(Title LaTeX test) Why does NMR Ix+iIy ($\hat{I}_x+i\hat{I}_y$)

Question

I wanted to test some $\LaTeX$ in the title for myself, and I didn't know any other way to do so.

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Why does the transverse magnetization in Fourier Transform NMR consist of Ix+iIy ($\hat{I}_x+i\hat{I}_y$) -> http://meta.chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/2774/why-does-the-transverse-magnetization-in-fourier-transform-nmr-consist-of-ixiiy

Why does the transverse magnetization NMR consist of Ix+iIy ($\hat{I}_x+i\hat{I}_y$) -> http://meta.chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/2774/why-does-the-transverse-magnetization-nmr-consist-of-ixiiy-hati-xi-hati

Why does NMR Ix+iIy ($\hat{I}_x+i\hat{I}_y$) -> http://meta.chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/2774/why-does-nmr-ixiiy-hati-xi-hati-y

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Can someone explain to me why we can't just add Latex in titles as well as plain text? It might not be always a useful idea, but I don't see the problem of tacking the $\LaTeX$ on the end. To me an issue only arises when entirely replacing the plain text for $\LaTeX$ in the middle of the question.

Answer 1

I personally prefer plain text titles only. For me this is a much more elaborate way of asking.

Taking your example: Why does the transverse magnetization in Fourier Transform NMR consist of Ix+iIy ($\hat{I}_{\!x}+\mathrm{i}\hat{I}_{\!y}$)?

I have no idea what $\hat{I}$ is. Even after reading the whole question I have no idea what it stands for. Currently I have the time to at least read most of the questions, that come up and even edit a couple of them, but there will come a time, where I only attend questions that I find interesting. Although I am generally interested in NMR and the theory behind it, I would not have bothered to read this question.

In my opinion it is a question of style. At least, that is what I care most about in this issue. I can live with these kind of questions as I have given up on being a perfectionist.^[*]

It looks ugly on google

Point in case:

This is of course only true if it is not cut off. See the lower title.

It does not render in most hot questions lists

I assume most of the people who would be able to understand the question browse on sites that have MathJax support, but most sites don't. So this looks ugly, and incomprehensible for most people. There has been a feature request on blocking those questions.

The slug, the slug, THE SLUG?!

I have no idea how google and similar search engines work. So I probably don't care much about it. For sharing the question, It is not even necessary to include this part in the link, i.e.
https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2774/why-does-nmr-ixiiy-hati-xi-hati-y
will link to the same page as
https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2774/4945
and
https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2774
and whatever else.

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Further discussions

• Is MathJax in titles a problem? And why?
• Should we revisit the URL slug issue?
• 'ce' prepended to equations in url slug?

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[*] If I apply my knowledge about notation, I also believe the question in place is typeset wrong. If it is an operator then it must not be in italics, hence $\hat{\mathrm{I}}$ would be the correct way of type setting it: $\hat{\mathrm{I}}$. The slug therefore would become ...hatmathrmi-xi-hatmathrmi-y... and is especially unreadable.

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Addendum/ Postscriptum

• I also prefer not using unicode characters. I would always say water instead of writing H2O or H₂O.
• I also prefer carbon monoxide over CO.
• I especially prefer Gibbs energy over $\Delta G$
• This applies to journal titles, too. For example, very bad title: Remarkable Reactions of Cationic Carbyne Complexes of Manganese and Rhenium with Diiron Anions [Fe2(μ-CO)(μ-SeR)(CO)₆]^-. A Route to RSe-Bridged Dimetal Bridging Carbene Complexes, http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/om001035a, and the abstract, OMG the abstract.