Text inside equation with \\

Question

Sometimes I want to plug in text using overbrace/stackrel inside an equation, and have it in more than one line. what is the most straightforward way to do it?

What I wish to have is in the picture below. My (somewhat dumb) workaround is:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,times}
\begin{document}
$$e = \underbrace{m}_{\substack{\text{I wish this text}\\ \text{ to be in two lines}} }\cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\text{and the same here} }$$
\end{document}

Any (better) solutions?

Thanks!

Do \usepackage{mathptmx} instead of \usepackage{times} or, even better, \usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}. — egreg, Jan 04 '17 at 10:53

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 05:28

You could use \parbox instructions. In the following example, I use \Centering (from the raggede package) rather than the basic \centering instruction, as \Centering provides automatic line length balancing.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,newtxtext,ragged2e} % 'times' package is deprecated
\begin{document}
\[
E = \underbrace{m}_{\parbox{1.75cm}{\Centering\scriptsize I wish this text to be in two lines}}    
\cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\parbox{1.25cm}{\Centering\scriptsize and the same here}}
\]
\end{document}

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 05:33

4

Other possibilities are mentioned below:

$$e = \underbrace{m}_{\substack{\text{I wish this text}\\ \text{ to be in two lines}}}\cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\text{and the same here} }$$

$$e = \underbrace{m}_{\parbox{10em}{\scriptsize I wish this text  to be in two lines}}\cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\text{and the same here} }$$

$$e = \underbrace{m}_{\text{I wish this text }\atop\text{to be in two lines}}\cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\text{and the same here} }$$

answered Jan 04 '17 at 05:33

Saravanan

1,475

2

Don't use $$ to initiate and terminate display math mode in a LaTeX document. Use \[ and \] instead. For more on this subject, see Why is \[ ... \]preferable to $$ ... $$? Aside: Your \parbox{10em} example does not place the text on two lines. – Mico Jan 04 '17 at 05:48

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 11:11

You can define a \textsubstack command that applies \text to each chunk (separated by \\):

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{xparse}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\NewDocumentCommand{\textsubstack}{m}
 {
  \seq_set_split:Nnn \l_omer_textsubstack_input_seq { \\ } { #1 }
  \seq_set_map:NNn \l_omer_textsubstack_output_seq
    \l_omer_textsubstack_input_seq
    { \exp_not:n { \text {##1} } }
  \substack{ \seq_use:Nn \l_omer_textsubstack_output_seq { \\ } }
 }
\seq_new:N \l_omer_textsubstack_input_seq
\seq_new:N \l_omer_textsubstack_output_seq
\ExplSyntaxOff

\begin{document}

\begin{equation*}
  e = \underbrace{m}_{\textsubstack{I wish this text\\to be in two lines}}
      \cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\textsubstack{and the\\ same here}}
\end{equation*}

\end{document}

First the input is split at \\; then a new sequence is built surrounding each item with \text{...}, then the sequence is produced, with \\ as separator.

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 11:41

Here, I use tabstackengine to make the stacks. While the stack could be made with a simple \Longstack from the stackengine package, the \tabbedLongstack (even without actual tabs) allows for the \TABstackTextstyle to be specified externally, which I am using here to specify the size of the undertext.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,times,tabstackengine}
\TABstackTextstyle{\scriptsize}
\setstackgap{L}{8pt}
\begin{document}
\[e = \underbrace{m}_{\tabbedLongstack{I wish this text\\  to be in two lines}}\cdot    
  \underbrace{c^2}_{\tabbedLongstack[l]{and the same\\here but with\\left alignment} }
\]
\[e = \underbrace{m}_{\tabbedLongstack[r]{I wish this text\\  to be right
  aligned\\ in three lines}}\cdot
  \TABstackTextstyle{\tiny}
  \setstackgap{L}{6pt}
  \underbrace{c^2}_{\tabbedLongstack[l]{and the same\\here but with\\left alignment\\
    and tiny} }
\]
\end{document}

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 04 '17 at 10:02

Your \substack/\text solution is quite reasonable, particularly as it does not require specifying the width. Just be aware of spurious spaces. However, if one wishes one can define a multiline version of \text:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

\usepackage{amsmath,times,varwidth}

\makeatletter
\DeclareRobustCommand{\textblock}[1]{%
{\mathchoice
  {\textblockdef@\displaystyle\f@size{#1}}%
  {\textblockdef@\textstyle\f@size{\firstchoice@false #1}}%
  {\textblockdef@\textstyle\sf@size{\firstchoice@false #1}}%
  {\textblockdef@\textstyle \ssf@size{\firstchoice@false #1}}%
  \check@mathfonts
  }%
}
\def\textblockdef@#1#2#3{\begin{varwidth}{\textwidth}
  \everymath{#1}%
  \let\f@size#2\selectfont
  \baselineskip=\f@size pt
  \baselineskip=1.1\baselineskip
  \centering
  #3
  \end{varwidth}}

\begin{document}

\begin{equation*}
  e = \underbrace{m}_{\textblock{I wish this text\\to be in two lines}}
      \cdot \underbrace{c^2}_{\textblock{and the\\ same here}}
\end{equation*}

\end{document}

The definition of \textblock is based on that of \text from amstxt.sty, but just assumes we are in math mode. It will adapt its font size according to its placement in the equation, and will inherit font characteristics of the surrounding text. I have chosen to make the text centered in the box automatically. The math sizing information contains no specification of the baselineskip, so I have chosen a value that is slightly tighter than normal text.

Text inside equation with \\

5 Answers5

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