How do I change the spacing for math operators?

Question

I have defined my own math operator (for displaying the order of certain function sequences--this is not the "normal" Big-O notation, though) by:

\newcommand{\order}[1]{\ensuremath{\operatorname{o}\left({#1}\right)}}

This leads to pretty strange spacing:

strange spacing

How can I resolve this? Is there a better way to specify the operator?

You mean the spacing between the “o” and the opening bracket? — Caramdir, Aug 25 '10 at 16:12

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

8

First, I think in general it is probably a better idea to use \DeclareMathOperator rather than a combination of \newcommand and \operatorname. That said, I think your problem is because you used \left(. It should be fixed if you insert \mathopen{} before the \left(. See also Difference between \big[ and \bigl[

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

Community

1

answered Aug 25 '10 at 16:55

Willie Wong

24,733
8
74
106

Thank you! I do not know why I did not use \DeclareMathOperator in the first place for this instance. The link about spacing is also quite helpful. – Bran the Blessed Aug 26 '10 at 17:47

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 25 '10 at 17:38

2

I tend to use the spacing commands such as \mathleft for left punctuation, \mathright for right punctuation, \mathop for a "large" operator, \mathbin for a binary operator, \mathrel for a relation sign. Details on p. 75ff of Voß's Mathmode.pdf.

answered Aug 25 '10 at 17:38

frabjous

41,473

Do you mean \mathopen and \mathclose? – TH. Aug 26 '10 at 05:46

How do I change the spacing for math operators?

2 Answers2