Frequently asked questions - Math

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How do I get * as a superscript? Using x^* produces an error.

The problem is that * is a binary operator, which must be between two expressions. For x^*, use one of these sets of markup:

• x ^ { {} * {} }
• x ^ {"*"}

This answer applies to other binary operators such as ∙ (cdot) and ÷ (div).

Some symbols are unary operators, such as +. These only require an expression on the right, not the left. To use these symbols, use one of these sets of markup:

• x^{ + {} }
• x^{"+"}

If you regularly use binary or unary operators as superscripts, you may want to create a userdefined symbol and then your markup would be ^ %your_symbol_name. See How do I use a symbol not provided in Math's Catalog of characters?