math (LaTeX environment)

The math environment is used to insert short mathematical expressions in the running text. It renders fractions and Sum-class symbols in a way that consumes less vertical space than the displaymath environment.

It can be used like any other environment with \begin{math}...\end{math} but it is more common to use the shorthand notation \(...\) or $...$.

Example

Markup	The area of a circle is given by $\pi R^2$.
Renders as	The area of a circle is given by $\pi R^{2}$.

Comparison with displaymath

Markup	\sum_{i=1}^n
Renders as	$\textstyle \sum _{i=1}^{n}$ (in math) $\sum _{i=1}^{n}$ (in displaymath)

You can switch between the two types of rendering using \textstyle and \displaystyle.