Using ^ but not as a power symbol in latex

Question

I want to write a^b in latex where ^ is not a power symbol. If I just write b^a in latex, the latter obliged me to put $. But in fact I don't want to write a to the power b, but just a^b.

How can I solve this issue?

Any help will be very appreciated!

@Plergux ^ doesn't work. It is really the accent as DavidCarlisle mentioned. — Christina, Nov 07 '20 at 19:57
@egreg I am writing a matlab code in latex. In matlab, the power is given by the symbol ^ — Christina, Nov 07 '20 at 23:34
But if you're writing code (especially if it's a lot), you might want to look into the packages listings or minted. — Teepeemm, Nov 07 '20 at 23:41

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 07 '20 at 18:38

6

Here, \string can be used to avoid special (catcode induced) interpretations of the token than follows.

Such syntax will work in both text as well as math modes, though, of course, a and b will be rendered in the math font, in such a case.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
a\string^b $a\string^b$
\end{document}

answered Nov 07 '20 at 18:38

Steven B. Segletes

237,551

1

Thank you a lot. It works well. – Christina Nov 07 '20 at 19:58

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 07 '20 at 23:12

3

This is \textasciicircum in text mode, and can be used in math mode as well with proper wrappers.

\documentclass{article}
\newcommand\mathcaret{\mathbin{\textup{\textasciicircum}}}
\begin{document}
a {\textasciicircum} b
(a \mathcaret  b )
\end{document}

answered Nov 07 '20 at 23:12

Davislor

44,045

Thank you. Your suggestions also work very well. – Christina Nov 07 '20 at 23:30

Using ^ but not as a power symbol in latex

2 Answers2