actuarial mathematical symbols

Jun Yan

unread,

Sep 5, 2001, 10:08:43 PM9/5/01

to

Hi Texers,

Is there a package for actuarial mathematical symbols? I need

* left-subscript and left-superscript

* a symbol looks like \neg (the upper and right part of a square), but
need to put things under it (like \sqrt does)

Could someone point me to the right package and documentation?

Thanks,

Jun

Jules Bean

unread,

Sep 6, 2001, 9:41:38 AM9/6/01

to

Left-subscript and superscript is generally done like this:

${}_{bl}^{ul}{Main thing}_{br}^{ur}$

Symbol that looks like \neg sounds like \urcorner (which is AMS) or
perhaps \rceil.

Jules

Peter M Garfield

unread,

Sep 6, 2001, 1:57:42 PM9/6/01

to Jun Yan

Hi Jun Yan,

On Wed, 5 Sep 2001, Jun Yan wrote:
> Is there a package for actuarial mathematical symbols? I need
>
> * left-subscript and left-superscript
>
> * a symbol looks like \neg (the upper and right part of a square), but
> need to put things under it (like \sqrt does)

Donald Arsenau once (February of 1999) posted some code for your
second symbol. I saved it. Try writing

\DeclareRobustCommand{\annu}[1]{_{%
\def\arraystretch{0}%
\setlength\arraycolsep{1pt}% adjust these
\setlength\arrayrulewidth{.2pt}% two settings
\begin{array}[b]{@{}c|}\hline
\\[\arraycolsep]%
\scriptstyle #1%
\end{array}%
}}

or

\def\annu#1{_{%
\vbox{\hrule height .2pt
\kern 1pt
\hbox{$\scriptstyle {#1}\kern 1pt$}%
}\kern-.05pt
\vrule width .2pt
}}

(Donald writes: "Tweak ".2pt" and "1pt" for appearance.")

Then use $A\annu{x:n}$.

Hope this helps,

Peter

--

Peter M. Garfield
garf...@math.washington.edu
http://www.math.washington.edu/~garfield/

Michael Dewey

unread,

Sep 7, 2001, 6:12:02 AM9/7/01

to Jun Yan

There is a comprehensive list of symbols available from CTAN
http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/

For complex sub and super scirpting you might like to look at the
facilities of AMS-Latex

--
Michael Dewey
Trent Institute for Health Services Research

mailto:Michae...@nottingham.ac.uk
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~mhzmd/home.html

Michele Dondi

unread,

Sep 7, 2001, 10:00:54 AM9/7/01

to

On Thu, 06 Sep 2001 14:41:38 +0100, Jules Bean <ju...@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>
wrote:

>Left-subscript and superscript is generally done like this:
>
>${}_{bl}^{ul}{Main thing}_{br}^{ur}$

But this is horrible. I had my own macros hacked (with limite
consciousness) from AMS' \sideset (designed for big operators), but
Michael J. Downes provided me with the following, better, code:

\DeclareRobustCommand{\prescript}[3]{%
\@mathmeasure\z@\scriptstyle{#1}% put the sup in box 0
\@mathmeasure\tw@\scriptstyle{#2}% put the sub in box 2
\ifdim\wd\tw@>\wd\z@
\setbox\z@\hbox to\wd\tw@{\hfil\unhbox\z@}%
\else
\setbox\tw@\hbox to\wd\z@{\hfil\unhbox\tw@}%
\fi
% Do not let a preceding mathord symbol approach without any
% intervening space.
\mathop{}%
% Use \mathopen to suppress space between the prescripts and the
% base object even when the latter is not of type ord.
\mathopen{\vphantom{#3}}^{\box\z@}_{\box\tw@}%
#3%
}

Michele
--
Liberta' va cercando, ch'e' si' cara,
Come sa chi per lei vita rifiuta.
[Dante Alighieri, Purg. I, 71-72]

I am my own country - United States Confederate of Me!
[Pennywise, "My own country"]

Jules Bean

unread,

Sep 7, 2001, 9:56:44 AM9/7/01

to

Michele Dondi wrote:
> But this is horrible. I had my own macros hacked (with limite
> consciousness) from AMS' \sideset (designed for big operators), but
> Michael J. Downes provided me with the following, better, code:

[snip]

Thank you!

(What's that old usenet saw about the best way to ensure a swift answer
is to post an incorrect,or at least imperfect, one?)

Jules