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I want to create a macro
\d
where something like
$4+\d x$
is interpreted as
$4+d\! x$
but
$\int f(x) \d x$
is interpreted as
$\int f(x) \,d\! x$
In essence, I want the macro to behave differently if it is preceded by a binary operation.
The trick is to define
\newcommand{\diff}{\mathop{}\!d}
Example:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\newcommand{\diff}{\mathop{}\!d}
\begin{document}
$4+dx$ % for comparison
$4+\diff x$
\bigskip
$\displaystyle\int f(x) dx$ % for comparison
$\displaystyle\int f(x)\diff x$
\end{document}
Note that the output of d\!x is
which is clearly wrong.
Don't redefine \d, which is a command for accents. You'd regret doing it, sooner or later, for instance when you cite some Indian author.
d\!x? – egreg Dec 15 '15 at 15:08\newcommand{\diff}{\mathop{}\!d}does what you want. Don't redefine\d. – egreg Dec 15 '15 at 15:09\mathopyou get the same behavior as with\sinor\log, that leave a thin space if preceded by an ordinary or closing symbol, but not with a binary operation or relation symbol. – egreg Dec 15 '15 at 15:25