Sample LaTeX file
The name of this file is intro.tex.
\documentclass[10pt,oneside]{article}
\usepackage{graphics,color} % usual driver
\usepackage{verbatim}
\usepackage{amsmath} % need for subequations
% don't need the following. simply use defaults
\setlength{\baselineskip}{16.0pt} % 16 pt usual spacing between lines
\setlength{\parskip}{3pt plus 2pt}
\setlength{\parindent}{20pt}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0.5cm}
\setlength{\evensidemargin}{0.5cm}
\setlength{\marginparsep}{0.75cm}
\setlength{\marginparwidth}{2.5cm}
\setlength{\marginparpush}{1.0cm}
\setlength{\textwidth}{150mm}
\begin{comment}
\pagestyle{empty} % use if do not want page numbers
\end{comment}
\begin{document}
\begin{center}
Introduction to \LaTeX \\ % \\ = new line
Harvey Gould \\
February 26, 2002
\end{center}
\section{Introduction}
\TeX\ looks more difficult than it is. It is
almost as easy as $\pi$. See how easy it is to make special
symbols such as $\alpha$,
$\beta$, $\gamma$,
$\delta$, $\sin x$, $\hbar$, $\lambda$, $\ldots$ We also can make
subscripts
$A_{x}$, $A_{xy}$ and superscripts, $e^x$, $e^{x^2}$, and
$e^{a^b}$. We will use \LaTeX, which is based on \TeX\ and has
many higher-level commands (macros) for formatting, making
tables, etc. More information can be found in Ref.~\cite{latex}.
We just made a new paragraph. Extra lines and spaces make no
difference. Note that all formulae are enclosed by
\$ and occur in \textit{math mode}.
The default font is Computer Modern. It includes \textit{italics}
or {\it italics}, \textbf{boldface} or {\bf boldface},
\textsl{slanted} or {\sl slanted}, and \texttt{monospaced} or {\tt
monospaced} (typewriter) fonts.
\section{Equations}
Let us see how easy it is to write equations.
\begin{equation}
\Delta =\sum_{i=1}^N w_i (x_i - \bar{x})^2 .
\end{equation}
It is usually a good idea to number equations, but we can have a
equation without a number by writing
\begin{equation}
P(x) = {{x - a} \over {b - a}} . \nonumber
\end{equation}
or
\begin{equation}
g = \frac{1}{2} \sqrt{2\pi} . \nonumber
\end{equation}
Note the different ways of writing a ratio.
We can give an equation a label so that we can refer to it later.
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:ising}
E = -J \sum_{i=1}^N s_i s_{i+1} ,
\end{equation}
Equation~(\ref{eq:ising}) expresses the energy of a configuration
of spins.\footnote{It is necessary to process a file twice to
get the counters correct.}
We can define our own macros to save typing. For example, suppose
that we introduce the macros:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\lb}{{\langle}}
\newcommand{\rb}{{\rangle}}
\end{verbatim}
\newcommand{\lb}{{\langle}}
\newcommand{\rb}{{\rangle}}
Then we can write the average value of $x$ as
\begin{verbatim}
\begin{equation}
\lb x \rb = 3
\end{equation}
\end{verbatim}
The result is
\begin{equation}
\lb x \rb = 3 .
\end{equation}
Examples of more complicated equations:
\begin{equation}
I = \! \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(x)\,dx \label{eq:fine}.
\end{equation}
We can do some fine tuning by adding small amounts of horizontal
spacing:
\begin{verbatim}
\, small space \! negative space
\end{verbatim}
as is done in (\ref{eq:fine}).
We also can align several equations:
\begin{eqnarray}
a & =& b \\
c &=& d ,
\end{eqnarray}
or number them as subequations:
\begin{subequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
a & =& b \\
c &=& d .
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
We can also have different cases:
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:mdiv}
m(T) =
\begin{cases}
0 & \text{$T > T_c$} \\
\bigl(1 - [\sinh 2 \beta J]^{-4} \bigr)^{\! 1/8} & \text{$T < T_c$}
\end{cases}
\end{equation}
write matrices
\begin{eqnarray}
\textbf{T} &=&
\begin{pmatrix}
T_{++} \hfill & T_{+-} \\
T_{-+} & T_{--} \hfill
\end{pmatrix} , \nonumber \\
& =&
\begin{pmatrix}
e^{\beta (J + B)} \hfill & e^{-\beta J} \hfill \\
e^{-\beta J} \hfill & e^{\beta (J - B)} \hfill
\end{pmatrix}.
