Disable table mode in org mode

Question

I use org mode to write notebooks for my research. I often put equation on line of their own, using M-o M-s to center the equation.

However, when I have an equation like

|a+b| ≤ |a| + |b|

the leading | character makes org enter in tabular mode. How can I disable this effect ?

Answer 1

You could use a literal example. Like this:

Here is my important equation:
#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
|a+b| ≤ |a| + |b|
#+END_EXAMPLE

A shorthand using a colon following one or more spaces also works:

Here is my important equation:
   : |a+b| ≤ |a| + |b|
Isn't it nice.

Literal examples are usually written in monospace and indented when exported.

Answer 2

Have you tried setting org-enable-table-editor to nil (using (setq org-enable-table-editor nil))? This should do what you want.

This code (added to you init.el) should make the change permanent:

(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'my-org-mode-hook)
(defun my-org-mode-hook ()
  (add-hook 'hack-local-variables-hook
            (lambda () (setq org-enable-table-editor nil)  )))