MathML

MathML is an XML-based markup language designed for representing mathematical notation and capturing both its layout and meaning. It is a W3C standard intended to enable interchange, rendering, and accessibility of mathematical content on the web and in documents. MathML defines two complementary flavors: Presentation MathML, which describes how equations should look, and Content MathML, which encodes the mathematical structure and semantics.

Within a MathML document, the root element is math in the MathML namespace http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML. Presentation elements include mi for identifiers, mn for numbers, mo for operators, and structural elements such as mrow, mfrac, msup, msqrt, and others. Content MathML uses a different set of elements such as apply to denote function application, with operator names like plus and times, and atoms ci (identifiers) and cn (constants). The two forms can be used separately or in combination to convey both appearance and meaning.

MathML is designed to be used alongside other standards such as Unicode and CSS, and can be embedded in HTML documents, XML documents, or XHTML. In HTML5 it is often embedded within the MathML namespace, or rendered via JavaScript libraries when native support is unavailable.

Support and tooling: native browser support for MathML varies across browsers and versions. Rendering is commonly achieved via libraries such as MathJax or KaTeX, which may translate input from LaTeX or other formats into MathML or directly render expressions. Authoring and conversion: there are tools to convert LaTeX to MathML and to generate MathML from other mathematical sources, with content MathML emphasizing semantic meaning for computational use and accessibility.

Applications include web publishing, e-learning, digital textbooks, and assistive technology, where MathML facilitates interchange, searchability, and assistive reading of mathematical content.