# MathJSON Format

The MathJSON format is a lightweight data interchange format for mathematical notation.

MathJSON is built on the JSON format. Its focus is on interoperability between software programs to facilitate the exchange of mathematical data, as well as the building of scientific software through the integration of software components communicating with a common format.

It is human-readable, while being easy for machines to generate and parse. It is simple enough that it can be generated, consumed and manipulated using any programming languages.

MathJSON can be transformed from (parsing) and to (serialization) other formats, using a syntax specific to those formats.

The MathJSON library provides an implementation in Javascript/Typescript of utilities that parse Latex to MathJSON, serialize MathJSON to Latex, and provide a collection of functions for symbolic manipulation and numerical evaluations of MathJSON expressions. Read more about MathJSON for Latex and the Compute Engine.

Mathematical notation is used in a broad array of fields, from elementary school arithmetic, engineering, applied mathematics to physics and more. New notations are invented regularly and need to be represented. To address those needs MathJSON is flexible, extensible and customizable. Extensible dictionaries can be used to define new syntax and new semantic.

MathJSON is not intended to be suitable as a visual representation of arbitrary mathematical notations, and as such is not a replacement for LaTeX or MathML.

## Examples

LatexMathJSON
$$\frac{a}{1+x}$$["Divide", "a", ["Add", 1, "x"]]
$$e^{\imaginaryI \pi }+1=0$$["Eq", ["Add", ["Power", "E", ["Multiply", "Pi", "ImaginaryI"], 1]], 0]
$$\sin^{-1}\prime(x)$$[["Derivative", 1, ["InverseFunction", "Sin"]], "x"]

## Structure of a MathJSON Expression

A MathJSON expression is a combination of numbers, symbols and strings, functions, dictionaries.

Number

3.14
314e-2
{"num": "3.14"}
{"num": "-Infinity"}


Symbol

"x"
"Pi"
{"sym": "Pi", "wikidata": "Q167" }


Function

["Add", 1, "x"]
{"fn": [{sym: "Add"}, {num: "1"}, {sym: "x"}]}


Dictionary

{
"dict": {
"hello": 3,
}
}


Numbers, symbols and functions can be expressed either as an object literal with a "num", "sym" or "fn" property, respectively, or as a short-hand notation using a JSON number, string or array.

The short-hand notation is more concise and easier to read, but cannot include metadata properties.

## Numbers

A MathJSON number is either:

• an object literal
• a JSON number

### Numbers as Object Literals

Numbers can be represented as an object literal with a "num" key. The value of the key is a string representation of the number.

{
"num": string
}


### JSON numbers

When a number has no extra metadata and is compatible with the JSON representation of numbers, a JSON number can be used.

Specifically:

• the number has to fit in a 64-bit float (IEEE 754-2008, 52-bit, about 15 digits of precision)
• the number has to be finite (it cannot be Infinity, -Infinity or NaN)

### Examples

0

-234.534e-46

{ "num": "-234.534e-46" }

{ "num": "3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944" }

{ "num": "-Infinity" }



## Symbols and strings

Strings are represented by a JSON string that begins and ends with U+0027 APOSTROPHE : '.

"'Hello world'"


Symbols represent constants and variables.

Symbols are arbitrary strings of Unicode characters, except the following:

• U+0000-U+0020
• U+FFFE-U+FFFF

In addition, the first character of a symbol cannot be:

• U+0022 QUOTATION MARK : "
• U+0023 NUMBER SIGN : #
• U+0024 DOLLAR SIGN : \$
• U+0025 PERCENT : %
• U+0027 APOSTROPHE : '
• U+0040 COMMERCIAL AT : @
• U+0060 GRAVE ACCENT backtick : 
• U+007E TILDE : ~
• U+00AB LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK : «
• U+2018 LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK : ‘
• U+201A SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK : ‚
• U+201C LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK : “
• U+201E DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK : „
• U+2039 SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK : ‹

For symbols, the following naming convention are recommended.

### Patterns

Symbols that begin with _ (U+005F LOW LINE) are reserved to denote pattern matches.

### Naming Convention for Variables

• First character should match /[a-zA-Z]/

• Subsequent characters should match /[a-zA-Z0-9_-]/

So for example use, Gamma rather than ɣ and Total rather than ∑ (U+2211 N-ARY SUMMATION), which looks like Σ (U+03A3 GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA). This visual ambiguity of some Unicode symbols frequently used in math is why we recommend a more restricted character set.

• If a variable is made of several words, use camelCase, i.e. newDeterminant

• Prefer clarity over brevity and avoid obscure abbreviations.

Use newDeterminant rather than newDet or nDet

• The following variables are usually real numbers: x, y, t

• The following variables are usually integers: i, n, p, q

• The following variables are usually complex numbers: z, w

• The following variables are usually lists: xs, ys, ns

### Naming Convention for Constants

• First character of constants should match: /[A-Z]/
• Subsequent characters of constants should match: /[a-zA-Z0-9_]/
• If a constant is made up of several words, use camelCase, e.g. SpeedOfLight

## Functions

A MathJSON function is either:

• an object literal
• a JSON array

### Functions as Object Literal

The default representations of functions is as an object literal with a "fn" key. The value of the key is an array representing the function head and its arguments.

{
"fn": Expression[]
}


The head of the function is the first element in the array. Its presence is required. It indicates the ‘function name’ or ‘what’ the function is about.

It frequently is a string, but it can also be another expression.

Following the head are zero or more arguments to the function, which are expressions as well. The arguments form the tail of the function.

The expression corresponding to $$\sin^{-1}(x)$$ is

[["InverseFunction", "Sin"], "x"]


The head of this expression is ["InverseFunction", "Sin"], and the argument is “x”.

### JSON array

If a function has no extra metadata it can be represented as a JSON array.

For example these two expressions are equivalent:

["Cos", ["Add", "x", 1]]

{ "fn": ["Cos", ["Add", "x", 1]] }


## Dictionary

A dictionary is a collection of key-value pairs. In some languages it is called a map or associative array.

The keys are strings and the values are MathJSON expressions.

A dictionary is represented as an object literal with a "dict" key. The value of the key is an object literal holding the content of the dictionary.

{
"dict": {
"one": 1,
"two": 2
}
}


MathJSON object literals can be annotated with supplemental information.

A number represented as a JSON number, a symbol represented as a string, or a function represented as a JSON array must be transformed into the equivalent object literal before being annotated.

The following metadata properties are recommended:

PropertyNote
wikidataA short string indicating an entry in a wikibase. This information can be used to disambiguate the meaning of a symbol
commentA human readable string to annotate an expression, since JSON does not allow comments in its encoding
latexA visual representation in LaTeX of the expression. This can be useful to preserve non-semantic details, for example parentheses in an expression or styling attributes
// The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter
{
"sym": "Pi",
"wikidata": "Q167",
"latex": "\pi"
}

// The greek letter ∏
{
"sym": "Pi",
"wikidata": "Q168",
"comment": "The greek letter π"
}
`