Help:Create a mathematical formula

General info

Folmulas are created by using the markup-language LaTeX, a powerful commonly used language in scientific documents.

As a user, the only thing you need to do is wrap your LaTeX formula within a <math>(formula)</math> tag.

For example:

<math>f(x) = \fract{1}{\alpha^2}</math>

Produces the following formula:

$f(x) = \frac{1}{\alpha^2}$

How do I use LaTeX

There is really no need to write a long list of commands in this (local) wiki - mediawiki.org has a nice reference manual.

If you have some experience in mathematical expressions or programming, it will be a quick learn. It's all ablut grouping and marking up symbols.

The examples below gives a hint of what is possible to display.

Parentheses and grouping

Worth mentioning is how you group sub-forumlas in a mathematical expression. You can not use just a parenthensis, but rather a curly bracket. This is because a parenthesis will indeed be displayed as a parenthesis if used in the formula.

The sub-groups will be displayed together when LaTeX renders the formula.

For intsance: if you need to superscript more than a character you need to group those characters within curly brackets. If not, only the first letter will be superscriped.

Code	Display	Comment
<math>\alpha^2-z</math>	$\alpha^2-z$	No curly brackets - only one character is superscriped.
<math>\alpha^{2-z}</math>	$\alpha^{2-z}$	Curly brackets - the whole expression is grouped (and superscriped).
<math>\alpha^(2-z)</math>	$\alpha^(2-z)$	Regular parentheses is being displayed normally, with no grouping effect.
<math>\alpha^{(2-z)}</math>	$\alpha^{(2-z)}$	Combine curly brackets with regular parentheses for syntactic and visual grouping.

Examples

<math>\sum_{m=1}^\infty\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{m^2\,n}
 {3^m\left(m\,3^n+n\,3^m\right)}</math>

Gives

$\sum_{m=1}^\infty\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{m^2\,n} <pre>{3^m\left(m\,3^n+n\,3^m\right)}$

<math>\phi_n(\kappa) =
 \frac{1}{4\pi^2\kappa^2} \int_0^\infty
 \frac{\sin(\kappa R)}{\kappa R}
 \frac{\partial}{\partial R}
 \left[R^2\frac{\partial D_n(R)}{\partial R}\right]\,dR</math>

gives

$\phi_n(\kappa) = <pre>\frac{1}{4\pi^2\kappa^2} \int_0^\infty \frac{\sin(\kappa R)}{\kappa R} \frac{\partial}{\partial R} \left[R^2\frac{\partial D_n(R)}{\partial R}\right]\,dR$

<math>
 f(x) =
 \begin{cases}
 1 & -1 \le x < 0 \\
 \frac{1}{2} & x = 0 \\
 1 - x^2 & \mbox{otherwise}
 \end{cases}
 </math>

Gives:

$ <pre>f(x) = \begin{cases} 1 & -1 \le x < 0 \\ \frac{1}{2} & x = 0 \\ 1 - x^2 & \mbox{otherwise} \end{cases}$

$\begin{alignat}{2} <pre>f(x) & = (a-b)^2 \\ & = a^2-2ab+b^2 \\ </pre> \end{alignat}$

FAQ

How does it work?

MediaWiki produces images for each formula you type. If and when you change the formula, a new image is created, and the page referres to the new image.

Will the server be cluttered with images?

Yes and no. There will infact be lots of images, but these images lies in a dedicated folder and are relatively small - ranging between <1k to 10k.

Isn't there any nice graphical interface to LaTeX?

Some GUI-based programs does exist, but for now you will have to find them yourself. I would suggest you start at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX#External_links