I write up problem sets in Mathematica.
One thing that I haven't figured out is position limit tokens.
In a text cell (cmd+7), when I type "ESC sum ESC ^_ x", it comes up like $\sum_x$.
How do I make it look like $\displaystyle \sum_x$?
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2 
- 2$\begingroup$ Hm, normally Ctrl+4 (or some equivalent for your system) writes text directly underneath the previous token, but for the sum symbol specifically it still goes in a subscript after it. Is MaTeX an option for you? $\endgroup$Martin Ender– Martin Ender2016-04-07 14:48:11 +00:00Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 14:48
- $\begingroup$ Related: (40796). $\endgroup$Michael E2– Michael E22016-10-03 02:08:14 +00:00Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 2:08
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1 Answer
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To get the "display form" placement of the summation limits, you have to use the low-level option LimitsPositioning -> False. Since this is inconvenient to enter manually, I defined a keyboard shortcut EscsumEsc to do this for you. I used a TemplateBox to define the shortcut, so that it creates a construct similar to what the existing shortcut EscsumtEsc does. But I only include a single entry for the lower limit, and one more for the upper limit:
ClearAll[mySum] inlineSumAppearance[x_, y_] := TemplateBox[{x, y}, "mySum", DisplayFunction :> ( UnderoverscriptBox["\[Sum]", #1, #2, LimitsPositioning -> False] &), InterpretationFunction :> (RowBox[{"mySum", "[", RowBox[{#1, ",", #2}], "]"}] &)] mySum /: MakeBoxes[mySum[n_, k_], StandardForm] := inlineSumAppearance[ToBoxes[n], ToBoxes[k]] SetOptions[EvaluationNotebook[], InputAliases -> DeleteDuplicates@ Join[{"sum" -> inlineSumAppearance["\[SelectionPlaceholder]", "\[Placeholder]"]}, InputAliases /. Quiet[Options[EvaluationNotebook[], InputAliases]] /. InputAliases -> {}]] Now you can create a text cell and type something, like this:
Here, I entered the sum within an inline cell, by using the above shortcut.
I just saw that you may not need an upper limit. In that case, you could simplify my definition by omitting the overscript template:
ClearAll[mySimpleSum] inlineSimpleSumAppearance[x_] := TemplateBox[{x}, "mySimpleSum", DisplayFunction :> ( UnderoverscriptBox["\[Sum]", #1, "", LimitsPositioning -> False] &), InterpretationFunction :> (RowBox[{"mySimpleSum", "[", #1, "]"}] &)] mySimpleSum /: MakeBoxes[mySimpleSum[n_], StandardForm] := inlineSimpleSumAppearance[ToBoxes[n]] SetOptions[EvaluationNotebook[], InputAliases -> DeleteDuplicates@ Join[{"ssum" -> inlineSimpleSumAppearance["\[SelectionPlaceholder]"]}, InputAliases /. Quiet[Options[EvaluationNotebook[], InputAliases]] /. InputAliases -> {}]] 
This was entered using the shortcut EscssumEsc. These new shortcuts are valid in the current notebook, and they don't modify the behavior of the existing EscsumtEsc (i.e., the built-in template will still adjust its indices when in inline mode).
The main ingredient here is the same as in this related question: How to make underscript like underscript in InlineFormula of lim in Notebook and (inline) Latex.
