How to make the function identifier ( f(x) ) more dominant?

Question

When a function has a rather complex set of parameters, the function identifier (usually simply f), gets dwarfed by the parentheses and the parameters inside of them: function identifiers

As you can see in the red circle, the "f" looks more like a factor, than the function name. The way how the function is displayed in the blue circle is fine. I used the same code, basically, for both function names (simplified code):

\( f\left(\xi_{n,j}\right) \)

and

\( f(x) \)

Now, is there a way how to make the function identifier more "prominent", so it does not look like a factor to a parenthesis, but something more important I guess?

There's no need to grow the size of the parentheses in the case at hand: f(\xi_{n,j})(x_{n,j}-x_{n,j-1}) is just what's needed. — egreg, May 03 '12 at 14:05
@egreg yeah, but the idea is, to grow the size of "f". It's a function identifier, and to my understanding, that one should always be at the same size as the paramteres. my idea was simply to somehow increase the font size for the "f" or something. — polemon, May 04 '12 at 16:38

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered May 03 '12 at 14:01

7

I think this is due to \left( adding some horizontal space. Compare with:

\[
   f\left(x^2 \right)
\]
\[
   f\Bigl(x^2\Bigr)
\]
\[
   f(x)
\]

answered May 03 '12 at 14:01

Peter Breitfeld

3,391

2

In general, \left and \right should imho be avoided whenever possible. – mbork May 03 '12 at 14:02
@mbork I think so too. But sometimes e.g. for very high formulas extending the height of \Bigg you'll need it. – Peter Breitfeld May 03 '12 at 14:04
Increasing the size of f or something in the likes isn't a good idea? – polemon May 03 '12 at 14:28
2

@mbork IMHO, \left and \right should be re-coded so that they do not produce this stupid spacing. – yo' May 03 '12 at 14:34
I read through the article that Michel Fioc linked. It actually helps a lot! – polemon May 03 '12 at 16:16
@PeterBreitfeld: that is exactly why I said "whenever possible": sometimes they are needed, but it is quite seldom. – mbork May 03 '12 at 16:21

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

7

This problem has been discussed in Spacing around \left and \right. To solve it, you may use the mleftright package of Heiko Oberdiek.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

Community

1

answered May 03 '12 at 14:31

Michel Fioc

1,257
9
14

I just added the four lines that were advised there to my preamble. It seems to work OK. – polemon May 04 '12 at 16:37

How to make the function identifier ( f(x) ) more dominant?

2 Answers2