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MathML

MathML is an XML-based standard for representing mathematical expressions in machine to machine communications which allows websites to display mathematical symbols and equations. Unfortunately, support for MathML is still lacking in many browsers. For those browsers with support, extra fonts will need to be installed.

To test whether your browser is capable of rendering MathML you can either visit some of the pages on this site or one of the MathML demos hosted by Mozilla. In particular, there is the Mozilla MathML Start Page which also contains a screenshot of what you might be missing. For the more adventurous, there is a MathML Torture Test.

Fonts

Eventually the STIX Fonts Project, which is still under development, will be a comprehensive set of fonts containing every MathML symbol. Unfortunately until it is finished, there is no single font that will provide all of the symbols required.

First and foremost, you will need a primary math font such as TeX’s Computer Modern (both TrueType and Type1), the Mathematica Mathn Fonts (TrueType and MacOSX packages, the 4.1 version is recommended), or the Math Type font set. If you use Windows or MacOS, MIT provides font packages with automatic installers which contain all three of these fonts:

• MIT MathML Fonts Package for Windows XP/2000:

  • Installer
  • Instructions

• MIT MathML Fonts Package 1.0 for Mac OS 9/X:

  • Installer
  • Instructions

If you stop there, things should mostly work. To see all letters in styles such as \mathfrak and \mathbb, you will need a Plane One Unicode font such Code 2001 by James Kass. For a complete set of arrows and operators, try the Code 2000 font, also by James Kass.

Browsers

Mozilla

At present, the Mozilla project and its progeny, such as Firefox, seem to have the best built-in MathML support. See Fonts for MathML-enabled Mozilla for specific instructions for which fonts to install for your platform and build. This page contains information for Linux, MacOSX, and Windows.

Mozilla on Linux

If you are using a Debian-based distribution, such as Ubuntu, you can install the latex-xft-fonts and ttf-opensymbol packages:

$ sudo apt-get install latex-xft-fonts ttf-opensymbol

If you installed the TeX Compter Modern font, try adding the following line to pref.js (make sure Firefox is not running):

user_pref("font.mathfont-family", "CMR10, CMSY10, CMEX10, CMMI10, OpenSymbol");

If you installed the Mathematica fonts, add this instead:

user_pref("font.mathfont-family", "Math1, Math2, Math4, Symbol");

You can also add these preference keys by typing about:config in the location bar and adding a new string key with the name font.mathfont-family and setting the appropriate value.

Mozilla on MacOS

Visit Instiki:Browsers for more details about MacOSX specific browsers.

Internet Explorer

The free MathPlayer plugin is available for Internet Explorer users (Windows only). This package reportedly includes math fonts.

Konqueror

Sadly Konqueror, the browser for KDE, currently does not support MathML. If you are interested in this feature, please vote for it here: Bug 30526: MathML support for Konqi.