\end{eqnarray}
and
\newcommand{\rv}{\textbf{r}}
\begin{equation}
\sum_i \vec A \cdot \vec B = -P \! \int \! \rv \cdot
\hat{\mathbf{n}}\, dA = P \! \int \! {\vec \nabla} \cdot \rv\, dV
\end{equation}
\section{Tables}
Tables are a little more difficult until you get the knack. TeX
automatically calculates the width of the columns.
\begin{table}[h]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|r|l|}
\hline
lattice & $d$ & $q$ & $T_{\rm mf}/T_c$ \\
\hline
square & 2 & 4 & 1.763 \\
\hline
triangular & 2 & 6 & 1.648 \\
\hline
diamond & 3 & 4 & 1.479 \\
\hline
simple cubic & 3 & 6 & 1.330 \\
\hline
bcc & 3 & 8 & 1.260 \\
\hline
fcc & 3 & 12 & 1.225 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{\label{tab:5/tc}Comparison of the mean-field predictions
for the critical temperature of the Ising model with exact results
and the best known estimates for different spatial dimensions $d$
and lattice symmetries.}
\end{center}
\end{table}
\section{Lists}
Some example of formatted lists include the
following:
\begin{enumerate}
\item bread
\item cheese
\end{enumerate}
\begin{itemize}
\item Tom
\item Dick
\end{itemize}
\section{Figures}
We can make figures bigger or smaller by scaling them.
Figure~\ref{fig:typical} is an eps file with the bounding box
already defined. Figure~\ref{fig:lj} has been scaled by 50\%. It
sometimes can be difficult to place the figures in the desired
places.
\begin{figure}[h]
\begin{center}
%\resizebox{!}{1cm}{\includegraphics{figures/sine.eps}}
%\includegraphics{figures/sine.eps}
\caption{\label{fig:typical}Show me a sine.}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}[h]
\begin{center}
%\scalebox{0.5}{\includegraphics{figures/lj.eps}}
\caption{\label{fig:lj}Plot of the
Lennard-Jones potential
$u(r)$. The potential is characterized by a length
$\sigma$ and an energy
$\epsilon$.}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
\section{Literal text}
It is desirable to print program code exactly as it is typed in a
monospaced font. Use \verb \begin{verbatim} and
\verb \end{verbatim} as in the following example:
\begin{verbatim}
public void computeArea()
{
this.area = this.length*this.length;
System.out.println("Area = " + this.area);
}
\end{verbatim}
The command \verb \verbatiminput{programs/Square.java}\ will allow
you to list the file \texttt{Square.java} in the directory
programs.
\section{Special Symbols}
\subsection{Common Greek letters}
These commands may be used only in math mode. Only the most common
letters are included.
$\alpha,
\beta, \gamma, \Gamma,
\delta,\Delta,
\epsilon, \zeta, \eta, \theta, \Theta, \kappa,
\lambda, \Lambda, \mu, \nu,
\xi, \Xi,
\pi, \Pi,
\rho,
\sigma,
\tau,
\phi, \Phi,
\chi,
\psi, \Psi,
\omega, \Omega$
\subsection{Special symbols}
The derivative is defined as
\begin{equation}
{dy \over dx} = \lim_{\Delta x \to 0}{\Delta y
\over
\Delta x}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}
f(x) \to y \quad {\rm as} \quad x \to
x_{0}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}
f(x) \mathop {\longrightarrow}
\limits_{x \to x_0} y
\end{equation}
\noindent Order of magnitude:
\begin{equation}
\log_{10}f \simeq n
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}
f(x)\sim 10^{n}
\end{equation}
Approximate equality:
\begin{equation}
f(x)\simeq g(x)
\end{equation}
\TeX\ is simple if we keep everything in proportion:
\begin{equation}
f(x) \propto x^3 .
\end{equation}
Finally we can skip some space by using a command such as
\begin{verbatim}
\bigskip \medskip \smallskip \vspace{1pc}
\end{verbatim}
The space can be negative.
\section{\color{red}Use of Color}
{\color{blue}{We can change colors for emphasis}},
{\color{green}{but}} {\color{cyan}{who is going pay for the ink?}}
\begin{thebibliography}{5}
\bibitem{latex}Helmut Kopka and Patrick W. Daly, \textsl{A Guide to
\LaTeX: Document Preparation for Beginners and Advanced Users},
third edition, Addison-Wesley (1999).
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}
Updated 26 February 2002.