Smashoperator Analogue

Questions
4

If your use case for a smash function is limited to subscripts and superscripts in math, you can define a function like this

#let smash(body, side: center) = math.display(
  box(width: 0pt, align(
    side.inv(),
    box(width: float.inf * 1pt, $ script(body) $))
  )
)

To add some notes about why I did it exactly like this:

  • The zero-width box is the main component responsible for the smashing, as it prevents the body from expanding to the side.
  • The inner box with infinite width is required so that the body isn’t split into multiple lines.
  • The alignment is optional in case you want all the different behaviors you can get in LaTeX with \mathclap, \mathrlap and \mathllap.
  • The display and script functions are necessary for keeping the font style and size of the subscript or superscript content, as that information would otherwise be lost as soon as a box is introduced.
  • The script(body) has to be in a block equation so that the bounds of the content are calculated correctly, which is necessary for proper positioning.

You can then use this as in

$ g(t) dot limits(integral)_smash(a+b+c+d)^smash(x+y+z) f(t) dif t $

image

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