Transcript Making Math Pretty – or How to Use LaTeX

Making Math Look Pretty
How to Use LaTeX
Haseena Ahmed
Iowa State University
[email protected]
Basics of LaTeX

A computer program for typesetting text and
mathematical formulas

Uses commands to create mathematical symbols

Not a WYSIWYG program

Need to compile the file in order to see the
finished product
Basics of LaTeX – Commands

Always begin with a backslash \

Case sensitive

Consist of letters only

Some have parameters


Square brackets [ ] after the command name are
for optional parameters
Curly braces { } after the command name are for
required parameters
Getting Started

Can use lots of different programs to create a
LaTeX file

All computers here use WinEdt

Need to begin by creating a new file
Downloads


LaTeX is available online for free at
http://www.latex-project.org/
WinEdt is also available online with a free 30 day
trial period at http://www.winedt.com/
Input File Structure

Begins with a preamble (Preamble is where the
overall construction of your document is listed)

\documentclass[options]{class}

class specifies the type of document to be
created



Usually use article or amsart
Can also use slides or siamltex
options customizes the document class you
are using

Can be used to set font size (10, 11, or 12 pt),
set paper size, use one or two columns, etc.
Input File Structure

Begins with a preamble
 \usepackage{package}



Packages add new features and commands to
LaTeX
Common packages: amsmath, amssymb,
graphicx
Can also define new commands in the
preamble, specify page numbering, etc.
Input File Structure

Now we’re ready to begin the body of the text

\begin{document}

\begin{…} commands always need to be followed
(eventually) by \end{…} commands

Enter the actual content here

\end{document}
Typesetting Your Document


Click the “LaTeX” or “PDF LaTeX” button on
the top right
To view your file, click “DVI” or the Adobe
Acrobat symbol


DVI stands for “DeVice Independent” – it’s
basically a generic viewer
Can change between DVI, PDF, or PS files and
document is automatically saved when you
typeset it
Types of LaTeX Files




.tex – input file, needs to be compiled
.tex.bak – backup LaTeX file and is changed
when document is typeset
.dvi – DVI file which shows what your file looks
like
.log – log file, tells what happened the last time
you compiled your document - Helpful to look at if
there are errors and you don’t know why
Typesetting Math


Mathematical text is placed between $
Math mode is normally displayed inline


To display math mode in a larger font, use
\displaystyle



Can make some expressions look funny
Makes all symbols within $ larger
For text within math mode, use \text{…}
Math mode uses italics and no spaces between
words
Useful Math Commands


Greek letters
 $\pi$ for lowercase, $\Pi$ for uppercase
 No command for $\Alpha$
Fractions
 $\frac{numerator}{denominator}$
 For a larger fraction, use \displaystyle
Useful Math Commands

Superscripts and Subscripts
 $x^2$
 $x_2$
 Use curly braces to group items together
 $x_{i_2}$ or $x_{min}$
 Can have a superscript and a subscript on the
same character
 $x_i^3$
Useful Math Commands


Limits and Integrals
 Probably want to use \displaystyle, otherwise
they’ll look funny
 $\displaystyle \lim_{x \to \infty} 3x$
 $\displaystyle \int_0^2 x\, dx$
 The \, gives a space between x and dx
Square roots
 $\sqrt{x}$
Useful Math Commands

Displaying special characters


Trignometric functions


$\sin$ or $\cos$
Math inequalities


$\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathcal{R}$
$\le$ or $\ge$
Lot more commands on pages 58 – 65 of Getting
Started with LaTeX
Other Important Characters

Quote marks



Comments


Use % at the beginning of any lines you want to
comment out
Creating a space between two characters


For left-hand quote marks, use ``
For right-hand quote marks, use ” or ’’
\,
Creating a new line

\newline
Environments

Many environments available in TeX

Used to help format parts of your document

Always need \begin{environment name} and
\end{environment name}
Some Environments

Itemize environment
 \begin{itemize} and \end{itemize}
 Creates an outline using bullet points
 Items within the section are created by \item
 Can nest itemize environments within one
another
Some Environments

Enumerate environment
 \begin{enumerate} and \end{enumerate}
 Creates an outline using numbers and
letters
 Items within a section are created by \item
 Can nest enumerate environments within
one another
Some Environments

Centered environment
 \begin{center} and \end{center}
 To end a line within the environment, use \\
Mathematical Environments

