Fix LaTeX rendering for equations with asterisks

modules/html_generator.py

@@ -243,6 +243,27 @@ def process_markdown_content(string):
     if not string:
         return ""
 
+    # Define a unique placeholder for LaTeX asterisks
+    LATEX_ASTERISK_PLACEHOLDER = "LATEXASTERISKPLACEHOLDER"
+
+    def protect_asterisks_in_latex(match):
+        """A replacer function for re.sub to protect asterisks in multiple LaTeX formats."""
+        # Check which delimiter group was captured
+        if match.group(1) is not None:  # Content from $$...$$
+            content = match.group(1)
+            modified_content = content.replace('*', LATEX_ASTERISK_PLACEHOLDER)
+            return f'$${modified_content}$$'
+        elif match.group(2) is not None:  # Content from \[...\]
+            content = match.group(2)
+            modified_content = content.replace('*', LATEX_ASTERISK_PLACEHOLDER)
+            return f'\\[{modified_content}\\]'
+        elif match.group(3) is not None:  # Content from \(...\)
+            content = match.group(3)
+            modified_content = content.replace('*', LATEX_ASTERISK_PLACEHOLDER)
+            return f'\\({modified_content}\\)'
+
+        return match.group(0) # Fallback
+
     # Make \[ \]  LaTeX equations inline
     pattern = r'^\s*\\\[\s*\n([\s\S]*?)\n\s*\\\]\s*$'
     replacement = r'\\[ \1 \\]'
@@ -272,6 +293,10 @@ def process_markdown_content(string):
     string = string.replace('\\end{equation*}', '$$')
     string = re.sub(r"(.)```", r"\1\n```", string)
 
+    # Protect asterisks within all LaTeX blocks before markdown conversion
+    latex_pattern = re.compile(r'\$\$(.*?)\$\$|\\\[(.*?)\\\]|\\\((.*?)\\\)', re.DOTALL)
+    string = latex_pattern.sub(protect_asterisks_in_latex, string)
+
     result = ''
     is_code = False
     is_latex = False
@@ -330,6 +355,9 @@ def process_markdown_content(string):
         # Convert to HTML using markdown
         html_output = markdown.markdown(result, extensions=['fenced_code', 'tables', SaneListExtension()])
 
+    # Restore the LaTeX asterisks after markdown conversion
+    html_output = html_output.replace(LATEX_ASTERISK_PLACEHOLDER, '*')
+
     # Remove extra newlines before </code>
     html_output = re.sub(r'\s*</code>', '</code>', html_output)