The amsopn package

Michael Downes

Version v2.04, 2022/04/08

This file is maintained by the LATEX Project team.

Bug reports can be opened (category amslatex) at
https://latex-project.org/bugs/.

1 Introduction
The amsopn package provides a command \DeclareMathOperator for defining
new ‘math operator names’ similar to the standard function names \sin, \lim,
\max, etc.
Standard file identification.
\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}% LaTeX 2.09 can’t be used (nor non-LaTeX)
[1994/12/01]% LaTeX date must December 1994 or later
\ProvidesPackage{amsopn}[2022/04/08 v2.04 operator names]
What \nolimits@ does is keep a \limits typed by the user from having
any effect. This is used for operatornames whose standard usage is never to
have limits.
\def\nolimits@{\@ifnextchar\limits{\nolimits\@gobble}{\nolimits}}
In operator names, it is sometimes desired to have text-mode punctuation
characters such as *-/:’. Because the body of an operator name is set in math
mode, these few punctuation characters will not come out right (wrong symbol
and/or wrong spacing). The purpose of \newmcodes@ is to make them act like
their normal text versions.
Where practical, we use decimal numbers to cut down main mem usage ("
not needed). Use \Umathcodedefnum with xetex and LuaTeX to avoid problems
using \mathcode if - has already been defined using \Umathcode.
\begingroup \catcode‘\"=12
\ifx\Umathcode\@undefined
\gdef\newmcodes@{\mathcode‘\’39\mathcode‘\*42\mathcode‘\."613A%
Define \std@minus for \relbar use; otherwise there are problems with arrows
constructed with relbar.
\ifnum\mathcode‘\-=45 \else
\mathchardef\std@minus\mathcode‘\-\relax
\fi
\mathcode‘\-45\mathcode‘\/47\mathcode‘\:"603A\relax}

1
 2 THE AMSOPN PACKAGE

\else
\gdef\newmcodes@{\mathcode‘\’39\mathcode‘\*42\mathcode‘\."613A%
\ifnum\Umathcodenum‘\-=45 \else
\Umathcharnumdef\std@minus\Umathcodenum‘\-\relax
\fi
\mathcode‘\-45\mathcode‘\/47\mathcode‘\:"603A\relax}
\fi
\endgroup
The command \operatorname prints its argument as a ‘math operator’ like
\sin or \det, with proper font and spacing.
\DeclareRobustCommand{\operatorname}{%
\@ifstar{\qopname\newmcodes@ m}%
{\qopname\newmcodes@ o}}%
In the interior of the \mathop we need a null object (we choose a zero kern for
minimum waste of main mem) in order to guard against the case where #3 is a
single letter; TEX will seize it and center it on the math axis if there is nothing
else inside the \mathop atom.
\DeclareRobustCommand{\qopname}[3]{%
\mathop{#1\kern\z@\operator@font#3}%
\csname n#2limits@\endcsname}

\DeclareMathOperator The command \DeclareMathOperator defines the first argument to be an op-

erator name whose text is the second argument. The star form means that the
operator name should take limits (like \max or \lim).
\newcommand{\DeclareMathOperator}{%
\@ifstar{\@declmathop m}{\@declmathop o}}

In the basic set of operator names (below) we did not use \DeclareRobustCommand
because of the hash table cost. But we use it here to minimize the chances of
trouble, since we are producing a user-defined command.
\long\def\@declmathop#1#2#3{%
\@ifdefinable{#2}{%
\DeclareRobustCommand{#2}{\qopname\newmcodes@#1{#3}}}}
%
\@onlypreamble\DeclareMathOperator
\@onlypreamble\@declmathop
\protected\def\arccos{\qopname\relax o{arccos}}
\protected\def\arcsin{\qopname\relax o{arcsin}}
\protected\def\arctan{\qopname\relax o{arctan}}
\protected\def\arg{\qopname\relax o{arg}}
\protected\def\cos{\qopname\relax o{cos}}
\protected\def\cosh{\qopname\relax o{cosh}}
\protected\def\cot{\qopname\relax o{cot}}
\protected\def\coth{\qopname\relax o{coth}}
\protected\def\csc{\qopname\relax o{csc}}
\protected\def\deg{\qopname\relax o{deg}}
 1. INTRODUCTION 3

