# different font for mathcal while using mathpazo+eulervm

I have been using mathpazo + eulervm for my LaTeX documents and I'm very happy with the results, with one exception: The characters for \mathcal do not come out the way I want; I prefer the \mathcal font under mathpazo alone. Two independent questions:

1. Is there a way to use the \mathcal fonts under mathpazo for the entire mathpazo+eulervm document?

2. Is there a way to use the \mathcal fonts under mathpazo for a specific letter for the entire mathpazo+eulervm document?

The \mathcal version defined by mathpazo is given by

\DeclareSymbolFont{symbols}{OMS}{zplm}{m}{n}
\SetSymbolFont{symbols}{bold}{OMS}{zplm}{b}{n}
\DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathcal}{symbols}


These and other math fonts definitions are of course overwritten by the ones of eulervm, so the only thing mathpazo is doing there is using a Palatino font for text. (For that you might want to switch to TeX Gyre Pagella or New PX, but that's a matter of taste.)

If you don't mind wasting a math alphabet you can adapt the lines given above to something like

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{mathpazo}
\usepackage{eulervm}
\DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathpazocal}{OMS}{zplm}{m}{n}
\SetMathAlphabet{\mathpazocal}{bold}{OMS}{zplm}{b}{n}

\begin{document}

% eulervm version
$\mathcal{ABCDE}$ {\boldmath$\mathcal{ABCDE}$}

% mathpazo version for one single symbol
$\mathpazocal{ABCDE}$ {\boldmath$\mathpazocal{ABCDE}$}

% make them synonyms
\DeclareRobustCommand*{\mathcal}[1]{\mathpazocal{#1}}
$\mathcal{ABCDE}$ {\boldmath$\mathcal{ABCDE}$}

\end{document}


• Thanks, it works! Follow up questions: (1) Could you clarify what you meant by "wasting a math alphabet"? (e.g. as in defining a new function \mathpazocal ?) (2) What are the difference between mathpazo vs newpx vs TeX Gyre Pagella, besides the (to my eyes) slight stylistic difference? (e.g. "newer", more compatible with other packages, etc?) Thanks! Jan 11, 2021 at 16:39
• @underflow (1) There are only 16 slots for math alphabets. Loading many math fonts might lead you to hit this limit. (It never happened to me but it can.) (2) As you say, stylistic differences. mathpazo is somewhat older, the other two are actively mantained. Jan 11, 2021 at 18:04