How can I write multiple lines in a subscript?

Question

Is there a way to force a line break inside a math mode text?

My example:

\[
  \underbrace{....}_\text{Some long text that should be multiline}
\]

Trying

\text{Some long text that\\ should be multiline}

Didn't do the trick.

While it is not an answer, I thought you might like to know why \\ fails inside \text. If you look through the code, \text will insert an \hbox for the content when in math mode. TeX sets \hbox material in a mode where paragraphs are ignored, so there will never be a break inside the argument of the \text macro. — Joseph Wright, Dec 21 '10 at 13:55

score 222 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 13 '21 at 04:12

222

You can use the \substack command, from the amsmath package, just like \text.

\[
  \underbrace{...}_{\substack{\text{Some long text that} \\ \text{should be multiline}}}
\]

The output:

edited Jun 13 '21 at 04:12

Paul Wintz

402
2
14

answered Dec 21 '10 at 12:48

Carsten Thiel

6,238

5

Why do you have 3 backslashes where the ... nvm, I see now. I feel this answer would be better with some spacing for readability. Also, I believe the answer would be improved if it were pointed out that \substack was designed for this very purpose. (It was right?) – Travis Bemrose Apr 30 '15 at 23:59

score 45 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 14 '17 at 15:30

45

\substack, mentioned by Carsten, probably fits best to your \underbrace because of the centered alignment.
subarray is similar but offers customizable alignment:

Example:

\[
 \underbrace{....}_{\begin{subarray}{l}\text{Some  long text that}\\
    \text{should be multiline}\end{subarray}}
\]

\parbox also works in math mode. You could use a font size command inside.

edited Jul 14 '17 at 15:30

samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz

158,329

answered Dec 21 '10 at 13:04

Stefan Kottwitz

231,401

score 29 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 25 '11 at 17:59

29

Another possibility:

\[
 \underbrace{some equation}_{\text{Some long text that}\atop\text{should be multilined}}
\]

edited Sep 25 '11 at 17:59

Torbjørn T.

206,688

answered Dec 22 '10 at 13:56

user1999

1,464

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 21 '10 at 12:57

6

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\newcommand\myText[1]{\text{\scriptsize\tabular[t]{@{}l@{}}#1\endtabular}}

\begin{document}

\[
  \underbrace{....}_\myText{Some long text that\\ should be multiline}
\]

\end{document}

answered Dec 21 '10 at 12:57

1

It can be centered by replacing the @{}l@{} with @{}c@{} – Hans May 22 '17 at 13:31

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 25 '11 at 18:38

4

A simple \parbox with a certain width should also do.

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{mathtools}   % loads »amsmath«

\begin{document}
  \[
    \underbrace{ax^3+bx^2+cx+d}_{\text{\parbox{10em}{Some text that should be multi-lined}}}
  \]
\end{document}

answered Sep 25 '11 at 18:38

Thorsten Donig

46,014

That doesn't work. – Jonathan Prieto-Cubides Oct 14 '14 at 20:20
If you remove the \text it sure does. At least in my context. @d555 – MickG Jan 11 '16 at 12:27

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 27 '13 at 10:32

One more, for a very long text:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newlength{\mysum}
\settowidth{\mysum}{$1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9$}
\begin{document}
\begin{equation}
\underbrace{1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9}_{
\begin{minipage}{\mysum}\lipsum[2]\end{minipage}} 
\end{equation}
\end{document}

How can I write multiple lines in a subscript?

6 Answers6

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