Department of Mathematics, Jazan University, Jazan

 A computer program for typesetting text and mathematical formulas  Uses commands to create mathematical symbols  Need to compile the file in order to see the finished product

 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

 Can use lots of different programs to create a LaTeX file  All computers here use WinEdt  Need to begin by creating a new file

 LaTeX is available online for free at  WinEdt is also available online with a free 30 day trial period at

 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.

 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.

 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}

 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 “ D e V ice I ndependent” – it’s basically a generic viewer  Can change between DVI, PDF, or PS files and document is automatically saved when you typeset it

.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

 Mathematical text is placed between $  Math mode is normally displayed inline  Can make some expressions look funny  To display math mode in a larger font, use \displaystyle  Makes all symbols within $ larger  For text within math mode, use \text{…}  Math mode uses italics and no spaces between words

 Greek letters  $\pi$ for lowercase, $\Pi$ for uppercase  No command for $\Alpha$  Fractions  $\frac{numerator}{denominator}$  For a larger fraction, use \displaystyle

 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  $x_i^3$

 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  $\sqrt{x}$

 Displaying special characters  $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathcal{R}$  Trignometric functions  $\sin$ or $\cos$  Math inequalities  $\le$ or $\ge$

 Quote marks  For left-hand quote marks, use ``  For right-hand quote marks, use ” or ’’  Comments  Use % at the beginning of any lines you want to comment out  Creating a space between two characters  \,  Creating a new line  \newline

 Many environments available in TeX  Used to help format parts of your document  Always need \begin{environment name} and \end{environment name}

 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

 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

 Centered environment  \begin{center} and \end{center}  To end a line within the environment, use \\

 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

 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

 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

 Specify the entries of the matrix  Separate the entries by &  End each row (except the last one) by \\  End the array  \end{array}  Create the right side symbol for the matrix  \right]$

 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}

 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 of Getting Started with LaTeX

 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

 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

 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

 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}

 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

 \title[label]{actual title}  If you label your title, you’ll be able to reference it later  Can also label theorems, equations, figures, tables, etc.  \author{authors}  Need to put \maketitle after title and authors  \today  Gives the current date  Usually want this centered

 \thanks{…}  Creates a footnote with whatever is in the braces  Usually used after authors’ names for academic information  Abstract  Use \begin{abstract} and \end{abstract}  Keywords  Use \begin{keywords} and \end{keywords}  OR use \keywords{…}

 Papers should be divided into sections, subsections, etc.  Important commands:  \section{Title of section}  \subsection{…}  \subsubsection{…}  \paragraph{…}  \subparagraph{…}

 Bibliography  \begin{thebibliography}{number} and \end{thebibliography}  number is 9, 99, 999, etc.  Tells LaTeX how if you will be using only single-digit numbers, double-digit numbers, etc.  Use \bibitem{Label} to create a new reference  Label lets you reference that item elsewhere in the paper

 May want to reference a section, theorem, figure, example, etc. somewhere else in the document  To label a section  \section{Title}\label{Label for section}  To reference a 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}

 \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

 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

 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