[D] How do you usually deal with dense equations when reading papers?

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time reading papers for my bachelors, and I keep getting stuck on dense equations and long theoretical sections. I usually jump between the PDF and notes/LLMs, which breaks the flow.

I tried experimenting with a small side project that lets me get inline explanations inside the PDF itself. It helped a bit, but I’m not sure if this is the right direction.

Curious how you handle this:

• Do you use external tools?
• Take notes manually?
• Just power through?

If anyone’s interested, I can share what I built.