Fonts in text and equations

Questions
1

I want to make two labels " a " and " a* ". I used Basic Math Pallete to write " a* " with a superscript asterisk. However, the following code gives me two different fonts even though I specify the same font for both. How can I have “a” appear in the same font (and style) as " a* " ?

img.png
img.png1319×369 14.1 KB

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Cuneyt

2

Use SingleLetterItalics option in Style

Graphics[{
    Text["a",{0,1},BaseStyle->{FontFamily->"Times",FontSize-> 30}],
     Text[Style["a^*",SingleLetterItalics->False],{0.5,1},BaseStyle->{FontFamily->"Times",FontSize-> 30}]
},PlotRange->{{-0.5,1},{0.5,1.5}}]

6434demo.jpg
6434demo.jpg800×156 33.8 KB

3

When you type something at the exponent, Mathematica automatically switches to inline formula, which is typeset in italics.

4

Hi Gianluca and Shenghui,

Thank you both for your suggestions. They were very helpful. In the process, I also discovered that one could select text within quotation marks, right-click and convert to TraditionalForm.

Cuneyt