'Formats a value in exponential notation for LaTeX.
Parameters
val : number
The value to be formatted
Returns
latex_string : str
The value in exponential notation in a format suitable for LaTeX.'

@classmethod
def format_exponential_notation(cls, val):

    if np.isfinite(val):
        (m, ex) = utils.split_mantissa_exponent(val)
        parts = []
        if m:
            parts.append(m)
        if ex:
            parts.append(u'10^{{{0}}}'.format(ex))
        return u'    \\times    '.join(parts)
    elif np.isnan(val):
        return u'{\\rm    NaN}'
    elif (val > 0):
        return u'\\infty'
    else:
        return u'-\\infty'
