Kdjykuj

Starting from this code

documentclass[12pt]{book}

usepackage{mathtools,amssymb} 

usepackage{newtxtext}

usepackage[lite]{mtpro2}

begin{document}

$(Lboldsymbol{mathcal A}')^intercal =boldsymbol{mathcal A}'{}^intercal  L^intercal $

end{document}

with this output

I'd like to move the intercal command a little higher and to the left in the direction indicated by the arrow. But does LaTeX have a direct command to move the symbol up or down or do I need to use specific macros? What could be the ways to have an adequate and beautiful way to write this formula?

Combining David's suggestion with Sebastiano's requirement...

I use mathsf{T} as the core of the revised intercal (you can rename it something else if you don't want to overwrite it), but then to make it smaller, I use it in cramped, superscripted form (revision 1). Alternately, I just set it in scriptscriptstyle, which lowers its elevation a bit, while still keeping it higher than the original intercal (revision 2).

Original, then two revisions.

documentclass[12pt]{book}

usepackage{mathtools,amssymb} 

usepackage{newtxtext}

usepackage{newtxmath}%[lite]{mtpro2}

begin{document}

$(Lboldsymbol{mathcal A}')^intercal =boldsymbol{mathcal A}'{}^intercal  L^intercal $



renewcommandintercal{{cramped{{}^mathsf{T}}}}

$(Lboldsymbol{mathcal A}')^intercal =boldsymbol{mathcal A}'{}^intercal  L^intercal $



renewcommandintercal{mathsf{scriptscriptstyle T}}

$(Lboldsymbol{mathcal A}')^intercal =boldsymbol{mathcal A}'{}^intercal  L^intercal $

end{document}

Here's another variation on David's idea to use mathsf{T} instead of either intercal or top. The macro tp (short for "transpose", naturally) employs scriptscriptstyle math mode. The tp macro takes an optional argument: a scalar number, to indicate how many mu the "T" should be shifted to the left. The ability to fine-tune the horizontal position can come in handy if you're dealing with letters, such as L, which have no component in the upper-right quadrant. (The default amount of left-shift is 3, as in -3mu. Aside: mkern-3mu is the same as !.)

documentclass[12pt]{book}

usepackage{mathtools,amssymb,newtxtext}

usepackage[lite]{mtpro2}

newcommandbmcA{boldsymbol{mathcal A}'{}}

newcommandtp[1][3]{^{^{mkern-#1mumathsf{T}}}}

begin{document}

$intercal$ $top$ $mathsf{T}$



medskip

begin{tabular}{@{}ll}

$(LbmcA)^intercal = bmcA{}^intercal L^intercal$ & verb+intercal+ \

$(LbmcA)^top = bmcA^top L^top$                  & verb+top+      \

$(LbmcA)tp = bmcAtp Ltp = bmcA{}tp Ltp[6]$   & verb+tp+

end{tabular}

end{document}