Skip to content

# Latex Beamer Definition Example Essays

• Just like a program, all "variables" (terminology and notation) in the paper should be defined before being used, and should be defined only once. (Exception: Sometimes after a long hiatus it's useful to remind the reader of a definition.) Global definitions should be grouped into the Preliminaries section; other definitions should be given just before their first use.
• Do not use "etc." unless the remaining items are completely obvious.
• Acceptable: We shall number the phases 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
• Unacceptable: We measure performance factors such as volatility, scalability, etc.

(Exercise: The above rule is violated at least once in this document. Find the violations.)

• Never say "for various reasons". (Example: We decided not to consider the alternative, for various reasons.) Tell the reader the reasons!
• Avoid nonreferential use of "this", "that", "these", "it", and so on (Ullman pet peeve). Requiring explicit identification of what "this" refers to enforces clarity of writing. Here is a typical example of nonreferential "this": Our experiments test several different environments and the algorithm does well in some but not all of them. This is important because ...

(Exercise: The above rule is violated at least once in this document. Find the violations.)

• Italics are for definitions or quotes, not for emphasis (Gries pet peeve). Your writing should be constructed such that context alone provides sufficient emphasis.

(Exercise: The above rule is violated at least once in this document. Find the violations.)

• People frequently use "which" versus "that" incorrectly. "That" is defining; "which" is nondefining. Examples of correct use:
• The algorithms that are easy to implement all run in linear time.
• The algorithms, which are easy to implement, all run in linear time.
• Mathematical documents include elements that require special formatting and numbering such as theorems, definitions, propositions, remarks, corollaries, lemmas and so on. This article explains how to define these environments in LaTeX.

## Introduction

Numbered environments in LaTeX can be defined by means of the command . An example is presented below:

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}   \begin{document}\section{Introduction} Theorems can easily be defined   \begin{theorem} Let $f$ be a function whose derivative exists in every point, then $f$ is a continuous function. \end{theorem}\end{document}

The command has two parameters, the first one is the name of the environment that is defined, the second one is the word that will be printed, in boldface font, at the beginning of the environment. Once this new environment is defined it can be used normally within the document, delimited it with the marks and .

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

## Numbered theorems, definitions, corollaries and lemmas

The numbering of the environments can be controlled by means of two additional parameters in the command. Let's see:

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section]\newtheorem{corollary}{Corollary}[theorem]\newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}   \begin{document}\section{Introduction} Theorems can easily be defined   \begin{theorem} Let $f$ be a function whose derivative exists in every point, then $f$ is a continuous function. \end{theorem}   \begin{theorem}[Pythagorean theorem]\label{pythagorean} This is a theorema about right triangles and can be summarised in the next equation $x^2 + y^2 = z^2$\end{theorem}   And a consequence of theorem \ref{pythagorean} is the statement in the next corollary.   \begin{corollary} There's no right rectangle whose sides measure 3cm, 4cm, and 6cm. \end{corollary}   You can reference theorems such as \ref{pythagorean} when a label is assigned.   \begin{lemma} Given two line segments whose lengths are $a$ and $b$ respectively there is a real number $r$ such that $b=ra$. \end{lemma}

There are three new environments defined in the preamble.

This is the example presented in the introduction but it has the additional parameter that restarts the theorem counter at every new section.
A environment called corollary is created, the counter of this new environment will be reset every time a new theorem environment is used.
In this case, the even though a new environment called lemma is created, it will use the same counter as the theorem environment.

Some famous theorems have their own names, for these cases you can add said name inside brackets in the environment opening command. In the example the line prints "Pythagorean theorem" at the beginning of the paragraph.

As with many other numbered elements in LaTeX, the command can be used to reference theorem-like environments within the document.

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

##  Unnumbered theorem-like environments

Sometimes it becomes handy to have an unnumbered theorem-like environments to add remarks, comments or examples to a mathematical document. The package amsthm provides this functionality.

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \usepackage{amsthm}   \newtheorem*{remark}{Remark}   \begin{document}   Unnumbered theorem-like environments are also posible.   \begin{remark} This statement is true, I guess. \end{remark}\end{document}

The syntax of the command is the same as the non-starred version, except for the counter parameters. In this example a new unnumbered environment called remark is created.

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

##  Theorem styles

A feature that is important when working in a mathematical document is to easily tell apart, say, definitions from theorems by its formatting. The package amsthm provide special commands to accomplish this.

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \usepackage{amsthm}   \theoremstyle{definition}\newtheorem{definition}{Definition}[section]   \theoremstyle{remark}\newtheorem*{remark}{Remark}   \begin{document} Unnumbered theorem-like environments are also possible.   \begin{remark} This statement is true, I guess. \end{remark}   And the next is a somewhat informal definition   \theoremstyle{definition}\begin{definition}{Fibration} A fibration is a mapping between two topological spaces that has the homotopy lifting property for every space $X$. \end{definition}\end{document}

The command sets the styling for the numbered environment defined right below it. In the example above the styles remark and definition are used. Notice that the remark is now in italics and the text in the environment uses normal (Roman) typeface, the definition on the other hand also uses Roman typeface for the text within but the word "Definition" is printed in boldface font.

See the reference guide for more theorem styles.

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

##  Proofs

Proofs are the core of mathematical papers and books and is customary to keep them visually apart from the normal text in the document. The package amsthm provides the environment proof for this.

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \usepackage{amsthm}   \begin{document}\begin{lemma} Given two line segments whose lengths are $a$ and $b$ respectively there is a real number $r$ such that $b=ra$. \end{lemma}   \begin{proof} To prove it by contradiction try and assume that the statemenet is false, proceed from there and at some point you will arrive to a contradiction. \end{proof}\end{document}

The word Proof is italicized and there is some extra spacing, also a special symbol is used to mark the end of the proof. This symbol can be easily changed, to learn how see the next section.

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

##  Changing the qed symbol

To change the symbol printed at the end of a proof is straightforward.

\documentclass{article}\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}\usepackage[english]{babel}   \usepackage{amsthm}   \renewcommand\qedsymbol{$\blacksquare$}   \begin{document}\begin{lemma} Given two line segments whose lengths are $a$ and $b$ respectively there is a real number $r$ such that $b=ra$. \end{lemma}   \begin{proof} To prove it by contradiction try and assume that the statemenet is false, proceed from there and at some point you will arrive to a contradiction. \end{proof}\end{document}

The command changed the default white square for a black square that is printed by , the parameter inside the braces. You can change this for any other symbol or text, for instance you can use

To print the traditional QED (quod erat demonstrandum) at the end of a proof.

Open an example in ShareLaTeX

##  Reference guide

Theorem styles

• boldface title, romand body. Commonly used in definitions, conditions, problems and examples.
• boldface title, italicized body. Commonly used in theorems, lemmas, corollaries, propositions and conjectures.
• italicized title, romman body. Commonly used in remarks, notes, annotations, claims, cases, acknowledgments and conclusions.

##  Further reading

For more information see:

\renewcommand\qedsymbol{QED}