[Tex/LaTex] How to save space displaying “max x \in [a,b]”

Question

I just create a summary for usage in my exam and there are a lot of information worth to be on this summary page.

k=1,...,n below max is a waste of space
(I have more than 10 of these wasted lines on the page).

Is there any way to fit \underset{k=1,...,n}{\max} into the borders?

Answer 1

Don't use \underset for operator "limits": there's a better way.

With amsmath, the limits are automatically positioned according to the current math style (display or inline). If necessary, \limits and \nolimits can be used to manually control the positioning. But the manual adjustments should be used with care: most of the time, the default looks best.

The default for inline math is for the limits to be placed to the side. This prevents increased leading, which I believe is what you're hoping to avoid here. So just using $\max_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert$ should do the job.

Here's an example showing all the possibilities:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\setlength{\textwidth}{2.5in} % just for the sample

\begin{document}
Inline, default: \hfill $\max_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert$

Inline, \verb+\nolimits+: \hfill $\max\nolimits_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert$

Inline, \verb+\limits+: \hfill $\max\limits_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert$

Display, default:
\[\max_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert\]

Display, \verb+\nolimits+:
\[\max\nolimits_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert\]

Display, \verb+\limits+:
\[\max\limits_{k=1,\dots,n} \lvert x \rvert\]
\end{document}