I'm using XeLateX, Unicode math, and the Latin Modern fonts (Latin Modern and Latin Modern Math). To me, it looks like subscripts in mathematical expressions are being properly (optically) scaled -- they are not merely small-size versions of regular characters, they are wider and have fatter strokes.
Here's some code
\documentclass{article} \usepackage{unicode-math} \setmainfont{Latin Modern Roman} \setmathfont{Latin Modern Math} \begin{document} Here is some math: $x_2=2$. \end{document} and the output

In traditional TeX, the subscript scaling would be done by using a completely different font, like cmmi7. But the Latin Modern Math font only comes in one design size (10 pt, I suppose). So how is the subscript scaling achieved?