Which packages are used in Beamer to achieve consistent sans serif math?

Question

I always have trouble with setting up consistent sans-serif math typesetting, while it seems to work fine out of the box with the beamer class. So I was wondering, how does beamer achieve this consistent sans-serif math look? I would really like to use the exact same sans-serif look also for "normal documents", so it would be nice to use the same packages as beamer uses to be completely consistent (and not some sans-serif math packages that supply extra sans-serif fonts).

Answer 1

A cut-down version of beamerbasefont.sty:

\documentclass{article}

\def\familydefault{\sfdefault}
\def\mathfamilydefault{\sfdefault}

\AtBeginDocument{%
  \SetSymbolFont{operators}{normal}{OT1}{cmss}{\mddefault}{n}%
  \DeclareSymbolFont{numbers}{\encodingdefault}{\mathfamilydefault}{\mddefault}{n}%
  \DeclareSymbolFont{pureletters}{\encodingdefault}{\mathfamilydefault}{\mddefault}{it}%
  \SetMathAlphabet{\mathrm}{normal}{\encodingdefault}{\rmdefault}{\mddefault}{n}%
  \DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathbf}{\encodingdefault}{\mathfamilydefault}{\bfdefault}{n}%
  \DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathsf}{\encodingdefault}{\sfdefault}{\mddefault}{n}%
  \DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathit}{\encodingdefault}{\mathfamilydefault}{\mddefault}{it}%
  \DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathtt}{\encodingdefault}{\ttdefault}{\mddefault}{n}%

  \DeclareMathSymbol{0}\mathalpha{numbers}{"30}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{1}\mathalpha{numbers}{"31}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{2}\mathalpha{numbers}{"32}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{3}\mathalpha{numbers}{"33}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{4}\mathalpha{numbers}{"34}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{5}\mathalpha{numbers}{"35}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{6}\mathalpha{numbers}{"36}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{7}\mathalpha{numbers}{"37}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{8}\mathalpha{numbers}{"38}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{9}\mathalpha{numbers}{"39}%
%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{A}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"41}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{B}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"42}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{C}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"43}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{D}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"44}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{E}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"45}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{F}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"46}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{G}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"47}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{H}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"48}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{I}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"49}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{J}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4A}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{K}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4B}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{L}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4C}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{M}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4D}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{N}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4E}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{O}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"4F}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{P}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"50}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{Q}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"51}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{R}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"52}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{S}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"53}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{T}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"54}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{U}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"55}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{V}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"56}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{W}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"57}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{X}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"58}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{Y}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"59}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{Z}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"5A}%
%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{a}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"61}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{b}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"62}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{c}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"63}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{d}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"64}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{e}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"65}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{f}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"66}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{g}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"67}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{h}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"68}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{i}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"69}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{j}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6A}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{k}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6B}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{l}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6C}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{m}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6D}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{n}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6E}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{o}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"6F}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{p}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"70}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{q}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"71}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{r}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"72}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{s}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"73}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{t}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"74}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{u}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"75}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{v}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"76}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{w}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"77}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{x}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"78}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{y}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"79}%
  \DeclareMathSymbol{z}\mathalpha{pureletters}{"7A}%
}

\begin{document}

normal text

\[
    math text
\]

\end{document}