LaTeX Transpiler

Bidirectional conversion between Chacana ValidationToken ASTs and LaTeX mathematical notation.

TypeScript only

This module is currently available in the TypeScript/browser engine. A Python implementation is planned.

toLatex(token)

Converts a ValidationToken AST into a LaTeX string.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
token	ValidationToken	The AST to convert

Returns: string — a valid LaTeX representation of the expression.

Example:

import { buildAST } from "chacana-checker";
import { toLatex } from "chacana-checker";

const ast = buildAST(tree.rootNode);
const latex = toLatex(ast);
// "R^{a}{}_{b c d}"

Supported features

• Index alignment: Staggered output preserving positional order (R^{a}{}_{b}{}^{c}{}_{d}).
• Greek characters: Unicode → LaTeX commands (α → \alpha).
• Covariant derivatives: Semicolon notation (T_{a ;\! b}).
• Symmetrization: Parenthesized (T_{(a b)}) and bracketed (T_{[a b]}) groups.
• Operators: All core operators — see the operator mapping table.

fromLatex(input)

Converts a LaTeX string into Chacana micro-syntax.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
input	string	LaTeX tensor expression

Returns: FromLatexResult — a result object:

// Success
{ ok: true, value: "R{_a _b _c ^d}" }

// Error
{ ok: false, error: "Unsupported LaTeX command: frac" }

Example:

import { fromLatex } from "chacana-checker";

const result = fromLatex("R_{abc}^{d}");
if (result.ok) {
  console.log(result.value); // "R{_a _b _c ^d}"
}

Conventions

• Positional order preserved: Indices appear in the same left-to-right order as the LaTeX source.
• Greek commands converted: \alpha → α, \beta → β, etc.
• Operator normalization: \cdot and \times → *, \wedge → ^.
• Delimiter stripping: \left( and \right) treated as plain parentheses.
• Unsupported constructs: \frac, \sqrt, \sum, \int, \prod, \lim return an error result.

Operator Mapping

Operator	Chacana	LaTeX
Addition	+	+
Negation	- (prefix)	-
Multiplication	*	\cdot / \times
Wedge Product	∧ (wedge infix)	\wedge
Exterior Derivative	d	d
Lie Derivative	L	\mathcal{L}
Hodge Star	star / hodge	\star
Interior Product	i	\iota
Determinant	det	\det
Trace	Tr	\operatorname{Tr}
Inverse	inv	^{-1}