Beamer arrows

With PGF/TikZ version 1.09 and later, it is possible to draw paths between nodes across different pictures. This is a useful feature for presentations with the Beamer package. In this example I've combined the new PGF/TikZ's overlay feature with Beamer overlays. Download the PDF version to see the result.

Note. This only works with PDFTeX, and you have to run PDFTeX twice.

Edit and compile if you like:

\documentclass{beamer} %
\usetheme{CambridgeUS}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
\usefonttheme{professionalfonts}
\usepackage{times}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,shapes}

\author{Author}
\title{Presentation title}

\begin{document}



% For every picture that defines or uses external nodes, you'll have to
% apply the 'remember picture' style. To avoid some typing, we'll apply
% the style to all pictures.
\tikzstyle{every picture}+=[remember picture]

% By default all math in TikZ nodes are set in inline mode. Change this to
% displaystyle so that we don't get small fractions.
\everymath{\displaystyle}

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Rigid body dynamics}

\tikzstyle{na} = [baseline=-.5ex]

\begin{itemize}[<+-| alert@+>]
    \item Coriolis acceleration
        \tikz[na] \node[coordinate] (n1) {};
\end{itemize}

% Below we mix an ordinary equation with TikZ nodes. Note that we have to
% adjust the baseline of the nodes to get proper alignment with the rest of
% the equation.
\begin{equation*}
\vec{a}_p = \vec{a}_o+\frac{{}^bd^2}{dt^2}\vec{r} +
        \tikz[baseline]{
            \node[fill=blue!20,anchor=base] (t1)
            {$ 2\vec{\omega}_{ib}\times\frac{{}^bd}{dt}\vec{r}$};
        } +
        \tikz[baseline]{
            \node[fill=red!20, ellipse,anchor=base] (t2)
            {$\vec{\alpha}_{ib}\times\vec{r}$};
        } +
        \tikz[baseline]{
            \node[fill=green!20,anchor=base] (t3)
            {$\vec{\omega}_{ib}\times(\vec{\omega}_{ib}\times\vec{r})$};
        }
\end{equation*}

\begin{itemize}[<+-| alert@+>]
    \item Transversal acceleration
        \tikz[na]\node [coordinate] (n2) {};
    \item Centripetal acceleration
        \tikz[na]\node [coordinate] (n3) {};
\end{itemize}

% Now it's time to draw some edges between the global nodes. Note that we
% have to apply the 'overlay' style.
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay]
        \path[->]<1-> (n1) edge [bend left] (t1);
        \path[->]<2-> (n2) edge [bend right] (t2);
        \path[->]<3-> (n3) edge [out=0, in=-90] (t3);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{frame}
\end{document}