Math Keyboard layout for QWERTY keyboards on Windows

The Math Keyboard layout supports all characters defined in the international mathematics standard ISO 80000-2 and a small collection of other characters. Most associations are intuitive, based on either the shape of the character (for example, AltGrE produces ∈) or the initial letter of its name (for example, AltGI produces ∆, increment). For some char­ac­ters, key combinations are needed; for example, `R produces the right arrow →. The layout can be used on any QWERTY keyboard, but it works best on a US keyboard.

The layout delivered as a zipped file. Unzip it and run the setup.exe file; the installation may take a minute or so. Consult Windows Help for information on assigning shortcuts to keyboard layouts, so that you can switch between layouts with keyboard commands.

For different physical keyboards and different contexts, somewhat different Mathematische Tastatur by Christoph Grandt, specifically for German high school teachers, based on the German keyboard

Character repertoire

For the main set of characters supported by the layout, see Mathematical symbols in ISO 80000-2 – a test page. The use of these characters is described in detail in the e-book Writing Mathematical Expressions.

Some additional characters are included, due to their common use or due to a natural assigment to a key. In particular, all superscript and subscript digits can be typed using the normal keys 0 1 2… together with AltGr (“right alt”) for superscripts and Shift AltGr for subscripts.

US keyboard as reference

This description of the layout uses the common US keyboard as a frame of reference. You can use it on any QWERTY keyboard, but you need to take differences in account when interpreting the instructions. For example, a reference to the grave (backtick) key ` means the key in the upper left corner of the keyboard. In non-US keyboards, the key may well have other engravings than the US keyboard, which has the grave (`) and the tilde (~) there.

The layout is somewhat more difficult to use on non-US keyboards, because you need to remember some differences. For example, the key that produces the minus sign (−) is the one on the right of the 0, with the hyphen engraved on it on US keyboards, so we denote it by - but it has for example the plus sign (+) in some other keyboards. In that case, the user needs to remember that the plus key produces the minus sign. If this is too awkward, consider creating a variant of this layout, adapted to the physical keyboard you use.

Key principles

• Most keys have their normal meanings as in US keyboards, when used as such or with the Shift key.
• Some keys produce a mathematical symbol similar to the character they produce on US keyboards. For example, the hyphen key - produces the minus sign (−). There is normally no use for a hyphen in a mathematical expression. Similarly, Shift 7, which produces & on a US keyboard, produces logical and, ∧. and the \ produces set minus.
• Superscript and subscript digits can be typed using the keys 0 1 2… together with AltGr (“right alt”) for superscripts and Shift AltGr for subscripts. Superscript minus and plus can be typed similarly using the two keys to the right of digit keys, - and =.
• Double-struck symbols like ℕ are produced using Shift AltGr and a letter key.
• The key in the upper left corner, which is the grave (backtick) key ` in the US keyboard, is used as as escape mechanism: when you press first that key, then some other key (possibly modified with the Shift key, a special character somehow associated with the character that appears in the key cap of the the latter key. For example, ` N produces the NOT SIGN (¬).

Notes

The Math Keyboard layout was implemented using the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC) on (32-bit) Windows 7.

The layout contains only a two Greek letters: π as AltGr Shift D and δ as AltGr P. Greek letters can be conveniently typed using the standard Greek keyboard layout in Windows. If you use it on a QWERTY keyboard, the A key produces α, the B key produces β, etc., with just a few non-obvious assignments: θ ≘ U, η ≘ H, ξ ≘ J, χ ≘ X, ψ ≘ C, ω ≘ V.

Table of key assignments