Trying to get a specific symbol

Help
1

Hey I’m studying electrodynamics and they use this symbol
image

I have looked around quite a bit and I just can’t find anything to be able to use it in latex without using a image to manipulate and I just don’t know how to do it in obsidian

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2

Hi. You can try to use

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3

Do you have an example how this symbol is used in a formula? Preferably online as part of a longer text, so that we can understand what this symbol is supposed to mean.

4

I don’t have a solution, but I’m interested in this topic.

From googling I understand that the symbol is essentially the lower case r using Kaufmann font. Example

Latex apparently supports adding new symbols, or using packages with custom symbols maybe? (Not familiar with that)
Obsidian uses mathjax for Latex, which might support adding symbols, but I don’t know how.

5

I find it easier to find such symbols, when I know their context. In this case I had just the word “electrodynamics”.

Just for fun I typed electrodynamics latex typesetting in my search engine. The very first results talk about someone called “Griffith” and a “script r” glyph. For example:

A comment in the first thread points to Griffith’s homepage, with Griffith’s own explanation on “How to create script-r in TeX”:

Context matters. In this case I assume that OP is reading the “near-ubiquitous undergraduate reference on electrodynamics, ‘Introduction to Electrodynamics’ by David Griffiths”, as it is called in one of the above mentioned threads.

EDIT: This is only a partial answer to OP’s question. We have an answer for “How to use script-r in LaTeX?” But we don’t have an answer yet for “How to use script-r in Obsidian?” Any Obsidian MathJax experts out there?

6

Kaufmann font is apparently what Griffith used, according to one answer in the aforementioned thread. I looked into the PDF from Griffith’s website. It says “SRSQDW+Kaufmann”. So Kaufmann looks like a good bet.

Instead of looking at a particular font, we could look for the correct Unicode character. We know that we are looking for a small script r. Unicode’s mathematical section contains a Mathematical Script Small R. Code number is U+1D4C7.

Unicode characters can be pasted directly in MathJax. If Obsidian’s font supports this character, it should show up in Obsidian. And it does!

To letter 𝓇 can be used in plain text as well as in MathJax ($𝓇$).

This is how it looks on my side (Mac OS, Theme Primary):

a

Semantically speaking this should be the correct character. The next question would be how to render it in a different font.

EDIT: If the glyph matters more than the correct encoidng, it may be easier to ignore Unicode and fonts. If the glyph is supposed to look like the original in Griffith’s book, why not use the glyph provided by Griffith?

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7

Don’t know about OP, but I’m mainly interested in finding how to add custom symbols.
I don’t have an actual use case, just curious.

Let’s hope a mathjax expert visits the thread.

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8

Maybe post a new question that is more specific? Like:

How to add custom symbols to MathJax?

Then list a few options you have researched. Including links to online resources like Stackexchange or blogs or docs.

In LaTeX it is possible to

  • add an external graphic as custom symbol with …
  • add an tikz graphic as custom symbol with …
  • …
  • …

How do I do this in Obsidian with MathJax?

I have tried:

  • …
  • …

From what I get so far, it is not possible in MathJax alone, as it is included in Obsidian. But I might be wrong.

9

Ah, its not important enough for me make a separate post about it.
Like I said, I’m just curious to see how OP’s problem gets solved.

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