Efficient Display of Large Factorials in LaTeX

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the challenge of efficiently displaying large factorials in LaTeX, specifically referencing the work "Factoring Factorial n" by Guy. The user seeks a method to format large factorial expressions without excessive manual line breaks, as their current approach using \noindent is inadequate. The example provided demonstrates the complexity of displaying 1000! in a readable format. The user suggests that there may be better resources for this inquiry within the LaTeX community.

PREREQUISITES
  • Familiarity with LaTeX typesetting
  • Understanding of mathematical notation in LaTeX
  • Knowledge of factorial notation and its mathematical significance
  • Basic experience with formatting long mathematical expressions
NEXT STEPS
  • Research LaTeX packages for improved mathematical formatting, such as "amsmath" or "mathtools"
  • Explore LaTeX commands for automatic line breaking in math mode
  • Learn about using the "multline" environment for displaying long equations
  • Investigate community forums or threads dedicated to LaTeX for advanced formatting techniques
USEFUL FOR

Mathematicians, LaTeX users, and educators looking to present large factorials or complex mathematical expressions in a clear and efficient manner.

CRGreathouse
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This is really a TeX/LaTeX question, but I wasn't sure where to put it. (Sorry!)

I was looking at "Factoring Factorial n" (Guy, Amer. Math. Monthly Oct. '98) and became interested in looking at large factorials. Before I could really get started manipulating them I wanted a good way to store them so I'm not doing so much algebraic manipulation by hand. This was when I realized that there was no good way to display them -- I don't know how to make LaTeX wrap the expression in math mode.

Is there a good way to do that? Here's an example of what I have, in the tersest format I was able to manage:
[tex]1000!=2^{994}3^{498}5^{249}7^{164}11^{98}13^{81}17^{61}19^{54}23^{44}29^{35}31^{33}37^{27}41^{24}43^{23}47^{21}53^{18}59^{16}61^{16}67^{14}71^{14}73^{13}79^{12}83^{12}89^{11}97^{10}101^9103^9107^9109^9113^8127^7131^7137^7139^7149^6151^6157^6163^6167^5173^5179^5181^5191^5193^5197^5199^5211^4223^4227^4229^4233^4239^4241^4251^3257^3263^3269^3271^3277^3281^3283^3293^3307^3311^3313^3317^3331^3337^2347^2349^2353^2359^2367^2373^2379^2383^2389^2397^2401^2409^2419^2421^2431^2433^2439^2443^2449^2457^2461^2463^2467^2479^2487^2491^2499^2503\cdot509\cdot521\cdot523\cdot541\cdot547\cdot557\cdot563\cdot569\cdot571\cdot577\cdot587\cdot593\cdot599\cdot601\cdot607\cdot613\cdot617\cdot619\cdot631\cdot641\cdot643\cdot647\cdot653\cdot659\cdot661\cdot673\cdot677\cdot683\cdot691\cdot701\cdot709\cdot719\cdot727\cdot733\cdot739\cdot743\cdot751\cdot757\cdot761\cdot769\cdot773\cdot787\cdot797\cdot809\cdot811\cdot821\cdot823\cdot827\cdot829\cdot839\cdot853\cdot857\cdot859\cdot863\cdot877\cdot881\cdot883\cdot887\cdot907\cdot911\cdot919\cdot929\cdot937\cdot941\cdot947\cdot953\cdot967\cdot971\cdot977\cdot983\cdot991\cdot997[/tex]

It won't even display here on the forums (at least not all of it), but you get the idea.

I'd like to find a method better than splitting it into lines manually with \noindent... . Thanks!
 
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Is there a better place to post this to get a response?
 
I posit that there's no real point in trying to display them.

That being said, there might be an example of exactly what you want to do in the LaTeX thread in the General Discussion part of General Physics.