Formatting an equation on a plot

Question

I am trying to label a plot with an equation. The problem is that Mathematica formats things almost well but not exactly. The parenthesis are of the wrong size, and the powers are not high enough.

For example:

testplot = RegionPlot[x^2 + y^3 < 2, {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}];
Overlay[{testplot, 
        Text[(10^-3/\[Beta])^2  (("1")/g') < 2, BaseStyle -> {FontSize -> 18}]}, 
        Alignment -> {0.9, 0.85}
       ]

I need the equation to look like it would on Latex, but here is what I get instead:

I tried putting the equation between "" but the parenthesis would be the wrong size and the powers are off. Just like this:

Any suggestions? Thanks! L.

Answer 1

I believe the OP almost had the (or a) solution entering the formula between quotes. The only step I added was to create an inline cell (ctrl-9) before typing the first parenthesis. I also wrapped the string with Text to get the output typeset in TraditionalForm.

If you want the fraction bigger, you can use Style to set FractionBoxOptions:

Answer 2

One way to format formula, where one enjoys a complete control on it, is the using of the Box language. This way, for instance:

    RegionPlot[x^2 + y^3 < 2, {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2},
 Epilog -> 
  Inset[RawBoxes[
    StyleBox[
     RowBox[{SuperscriptBox[
        RowBox[{"(", FractionBox[SuperscriptBox[10, "-3"], "\[Beta]"],
           ")"}], 2], "(", 
       FractionBox[1, "\!\(\*SuperscriptBox[\(g\), \(\[Prime]\)]\)"], 
       ")", "<", 2}], SpanMaxSize -> Infinity, FontSize -> 16, 
     FontSlant -> Italic]], Scaled[{0.8, 0.9}]]  ]

That is what should appear on the screen: You can play with the FontSize and occasionally with the FonSlant (needed, or not). You can possibly add FontFace->Bold, if desired.

In case you like this idea you might be interested in the following tutorials: Menu/Help/tutorial/RepresentingTextualFormsByBoxes Menu/Help/tutorial/StringRepresentationOfBoxes guide/LowLevelNotebookStructure Have fun.

Answer 3

This is a tough one because something like a (1/g) is always converted to a/g and no HoldForm helps. Your label falls in the same category which means the form you want will always be destroyed by Mathematica except when you work with a string. Unfortunately, the rendering of a string formula differs from the usual input and here on Linux I cannot get the parenthesis large and the overall formula looks awful.

One crappy idea is to input your label in a input cell which is in TraditionalForm and then convert it into a Bitmap with Cell->ConvertTo. This image (!!) can then be used as label which looks OK here

Nevertheless, I'm keen to hear other alternatives.