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<liclass="toctree-l2"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/lifecycle.html">The Lifecycle of a Plot</a></li>
<liclass="toctree-l2"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html">Customizing Matplotlib with style sheets and rcParams</a></li>
<liclass="toctree-l2"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/animation_tutorial.html">Animations using Matplotlib</a></li>
<liclass="toctree-l2 current active"><aclass="current reference internal" href="#">Writing mathematical expressions</a></li>
<liclass="toctree-l2"><aclass="reference internal" href="pgf.html">Text rendering with XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX via the <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">pgf</span></code> backend</a></li>
<liclass="toctree-l2"><aclass="reference internal" href="usetex.html">Text rendering with LaTeX</a></li>
<spanid="sphx-glr-tutorials-text-mathtext-py"></span><h1>Writing mathematical expressions<aclass="headerlink" href="#writing-mathematical-expressions" title="Permalink to this heading">#</a></h1>
<p>You can use a subset of TeX markup in any Matplotlib text string by placing it
inside a pair of dollar signs ($).</p>
<p>Note that you do not need to have TeX installed, since Matplotlib ships
its own TeX expression parser, layout engine, and fonts. The layout engine
is a fairly direct adaptation of the layout algorithms in Donald Knuth's
TeX, so the quality is quite good (Matplotlib also provides a <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">usetex</span></code>
option for those who do want to call out to TeX to generate their text; see
<aclass="reference internal" href="usetex.html"><spanclass="doc">Text rendering with LaTeX</span></a>).</p>
<p>Any text element can use math text. You should use raw strings (precede the
quotes with an <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">'r'</span></code>), and surround the math text with dollar signs ($), as
in TeX. Regular text and mathtext can be interleaved within the same string.
Mathtext can use DejaVu Sans (default), DejaVu Serif, the Computer Modern fonts
(from (La)TeX), <aclass="reference external" href="http://www.stixfonts.org/">STIX</a> fonts (which are designed
to blend well with Times), or a Unicode font that you provide. The mathtext
font can be selected via <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html?highlight=mathtext.fontset#matplotlibrc-sample"><spanclass="std std-ref"><spanclass="pre">rcParams["mathtext.fontset"]</span></span></a></code> (default: <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">'dejavusans'</span></code>) (see
<aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html"><spanclass="doc">Customizing Matplotlib with style sheets and rcParams</span></a>)</p>
<p>have special meaning outside of math mode in TeX. Therefore, these
characters will behave differently depending on <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html?highlight=text.usetex#matplotlibrc-sample"><spanclass="std std-ref"><spanclass="pre">rcParams["text.usetex"]</span></span></a></code> (default: <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">False</span></code>). See the
<aclass="reference internal" href="usetex.html"><spanclass="doc">usetex tutorial</span></a> for more information.</p>
</div>
<sectionid="subscripts-and-superscripts">
<h2>Subscripts and superscripts<aclass="headerlink" href="#subscripts-and-superscripts" title="Permalink to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>To make subscripts and superscripts, use the <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">'_'</span></code> and <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">'^'</span></code> symbols:</p>
<p>Some symbols automatically put their sub/superscripts under and over the
operator. For example, to write the sum of <imgsrc="../../_images/mathmpl/math-3a2e7f36d3.png" srcset="../../_images/mathmpl/math-3a2e7f36d3.png, ../../_images/mathmpl/math-3a2e7f36d3-2x.png 2x" style="position: relative; bottom: -3px"/> from <imgsrc="../../_images/mathmpl/math-b69eb39e09.png" srcset="../../_images/mathmpl/math-b69eb39e09.png, ../../_images/mathmpl/math-b69eb39e09-2x.png 2x" style="position: relative; bottom: -2px"/> to
<imgsrc="../../_images/mathmpl/math-918327c3a6.png" srcset="../../_images/mathmpl/math-918327c3a6.png, ../../_images/mathmpl/math-918327c3a6-2x.png 2x" style="position: relative; bottom: -2px"/>, you could do:</p>
<h2>Fractions, binomials, and stacked numbers<aclass="headerlink" href="#fractions-binomials-and-stacked-numbers" title="Permalink to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>Fractions, binomials, and stacked numbers can be created with the
<p>The solution is to precede the bracket with <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">\left</span></code> and <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">\right</span></code> to inform
the parser that those brackets encompass the entire object.:</p>
<spanid="mathtext-fonts"></span><h2>Fonts<aclass="headerlink" href="#fonts" title="Permalink to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>The default font is <em>italics</em> for mathematical symbols.</p>
<divclass="admonition note">
<pclass="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>This default can be changed using <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html?highlight=mathtext.default#matplotlibrc-sample"><spanclass="std std-ref"><spanclass="pre">rcParams["mathtext.default"]</span></span></a></code> (default: <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">'it'</span></code>). This is
useful, for example, to use the same font as regular non-math text for math
text, by setting it to <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">regular</span></code>.</p>
</div>
<p>To change fonts, e.g., to write "sin" in a Roman font, enclose the text in a
<p>Here "s" and "t" are variable in italics font (default), "sin" is in Roman
font, and the amplitude "A" is in calligraphy font. Note in the example above
the calligraphy <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">A</span></code> is squished into the <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">sin</span></code>. You can use a spacing
command to add a little whitespace between them:</p>
<p>There are also five global "font sets" to choose from, which are
selected using the <codeclass="docutils literal notranslate"><spanclass="pre">mathtext.fontset</span></code> parameter in <aclass="reference internal" href="../introductory/customizing.html#matplotlibrc-sample"><spanclass="std std-ref">matplotlibrc</span></a>.</p>