You can make pretty LaTeX documents by using the "ligodoc.cls" stylesheet.
To install it on a linux machine, put it in the directory "~/texmf/tex/latex/" and then LaTeX will always be able to find it.
Be sure to get a DCC number for your document.
Here's a snippet of LaTeX that will get you started:
\documentclass{ligodoc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[usenames,dvipsnames]{color}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{pslatex}
\ligodccnumber{T}{07}{XXXX}{00}{X}
\ligodistribution{LIGO Scientific Collaboration}
\ligodraft
\title{Put your title here}
\author{your name}
\date{the date}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}
Once upon a time...
\section{Another section}
\subsection{Here's a subsection}
\begin{equation}
H |\psi\rangle = -i\hbar \frac{\partial}{\partial t} |\psi\rangle
\end{equation}
\end{document}
References
Create references with \cite{foo} where "foo" is a short string used to identify the reference. These references are listed either in an external bibliography file or you can build your references into your .tex file. To put your references into your tex file, do something like:
\begin{thebibliography}{99}
\bibitem{mLIGO-0}
P.~Fritschel and R.~Adhikari and R.~Weiss,
``Enhancements to the LIGO detectors'',
\href{http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/docs/T/T050252-00.pdf}
{\tt http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/docs/T/T050252-00.pdf}
\bibitem{SRD}
A.~Lazzarini and R.~Weiss,
``{LIGO} Science Requirements Document'',
\href{http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/docs/E/E950018-02.pdf}
{\tt http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/docs/E/E950018-02.pdf}
\end{thebibliography}CiteULike is a handy tool for maintaining a database of references to papers, and it can automatically generate BibTeX. Join the citeulike LIGO group.
Guides and Manuals
LaTex Symbols Comprehensive List