# [texhax] a new math symbol?

Barbara Beeton bnb at ams.org
Thu Sep 18 12:20:28 CEST 2003

for several years, i've been participating in a project to make
an exhaustive collection of math symbols, get them accepted into
unicode, and create a collection of freely-available fonts that
can be used for presentation of math on the web, etc.

the project, known as STIX (scientific and technical information
exchange), is described on these web pages:
http://www.ams.org/STIX/
http://www.stixfonts.org/
you can also see the fruits of our labors on the unicode site:
http://www.unicode.org/charts/
http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr25/

anyhow, getting back to your inquiry, this symbol -- subset with
enclosed circle -- is one i didn't know about, but it seems to
be a reasonable candidate for addition to the stix collection.
some questions:
- can you cite a use of the symbol in print, or provide an
example in context, preferably with context in which it's
defined?
- is there a corresponding symbol superset with enclosed circle?
(and an example, as above)
- is "open subset" a good name for this, or is it better just
to describe it, giving "open subset" for a secondary meaning?
similarly for a hypothetical superset.

i'm cc'ing this to texhax and comp.text.tex in order to reach a
wider group of people who might have information on the subject.
i also invite everyone to look at the unicode charts and let me
know if they find anything missing.  we know that the domain of
math symbols is open-ended, but think we've gotten most everything
that's used in mainstream publishing in math, (theoretical) computer
science, physics, and other hard sciences that use this notation.
if anyone wishes to submit a "new" symbol, the need for examples
in print (preferably by a "reputable" publisher) or a detailed
example in context with definition is required by the unicode
acceptance process.  thanks for your consideration.
-- bb

---------- Original message ----------
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 00:42:59 -0500
From: Joe Corneli <jcorneli at math.utexas.edu>
To: texhax at tug.org
Subject: [texhax] a new math symbol?

% not font-size independent
\newcommand{\openset}{\mathrel{\subset \hspace{-8.35pt} \circ}}
% this is a nasty hack for 12-point
\newcommand{\bigopenset}{\mathrel{\subset \hspace{-9.25pt} \circ}}

Is there a way to get this symbol to work in a font-size-independent way
(without resorting to METAFONT)?

Joe

PS Maybe someone already has this symbol in a font that I dont know about?