Math

Typst has special syntax and library functions to typeset mathematical formulas. Math formulas can be displayed inline with text or as separate blocks. They will be typeset into their own block if they start and end with at least one space (e.g. $ x^2 $).

Variables

In math, single letters are always displayed as is. Multiple letters, however, are interpreted as variables and functions. To display multiple letters verbatim, you can place them into quotes and to access single letter variables, you can use the hash syntax.

$ A = pi r^2 $
$ "area" = pi dot "radius"^2 $
$ cal(A) :=
    { x in RR | x "is natural" } $
#let x = 5
$ #x < 17 $

Symbols

Math mode makes a wide selection of symbols like pi, dot, or RR available. Many mathematical symbols are available in different variants. You can select between different variants by applying modifiers to the symbol. Typst further recognizes a number of shorthand sequences like => that approximate a symbol. When such a shorthand exists, the symbol's documentation lists it.

$ x < y => x gt.eq.not y $

Line Breaks

Formulas can also contain line breaks. Each line can contain one or multiple alignment points (&) which are then aligned.

$ sum_(k=0)^n k
    &= 1 + ... + n \
    &= (n(n+1)) / 2 $

Function calls

Math mode supports special function calls without the hash prefix. In these "math calls", the argument list works a little differently than in code:

• Within them, Typst is still in "math mode". Thus, you can write math directly into them, but need to use hash syntax to pass code expressions (except for strings, which are available in the math syntax).
• They support positional and named arguments, as well as argument spreading.
• They don't support trailing content blocks.
• They provide additional syntax for 2-dimensional argument lists. The semicolon (;) merges preceding arguments separated by commas into an array argument.

$ frac(a^2, 2) $
$ vec(1, 2, delim: "[") $
$ mat(1, 2; 3, 4) $
$ mat(..#range(1, 5).chunks(2)) $
$ lim_x =
    op("lim", limits: #true)_x $

To write a verbatim comma or semicolon in a math call, escape it with a backslash. The colon on the other hand is only recognized in a special way if directly preceded by an identifier, so to display it verbatim in those cases, you can just insert a space before it.

Functions calls preceded by a hash are normal code function calls and not affected by these rules.

Alignment

When equations include multiple alignment points (&), this creates blocks of alternatingly right- and left-aligned columns. In the example below, the expression (3x + y) / 7 is right-aligned and = 9 is left-aligned. The word "given" is also left-aligned because && creates two alignment points in a row, alternating the alignment twice. & & and && behave exactly the same way. Meanwhile, "multiply by 7" is right-aligned because just one & precedes it. Each alignment point simply alternates between right-aligned/left-aligned.

$ (3x + y) / 7 &= 9 && "given" \
  3x + y &= 63 & "multiply by 7" \
  3x &= 63 - y && "subtract y" \
  x &= 21 - y/3 & "divide by 3" $

Math fonts

The default math font is New Computer Modern Math. As demonstrated below, you can tweak it with show-set rules. The rule's selector can be the general math.equation, specific symbols and texts, or math functions like math.op.

#show math.equation: set text(font: "Fira Math")
$ sum_(i in NN) 1 + i $

#show math.equation: it => {
  show "{": set text(font: "STIX Two Math", fill: maroon)
  it
}
$ f(x, y) := cases(0 "if" x < 0, x "otherwise") $

As in the regular text layout, the font parameter also accepts a priority list of font family descriptor. In the example below, the font Noto Sans Math covers capital serif italic letters, and the default font New Computer Modern Math covers the others. The letters 𝐴 and 𝑍 in the regex are mathematical alphanumeric symbols defined in the Unicode standard, instead of the regular A and Z in ASCII. Besides, some characters do not belong to this Unicode block for historic reasons, making it harder to match other ranges. For example, 𝑎-𝑧 does not match ℎ and the dotless 𝚤 and 𝚥.

#show math.equation: set text(font: (
  (name: "Noto Sans Math", covers: regex("[𝐴-𝑍]")),
  "New Computer Modern Math",
))
$ 2A + B = C. $

In addition to font, the rule can also change OpenType features including stylistic sets and character variants.

#show math.equation: set text(
  // Prefer upright integrals (ss02) and small capitals (ss05)
  stylistic-set: (2, 5),
  // Use a slashed circle for ∅, replacing the default slashed zero
  features: ("cv01",),
)
// These features are defined by New Computer Modern Math.
// Other fonts may not support them or map them to different features.

$ integral f dif x, a inter bb(N) = nothing. $

Note that typesetting maths involves complex positioning and spacing, requiring a specially designed OpenType math font. Typst will take the first font without any covers as the base font, and extract typographic metrics for maths from it. If you have to use non-math fonts for certain glyphs, specify a coverage to tell Typst select the base from other fonts.

#show math.equation: set text(font: (
  (name: "New Computer Modern Math", covers: "latin-in-cjk"),
  (name: "Noto Serif CJK SC", covers: regex(".")),
  "New Computer Modern Math",
))
$ a' star b = b' star a. "（“乘法”交换律）" $

Math module

All math functions are part of the math module, which is available by default in equations. Outside of equations, they can be accessed with the math. prefix.

Accessibility

To make math accessible, you must provide alternative descriptions of equations in natural language using the alt parameter of math.equation. For more information, see the Textual Representations section of the Accessibility Guide.

#math.equation(
  alt: "d S equals delta q divided by T",
  $ d "S" = (delta q) / T $,
)

In the future, Typst will automatically make equations without alternative descriptions accessible in HTML and PDF 2.0 export.