $a+b+c+d+e+f+g+h+i+j+k+l$ etc
may be ...
37
votes
4answers
12k views
\mid, | (vertical bar), \vert, \lvert, \rvert, \divides
What's the difference between the different vertical bars?
$S = \{\, x \mid x \not= 17 \,\}$
$a \vert b$ implies $a \leq b$ when $b \ne 0$
$a|b$ implies $a \leq b$ when $b \ne 0$
$\lvert x \rvert$ is ...
23
votes
6answers
6k views
Prevent LaTeX to break an inline math equation
I hope this question was not asked before. At least I haven't found it. I have an inline math equation and LaTeX is breaking it into two parts. In this case I'd prefer to have the whole and short ...
18
votes
5answers
11k views
Lowercase \mathcal
The standard font used for \mathcal does not include any lowercase characters. The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbols List suggests redefining \mathcal to use Zapf Chancery. However I do not particularly ...
16
votes
2answers
765 views
How to change default for spacing around binary relations?
In TeX and LaTeX, the math binary relations (like =, \parallel, <, \le ...) have a default (rubber-length) spacing to either side, which is too large for my liking. How can reduce it?
18
votes
3answers
477 views
Curly brace to insert something into an equation? Like an inverted underbrace
I have a generic equation, into which I want to "insert" something so that the reader can see what I inserted into the equation and at which point.
E.g.
\documentclass{plain}
\begin{document}
\[ f ...
22
votes
2answers
21k views
Command for argmin or argmax?
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?
[1] ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
Why can I only use some capital greek letters inside my equations?
For example:
\begin{equation}
\delta % ok
\Delta % ok
\epsilon % ok
\Epsilon % error
\end{equation}
18
votes
2answers
679 views
The mysteries of \mathpalette
I would like to make a macro, \vfrac, which output would look like:
$$\displaylines{
\displaystyle\raise.25ex\hbox{$\displaystyle1$}\!/\!\lower.5ex\hbox{$\displaystyle2$} \cr
...
4
votes
2answers
326 views
Despite using backslash dollar sign, error persists
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}
\begin{document}
\title{Kubuntu Setup}
Don't forget your architecture is not i386, but x86_64. Better to use {\tt \$(uname -i)} instead of manually specifying ...
4
votes
4answers
649 views
How can I define a math operator behaving like \lim?
I want to define \ext to behave exactly like \lim.
I tried \newcommand{\ext}{{\mathrm{ext}}\,} but that doesn't behave exactly like \lim.
25
votes
4answers
5k views
When one should use spacing line \quad or \,
In general, in most places, it is said that using TeX defaults is the best. However, TeX does provide things like \, and \quad etc. When one should use them? Both in general and in math mode in ...
39
votes
4answers
19k views
“(” or “\left(” parentheses?
What is the difference between ( and \left( in LaTeX? Sometimes, when the content is small, it does not seem to matter which pair I use.
What is the best practice when it comes to which parentheses ...
23
votes
6answers
1k views
Bad positioning of math accents for the beamer standard font
With a recent TeX distribution, the easy answer to this question is "load the sansmathaccent package" (which is Ariel's implementation of my answer). Actually, the corrected font should be loaded ...
22
votes
3answers
2k views
What are the differences between $$, \[, align, equation and displaymath?
I once learnt, that it is uncool to use $$, but why is that? Why does \[ not act as a abbreviation to \begin{align}? I noticed, that there is a difference, since one cannot use & and \\ inside a ...
