How To Edit Pages - Quickstart

To edit a page, click the edit button at the bottom of the page. This will open an editor with a toolbar palette with options. When you are done, click save. If you are composing a longer document, hit save & continue frequently!

If you have questions beyond what is answered here, post a question on the discussion board.

# Tips on editing pages

• You may wish to keep a window open with the Wiki Syntax description the first few times you edit a page.
• To create a link to a page, use the syntax: [[[page name]]] or [[[page name | text to display]]]. It's okay if the page doesn't exist yet… follow the link to create the page.
• On any page, you should be able to click the + options button at the bottom of the page and view source to see examples of how certain things are done

# Tips on TeX and Mathematical Notation

What is TeX??
$\TeX$ (pronounced "tech"), and $\LaTeX$ (pronounced "lay-tech"), are typesetting systems which are especially suited to mathematical language. They require memorizing (or looking up) "commands" for creating certain kinds of characters, but the output is much better than Equation Editor!

## Examples

$\TeX$ is fairly intuitive, and using it requires you to know a few basic commands. Here are some examples of how it's done. In general you write out [[$whatever$]], where "whatever" is the formula you wish to put on the page.

Type Result Explanation
[[$f(x)$]] $f(x)$
[[$\sum_n a_n x^n$]] $\sum_n a_n x^n$ Use an underscore _ for subscript and a caret ^ for superscript.
for all [[$x\in\mathbb{Z}$]] for all $x\in\mathbb{Z}$ Use \in for $\in$, and use \mathbb for the "blackboard bold" font.
[[$\langle \vec{x},\vec{y}\rangle$]] $\langle \vec{x},\vec{y}\rangle$ The \vec{x} command places a vector over the character x
[[$\lim_{h\to 0} \frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}{h}$]] $\lim_{h\to 0} \frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}{h}$ The \frac{num}{denom} produces a fraction $\frac{num}{denom}$. An arrow $\to$ is produced using \to. For the left arrow $\leftarrow$, use \leftarrow.
[[$\{a\in\mathbb{Q}:a^2\leq 2\}$]] $\{a\in\mathbb{Q}:a^2\leq 2\}$ Braces are produced in TeX by preceding them with a backslash: \{ and \}

## More symbols

The following table shows more examples of commands which may be useful and their output.

Command Result Command Result Command Result Command Result
\mathbb{Z} $\mathbb{Z}$ \mathbb{Q} $\mathbb{Q}$ \mathbb{N} $\mathbb{N}$ \mathbb{R} $\mathbb{R}$
\vec{x} $\vec{x}$ \mathbf{x} $\mathbf{x}$ \mathsf{x} $\mathsf{x}$ \mathcal{X} $\mathcal{X}$
x_n $x_n$ x^n $x^n$ \frac{x}{y} $\frac{x}{y}$ \binom{x}{y} $\binom{x}{y}$
\sqrt{x} $\sqrt{x}$ \sqrt[3]{x} $\sqrt[3]{x}$ \sqrt[n]{x} $\sqrt[n]{x}$
\in $\in$ \forall $\forall$ \exists $\exists$ \nexists $\nexists$
\cup $\cup$ \cap $\cap$ \subset $\subset$ \supset $\supset$
\to $\to$ \leftarrow $\leftarrow$ \Rightarrow $\Rightarrow$ \Leftarrow $\Leftarrow$
\longrightarrow $\longrightarrow$ \longleftarrow $\longleftarrow$ \Leftrightarrow $\Leftrightarrow$ \Longleftrightarrow $\Longleftrightarrow$
\neq $\neq$ \geq $\geq$ \leq $\leq$ \approx $\approx$
\langle $\langle$ \rangle $\rangle$ |\vec{x}| $|\vec{x}|$ | |\vec{x}| | $| |\vec{x}| |$
\{a\} $\{a\}$ a\cdot b $a\cdot b$ (x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n) $(x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n)$ \cdots $\cdots$
\infty $\infty$ \overset{\circ}{S} $\overset{\circ}{S}$ \overline{S} $\overline{S}$

For more commands, see below for helpful webpages on $\TeX$.