Equation environment
 \begin{equation} and \end{equation}






Automatically numbers equations, so mainly
used when you need equations to be numbered
For no numbers, use equation*
Puts the equation in the center of the line
Can label equations by \label{name}
Centers equation on page
Do not need $ within equation environment
Mathematical Environments

Align environment
 \begin{align} and \end{align}
 For no numbers on all equations, use align*
 For no numbers on some use \nonumber
 Put & in front of the symbol in each line that
you want aligned
 End each line (except the last one) with \\
 Do not need $ within align environment
Arrays



Especially used for matrices
Begin with left symbol for matrix
 $\left[
Next, begin array environment
 \begin{array}{lrc}
 Tells how many columns you have and their
alignment - left, right or center
Arrays

Specify the entries of the matrix



End the array


Separate the entries by &
End each row (except the last one) by \\
\end{array}
Create the right side symbol for the matrix

\right]$
Arrays

Can also have lines within arrays

Horizontal lines



Use \hline after each row that you want a line
under
x^2 & 4x & 3 \\ \hline
Vertical lines


Put | between the columns that you want lines
between
\begin{array}{lr|c}
Tables

Basically the same as arrays

\begin{tabular}{lrc} and \end{tabular}


Can add lines in the same way that you do for
arrays
For more info see pages 34 - 37 of Getting
Started with LaTeX
Figures




Often used to import some other type of file
(usually a .eps file) into your document
Can generate graphics in LaTeX, but this is
harder to do
Any imported file needs to be in the same
directory as your main file
Also need to include the package graphicx in
your preamble
Figures

Begin the figure environment by
\begin{figure}[placement]



placement is an optional argument that tells
LaTeX where on the page you want the figure
Can be h (here), t (top), b (bottom), or p (on a
separate page)
Put an ! before the placement if you really want
the figure at that page location
Figures

Include the file that you want



\includegraphics[display]{filename}
display is an optional parameter which allows you
to change the appearance of your graphic
Can use the following parameters:


width, height, angle (rotates the graphic
counterclockwise), scale (number between 0 and 1)
Changing width or height will preserve the aspect
ratio
Figures

Can create a caption for your figure

\caption[shortname]{longname}




shortname is displayed in the Table of Contents (if you
create one)
longname is displayed below the figure
Captioning also automatically labels your figures
Can label your figure


\label{reference}
Allows you to refer to your figure later by using
\ref{reference}
Figures



End the figure environment
 \end{figure}
May sometimes need to create a PostScript file
instead of a PDF file in order to get graphics to
display properly
More info on pages 38 – 40 of Getting Started
with LaTeX
Sections of a Paper

\title[label]{actual title}



\author{authors}


If you label your title, you’ll be able to reference
it later
Can also label theorems, equations, figures,
tables, etc.
Need to put \maketitle after title and authors
\today


Gives the current date
Usually want this centered
Sections of a Paper

\thanks{…}



Abstract


Creates a footnote with whatever is in the braces
Usually used after authors’ names for academic
information
Use \begin{abstract} and \end{abstract}
Keywords


Use \begin{keywords} and \end{keywords}
OR use \keywords{…}
Sections of a Paper


Papers should be divided into sections,
subsections, etc.
Important commands:





\section{Title of section}
\subsection{…}
\subsubsection{…}
\paragraph{…}
\subparagraph{…}
Sections of a Paper

Bibliography
 \begin{thebibliography}{number} and
\end{thebibliography}



number is 9, 99, 999, etc.
Tells LaTeX how if you will be using only singledigit numbers, double-digit numbers, etc.
Use \bibitem{Label} to create a new reference

Label lets you reference that item elsewhere in
the paper
Referencing Using Labels


May want to reference a section, theorem, figure,
example, etc. somewhere else in the document
To label a section


To reference a section



\section{Title}\label{Label for section}
\ref{Label for section}
Only gives the section number – you’ll need to type
Section separately
To reference a bibliography item, use
\cite{Label}
Theorems and Definitions

\newtheorem{short name}{long name} is used
to typeset “Theorems”, “Lemmas”, “Definitions”
and similar structures




Short name is what you type
Long name is what is displayed on the page
The \newtheorem command is placed in the
preamble of the document
Numbering is automatic
Theorems and Definitions

For unnumbered theorems, use either
command with \newtheorem*


* can be used in many environments for
unnumbered items
May need to include the package amsthm in
order to properly display theorems
Defining New Commands

Typing some long commands over and over is not
fun

Can define a new command that’s easier to type

Goes in preamble

\newcommand{newname}{oldname}

newname cannot be the name of an existing
command