LaTeX is a typesetting system for publishing mathematics. Originally developed in the 1970s by Donald Knuth, it is now used by virtually all mathematics journals. Thus learning to use LaTeX is a universal rite of passage for mathematicians. LaTeX itself is available free of charge, and the software itself is under an open-source license.

My advice is to just install LaTeX and start working. Use one of the template files below to get started.

LaTeX distributions and editors

• TeX Live is an extremely comprehensive, free LaTeX distribution. It includes a bare-bones LaTeX editor. I can lend you a DVD to install it, or you can install it over the internet or download the DVD yourself.
• Miktex is another popular, free LaTeX distribution for Windows.
• If you are fortunate enough work on a UNIX system, I recommend Emacs or XEmacs as an editor.
• If you are forced to use Windows, things are worse. Installing Emacs for Windows is an option. The WinEdt editor has been recommended to me; it’s available to students for a $30 license fee.

LaTeX tutorials

• A First LaTeX Document by Jim Hefferon.
• The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e – a classic, thorough manual.

Example files

• An example article: LaTeX, BibTeX, PDF
• The Beamer class for slides: LaTeX, PDF.

Things I have written

• A BiBTeX style to format references by author and then by year, as in Jech’s Set theory and other books. Example: ay-demo.pdf;`. Source files: authoryear.tgz.

Other references

• The TUG “Getting started with LaTeX” page.
• Math symbol list — brief and to the point.
• Comprehensive LaTeX symbols list — very thorough