Suggestion for Enhancing Mathematical and Scientific Notation Support in Obsidian

Help
1

Dear Obsidian Team,

I hope this message finds you well. First and foremost, I am writing to express my enthusiasm for your application. Obsidian has become an indispensable tool for me, significantly enhancing my productivity and organization. The combination of powerful features and flexibility makes it ideal for my needs.

However, I have encountered some challenges when taking notes for my scientific lectures, particularly in the fields of mathematics and physics. I often need to use fractions, square and cube numbers, denote infinity, and use various Latin letters and other mathematical symbols. Additionally, there are numerous terms and notations from higher mathematics and quantum physics that I frequently use.

Currently, making such notes requires additional effort and often doesn’t look as neat as I would like. It would be fantastic if Obsidian could support these mathematical and physical notations directly, allowing myself and many other users to record and organize scientific notes more efficiently.

Here are some of the symbols and notations that would be helpful to have in Obsidian:

  • Fractions (e.g., 1/2, 3/4)
  • Exponents (e.g., x², y³)
  • Matrices and the ability to create tables
  • Infinity symbol (∞)
  • Special Latin letters and symbols (e.g., α, β, γ, ∑, ∫)
  • Advanced mathematical notations (e.g., differential equations, integral signs with limits, quantum physics operators)

Adding these features would make your application even more versatile and appealing to students, educators, and researchers who need such tools for accurate note-taking.

I hope you will consider my suggestion and find a way to include these features in future updates of Obsidian. Thank you very much for your attention and for creating such a wonderful application.

Best regards,
Shuhrat

2

Have you considered using the latex (mathjax) support which can handle all these things? Wrapping a latex expression in “$” or “$$” synbols allows you to use this mechanism. Also the new mehrmaid plugin allows you to use these in mermaid diagrams.

for instance this plugin is really good:

3

Hi. Writing math is already implemented in Obsidian through MathJax.

In LaTeX you can use packages to have custom syntax for various things like automatic equation numbering, SI units, localised number forms, localised dates etc. In MathJax you don’t have access to every package. Instead MathJax uses preconfigured packages. Most notably you don’t get automatic equation numbering. There is a community plugin LaTeX-like Theorem & Equation Referencer that brings automatic equation numbering to your notes.

Live preview may cause problems when using MathJax so usually you need to use source mode for editing. You can use Split right command to have two views simultaneously—one for source view and one for rendered view (reading view). Use command palette to run commands.

Finally see also this plugin

4

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.