Mathematica Tutorial: Notebooks And Documents - Wolfram Research

Notebooks and Documents 199Here is the actual key sequence you type to get the input.In[4]:=Out[4]=Esc sum Esc Ctrl+= x=0 Ctrl+% n Ctrl+Space x1n H1 + nL2Special CharactersBuilt into Mathematica are a large number of special characters intended for use in mathematicaland other notation. "Listing of Named Characters" gives a complete listing.Each special character is assigned a full name such as \[Infinity]. More common specialcharacters are also assigned aliases, such as Esc inf Esc. You can set up additional aliasesusing the InputAliases notebook option discussed in "Options for Expression Input and Output".For special characters that are supported in standard dialects of TeX, Mathematica also allowsyou to use aliases based on TeX names. Thus, for example, you can enter \[Infinity] usingthe alias Esc \infty Esc. Mathematica also supports aliases such as Esc Esc based on namesused in SGML and HTML.Standard system software on many computer systems also supports special key combinationsfor entering certain special characters. On a Macintosh, for example, Option+5 will produce inmost fonts. With the notebook front end Mathematica automatically allows you to use specialkey combinations when these are available, and with a text-based interface you can get Mathematicato accept such key combinations if you set an appropriate value for$CharacterEncoding.† Use a full name such as \[Infinity]† Use an alias such as Esc inf Esc† Use a TeX alias such as Esc \infty Esc† Use an SGML or HTML alias such as Esc Esc† Click a button in a palette† Use a special key combination supported by your computer systemWays to enter special characters.In a Mathematica notebook, you can use special characters just like you use standard keyboardcharacters. You can include special characters both in ordinary text and in input that you intendto give to Mathematica.