\protected\def\det{\qopname\relax m{det}}
\protected\def\dim{\qopname\relax o{dim}}
\protected\def\exp{\qopname\relax o{exp}}
\protected\def\gcd{\qopname\relax m{gcd}}
\protected\def\hom{\qopname\relax o{hom}}
\protected\def\inf{\qopname\relax m{inf}}
\protected\def\injlim{\qopname\relax m{inj\,lim}}
\protected\def\ker{\qopname\relax o{ker}}
\protected\def\lg{\qopname\relax o{lg}}
\protected\def\lim{\qopname\relax m{lim}}
\protected\def\liminf{\qopname\relax m{lim\,inf}}
\protected\def\limsup{\qopname\relax m{lim\,sup}}
\protected\def\ln{\qopname\relax o{ln}}
\protected\def\log{\qopname\relax o{log}}
\protected\def\max{\qopname\relax m{max}}
\protected\def\min{\qopname\relax m{min}}
\protected\def\Pr{\qopname\relax m{Pr}}
\protected\def\projlim{\qopname\relax m{proj\,lim}}
\protected\def\sec{\qopname\relax o{sec}}
\protected\def\sin{\qopname\relax o{sin}}
\protected\def\sinh{\qopname\relax o{sinh}}
\protected\def\sup{\qopname\relax m{sup}}
\protected\def\tan{\qopname\relax o{tan}}
\protected\def\tanh{\qopname\relax o{tanh}}

\operator@font This command is provided to allow the document styles to decide in which
\operatorfont way math operators like ‘max’ or ‘log’ are typeset. The default is to set them
in ⟨math group⟩ zero of the current math version. The original name was
\operator@font, retained for compatibility; the second name was added to
make it more accessible so that users can call this font for use in special con-
structs that are not ordinary operator names but conceptually related.
\operator@font is also declared by the LATEX kernel (for at least 14 years),
thus defining it here effectively means “resetting it” to the kernel value, which
is counterproductive in situations where the user (or a class) has altered its
definition and at a later point amsopn got added.
%\def\operator@font{\mathgroup\symoperators} % commented out in 2.03
\def\operatorfont{\operator@font}

For backwards compatibility we keep this old command name for the time
being:
\def\operatornamewithlimits{\operatorname*}
These macros use \mathpalettes so that they will change size in script and
scriptscript styles, though it’s hard to imagine they will ever be used there (the
arrows, particularly, look bad in subscript sizes). Notice that the use of \ex@
means that the vertical spacing may not be optimal in script and scriptscript
sizes. Unfortunately TEX provides no easy way to do math mode vertical spacing
that varies with current math style like mu units.
\protected\def\varlim@#1#2{%
4 THE AMSOPN PACKAGE

\vtop{\m@th\ialign{##\cr
\hfil$#1\operator@font lim$\hfil\cr
\noalign{\nointerlineskip\kern1.5\ex@}#2\cr
\noalign{\nointerlineskip\kern-\ex@}\cr}}%
}
\protected\def\varinjlim{%
\mathop{\mathpalette\varlim@{\rightarrowfill@\textstyle}}\nmlimits@
}
\protected\def\varprojlim{%
\mathop{\mathpalette\varlim@{\leftarrowfill@\textstyle}}\nmlimits@
}
\protected\def\varliminf{\mathop{\mathpalette\varliminf@{}}\nmlimits@}
\def\varliminf@#1{\@@underline{\vrule\@depth.2\ex@\@width\z@
\hbox{$#1\m@th\operator@font lim$}}}
\protected\def\varlimsup{\mathop{\mathpalette\varlimsup@{}}\nmlimits@}
\def\varlimsup@#1{\@@overline{\hbox{$#1\m@th\operator@font lim$}}}
\let\nmlimits@\displaylimits
\DeclareOption{namelimits}{\let\nmlimits@\displaylimits}
\DeclareOption{nonamelimits}{\let\nmlimits@\nolimits}
\ProcessOptions\relax
If we don’t load the amsgen package then the use of \ex@ in \varlim@ will
lead to trouble.
\RequirePackage{amsgen}\relax
The usual \endinput to ensure that random garbage at the end of the file
doesn’t get copied by docstrip.
\endinput