Representing math notation in all text format

I know that you can represent exponents (and presumably all superscripts) using the caret key (^). How can you represent subscripts like “x-sub-i” or something like that? Where can I go to look up other math notation problems like this?

Thanks

If you’re communicating with mathematicians, use LaTeX notation. It’s fairly well understood since almost all professional mathematicians use it to typeset their work. See the TeX FAQ for pointers to tutorials.