- Unicode has numeric subscripts and superscripts along with some operators (U+2070-U+208E)
- Others need some kind of markup like <msup>…</msup>
- With special subscript and superscript operators (not yet in Unicode), these scripts can be encoded nestibly
- Use parentheses as for fractions to overrule built-in precedence order
Nature isn't so kind with subscripts and superscripts, but they're still quite readable. Specifically, we introduce a subscript by a subscript operator with its own special glyph that resembles a subscripted down arrow. Similarly we introduce a superscript with a superscript operator, which has a glyph resembling a superscripted up arrow. The subscript itself can be any operand as defined above. These sub/superscript operators aren't currently part of Unicode. |
| Another compound subscript is a subscripted subscript, which works using right-to-left associativity. This associativity can be overruled using parentheses as describe for fractions. |
| If you use Unicode's built-in subscripts and superscripts, they should be rendered to look the same as if they had been represented by the corresponding general subscript/superscript markup. Particularly the numeric subscripts and superscripts are commonly used and their use can streamline technical text. |
Subscript and Superscript operators along with the corresponding TeX |
 |
Unicode TEX Example |
 |
TeX is an incredibly successful math representation and will continue to play an important role for many years to come. It's interesting that Unicode can make TeX more readable and efficient. The same is true for MathML, although MathML's XML syntax involves so many tags that it's not readable without a computer generated display.
|