Using the same font for numbers in math mode in LaTeX

Published Tue 25 March 2014 in personal

by Bryan Weber

It really bugs me when numbers are typeset with two different fonts on the same line, say in MS Word if you type 0.01 in the text and then the same in an equation field, they won’t look the same because they use different fonts. For my dissertation (written in LaTeX), I wanted to be sure to avoid this pitfall. Unfortunately, it is rather more complicated than it seems on the face. First, you must use XeLaTeX (which I am). Second, the packages fontspec and unicode-math are necessary. fontspec lets you set the main body font, while unicode-math lets you control the fonts used in math environments (between $, or in an equation environment, etc.). However, by default, unicode-math will typeset all of the numbers in whatever font you choose with that package so the default must be changed. For instance, in my dissertation, I have

\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont[Ligatures=TeX]{Times New Roman}

\usepackage{unicode-math}
\unimathsetup{math-style=TeX}
\setmathfont[range=\mathup/{num}]{Times New Roman}
\setmathfont[range=\mathit/{greek,Greek,latin,Latin}]{Cambria Math}
\setmathfont[range=\mathup/{greek,Greek,latin,Latin}]{Cambria Math}
\setmathfont[range={"2212,"002B,"003D,"0028,"0029,"005B,
"005D,"221A,"2211,"2248,"222B,"007C,"2026,"2202,"00D7,"0302,
"2261,"0025,"22C5,"00B1,"2194,"21D4}]{Cambria Math}

The lines starting \setmathfont are what control the font for different characters. The option \mathup means the upright math style, while the \mathit option means the italic math style. The /{num} means to use the given font for all the numbers in the style given immediately prior and the /{greek,Greek,latin,Latin} means to use the given font for all the lower- and upper-case Greek and Latin letters in the given style. The last two lines are required because the /{num} option also includes a bunch of characters like square brackets [, the integral symbol, etc., but Times New Roman does not have definitions of these symbols. The following table shows the characters that did not print for me:

Unicode Character
2212
002B +
003D =
0028 (
0029 )
005B [
005D ]
221A
2211
2248
222B
007C |
2026
2202
00D7 ×
0302 ̂
2261
0025 %
22C5
00B1 ±
2194
21D4
2260

These lines reset these characters to use the Cambria Math font. Now, all of my numerals are set in Times New Roman, no matter where they’re used.

Finally, note that unicode-math should be loaded after any other packages that mess with the math functionality, such as amsmath or mathtools.