[texhax] Infinity symbol output too small

Barbara Beeton bnb at ams.org
Mon Dec 31 19:52:10 CET 2012


keith,
(cc'ing the list; someone else may be
able to help more than i can.)

On Mon, 31 Dec 2012, Dr A K Hannaby wrote:

    Barbara
    I have these entered at the beginning of the "usepackages".

    \usepackage{amsmath,bm} % was amsbook,bm
    \usepackage{amsfonts} %
    \usepackage{appendix} %
    \usepackage{palatino} %
    \usepackage{bookman} %
    \usepackage{helvet} %
    \usepackage{amssymb} %
    \usepackage{amsthm} %
    \usepackage{fix-cm} % metric font size
    \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} %

    When I reach a line like:
    \noindent \fontsize{11.0}{11.0}\selectfont{value will approach
    \hspace{2pt}$x^2+3x-7 + a_5+ a_3 + a^2+ a^3\hspace{2pt}-\infty\hspace{2pt}
    \beta$},

    The infinity seems out of all proportion to the x, y, and beta - even to
    the minus sign.
    Can you somehow get a "fontsize" command inside the math mode section?

    Keith

too many fonts loaded here for me to make a
stab at defining an 11-point math environment;
i've added math at "larger" sizes many times
for headings in ams plain-tex document styles,
and the ams latex document classes "do the
right thing", but they use only cm fonts.

the font size definitions for cm math symbols
are in the file omscmsy.fd in the latex/base
area of tex live; this is called from the
file fontmath.ltx, same area.  i think you'll
need something like this to increase the
size of \infty when used with palatino or
bookman, plus the calling mechanism.  in
the latex/palatino area there's a file
omsupl.fd but i'm not sure where it's called
from.  that info might be a start.
						-- bb

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Barbara Beeton [mailto:bnb at ams.org] 
    Sent: 31 December 2012 16:35
    To: Dr A K Hannaby
    Cc: texhax at tug.org
    Subject: Re: [texhax] Infinity symbol output too small
    
        In amsmath book, why does the \infty (infinity) symbol display so small
        in math mode in comparison to other maths characters , say, x, y or a
        greek letter such as \beta (Beta)?
    
    the first question to ask is, what fonts are being used?  in the computer
    modern fonts, the size of \infty compares favorably with that of x -- the
    height is the same, and it's wider (about the width of m).  this is the
    traditional size and shape.  (a good reference as to the history of the
    symbol and its use is "a history of mathematical notations", by florian
    cajori, section 421.)
    
        Is there a way of scaling the \infty only?
    
    again, this depends on what fonts are used.
    
        I would prefer it to be larger rather than bolded.
    
    where can we see an example?
    						-- bb


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