Noob question. Over in the Mathematics.SE chat area, when the equations and terms posted are more complicated than, say, "sqrt(-1)" or " X^y," they are often in a shorthand, which seems like a derivative of LaTex / Tex.
For instance:
"Let \$ c:(-\epsilon,\epsilon)\to M \$" [...]
which generates:
Let $c:(-\epsilon,\epsilon)\to M$ [...]
Is this just commonly accepted syntax based on years of experience, or is it MathJax ? (see: MathJax basic tutorial and quick reference and https://math.stackexchange.com/editing-help)