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I am using a footnote in the caption of a table that is rather lengthy, causing latex to split it and put some of it on the next page. Here is a MWE:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt,oneside,fleqn]{scrbook}
\usepackage[ngerman,english]{babel} % language listed last is default setting
\usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc}

\usepackage{lipsum}

%\interfootnotelinepenalty=10000

\begin{document}

\lipsum[1]
\lipsum[2]
\lipsum[3]
\footnote{The first footnote on this page.}
\lipsum[4]

\begin{table}[h!] \centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|} \hline
\textbf{Interaction} & \textbf{Mediator} & \textbf{couples to} & \textbf{Strength} & \textbf{Range} \\ \hline \hline
Strong & gluon ($g$) & colour charge $C$ & 1 & $10^{-15} \; \mathrm{m}$ \\ \hline
Electromagnetism & photon ($\gamma$) & electric charge $Q$ & $10^{-2}$ & $\infty \; (1/r^2)$ \\ \hline
Weak & $W^{\pm}$, $Z^0$ & weak isospin $T_3$ & $10^{-5}$ & $10^{-18} \; \mathrm{m}$ \\ \hline
Gravitation & graviton ($G$) & mass $m$ & $10^{-39}$ & $\infty \; (1/r^2)$ \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The four fundamental interactions. Relative interaction strengths{\protect\footnotemark} have been normalised with respect to the strong interaction.}
\label{FundamentalInteractions}
\end{table}

\footnotetext{The values provided are approximate and serve only as a coarse comparison. The true value of the coupling constant for each interaction depends on the length scale being considered.}

\lipsum[5]
\lipsum[6]

\end{document}

I am aware that \interfoonotepenalty=10000 can be used to prevent the footnote from being split across pages. However, this moves the entire footnote to the next page. I would like to prevent the splitting AND have the footnote appear on the same page. I would also like to keep the geometry of the page constant, e.g. the page length, etc. What I want is simply for latex to reserve more room for footnotes if it is needed. I also came across the command \dimen\footins which I think is doing what I'm looking for, but it didn't work for me (although this might just be because I don't know how to use it properly: I've tried adding \dimen\footins{20in} to the preamble).

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  • tex.stackexchange.com/questions/3045/…?
    – cfr
    Mar 22, 2015 at 23:43
  • To be honest I'd rather just use a regular table and have the footnote at the bottom of the page. The linked page is the one I've already had a look at. But how do I use \dimen\footins?? I've added \dimen\footins{20in} \raggedbottom \addtolength{\topskip}{0pt plus 10pt} to the preamble, but I just get an error saying "! Missing number, treated as zero." Mar 22, 2015 at 23:44
  • \dimen\footins 20in or whatever. However, with your example, all I can get it to do is move the footnote entirely to the next page. That is, it does figure out a page break earlier - before the footnote.
    – cfr
    Mar 22, 2015 at 23:52
  • 1
    That shouldn't be a footnote, but part of the caption.
    – egreg
    Mar 22, 2015 at 23:58
  • 2
    If you really want the table to be where you put it and nowhere else, then it is going to be impossible for LaTeX to handle this in a way which meets all of your desiderata. You can force the footnote all onto that page, but this will force the table to float to the next page.
    – cfr
    Mar 23, 2015 at 0:01

1 Answer 1

2

this may be a solution

\skip\footins=-\bigskipamount % or something else
\begin{table}[h!] \centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|} \hline
\textbf{Interaction} & \textbf{Mediator} & \textbf{couples to} & \textbf{Strength} & \textbf{Range} \\ \hline \hline
Strong & gluon ($g$) & colour charge $C$ & 1 & $10^{-15} \; \mathrm{m}$ \\ \hline
Electromagnetism & photon ($\gamma$) & electric charge $Q$ & $10^{-2}$ & $\infty \; (1/r^2)$ \\ \hline
Weak & $W^{\pm}$, $Z^0$ & weak isospin $T_3$ & $10^{-5}$ & $10^{-18} \; \mathrm{m}$ \\ \hline
Gravitation & graviton ($G$) & mass $m$ & $10^{-39}$ & $\infty \; (1/r^2)$ \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The four fundamental interactions. Relative interaction strengths{\protect\footnotemark} have been normalised with respect to the strong interaction.}
\label{FundamentalInteractions}
\end{table}
\skip\footins=\bigskipamount

enter image description here

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  • Thank you, this works just fine. Nonetheless I am still interested in a general solution that simply tells latex to push as much text onto the next page as is necessary in order to fit all footnotes on their corresponding pages. Mar 23, 2015 at 0:52

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