Difference between revisions of "LaTeX:Symbols"

Revision as of 23:08, 12 July 2007

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This article will provide a short list of commonly used LaTeX symbols.

Operators

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\pm$	\pm	$\mp$	\mp	$\times$	\times
$\div$	\div	$\cdot$	\cdot	$\ast$	\ast
$\star$	\star	$\dagger$	\dagger	$\ddagger$	\ddagger
$\amalg$	\amalg	$\cap$	\cap	$\cup$	\cup
$\uplus$	\uplus	$\sqcap$	\sqcap	$\sqcup$	\sqcup
$\vee$	\vee	$\wedge$	\wedge	$\oplus$	\oplus
$\ominus$	\ominus	$\otimes$	\otimes	$\circ$	\circ
$\bullet$	\bullet	$\diamond$	\diamond	$\lhd$	\lhd
$\rhd$	\rhd	$\unlhd$	\unlhd	$\unrhd$	\unrhd
$\oslash$	\oslash	$\odot$	\odot	$\bigcirc$	\bigcirc
$\triangleleft$	\triangleleft	$\Diamond$	\Diamond	$\bigtriangleup$	\bigtriangleup
$\bigtriangledown$	\bigtriangledown	$\Box$	\Box	$\triangleright$	\triangleright
$\setminus$	\setminus	$\wr$	\wr

Relations

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\le$	\le	$\ge$	\ge	$\neq$	\neq
$\sim$	\sim	$\ll$	\ll	$\gg$	\gg
$\doteq$	\doteq	$\simeq$	\simeq	$\subset$	\subset
$\supset$	\supset	$\approx$	\approx	$\asymp$	\asymp
$\subseteq$	\subseteq	$\supseteq$	\supseteq	$\cong$	\cong
$\smile$	\smile	$\sqsubset$	\sqsubset	$\sqsupset$	\sqsupset
$\equiv$	\equiv	$\frown$	\frown	$\sqsubseteq$	\sqsubseteq
$\sqsupseteq$	\sqsupseteq	$\propto$	\propto	$\bowtie$	\bowtie
$\in$	\in	$\ni$	\ni	$\prec$	\prec
$\succ$	\succ	$\vdash$	\vdash	$\dashv$	\dashv
$\preceq$	\preceq	$\succeq$	\succeq	$\models$	\models
$\perp$	\perp	$\parallel$	\parallel	$\\|$	\\|
$\mid$	\mid

Negations of many of these relations can be formed by just putting \not before the symbol, or by slipping an n between the \ and the word. Here are a few examples, plus a few other negations; it works for many of the others as well.

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\nmid$	\nmid	$\nleq$	\nleq	$\ngeq$	\ngeq
$\nsim$	\nsim	$\ncong$	\ncong	$\nparallel$	\nparallel
$\not<$	\not<	$\not>$	\not>	$\not=$	\not=
$\not\le$	\not\le	$\not\ge$	\not\ge	$\not\sim$	\not\sim
$\not \approx$	\not\approx	$\not\cong$	\not\cong	$\not\equiv$	\not\equiv
$\not\parallel$	\not\parallel	$\nless$	\nless	$\ngtr$	\ngtr
$\lneq$	\lneq	$\gneq$	\gneq	$\lnsim$	\lnsim
$\lneqq$	\lneqq	$\gneqq$	\gneqq

Greek Letters

Lowercase Letters
Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\alpha$	\alpha	$\beta$	\beta	$\gamma$	\gamma	$\delta$	\delta
$\epsilon$	\epsilon	$\varepsilon$	\varepsilon	$\zeta$	\zeta	$\eta$	\eta
$\theta$	\theta	$\vartheta$	\vartheta	$\iota$	\iota	$\kappa$	\kappa
$\lambda$	\lambda	$\mu$	\mu	$\nu$	\nu	$\xi$	\xi
$\pi$	\pi	$\varpi$	\varpi	$\rho$	\rho	$\varrho$	\varrho
$\sigma$	\sigma	$\varsigma$	\varsigma	$\tau$	\tau	$\upsilon$	\upsilon
$\phi$	\phi	$\varphi$	\varphi	$\chi$	\chi	$\psi$	\psi
$\omega$	\omega

Capital Letters
Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\Gamma$	\Gamma	$\Delta$	\Delta	$\Theta$	\Theta	$\Lambda$	\Lambda
$\Xi$	\Xi	$\Pi$	\Pi	$\Sigma$	\Sigma	$\Upsilon$	\Upsilon
$\Phi$	\Phi	$\Psi$	\Psi

Arrows

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\gets$	\gets	$\to$	\to
$\leftarrow$	\leftarrow	$\Leftarrow$	\Leftarrow
$\rightarrow$	\rightarrow	$\Rightarrow$	\Rightarrow
$\leftrightarrow$	\leftrightarrow	$\Leftrightarrow$	\Leftrightarrow
$\mapsto$	\mapsto	$\hookleftarrow$	\hookleftarrow
$\leftharpoonup$	\leftharpoonup	$\leftharpoondown$	\leftharpoondown
$\rightleftharpoons$	\rightleftharpoons	$\longleftarrow$	\longleftarrow
$\Longleftarrow$	\Longleftarrow	$\longrightarrow$	\longrightarrow
$\Longrightarrow$	\Longrightarrow	$\longleftrightarrow$	\longleftrightarrow
$\Longleftrightarrow$	\Longleftrightarrow	$\longmapsto$	\longmapsto
$\hookrightarrow$	\hookrightarrow	$\rightharpoonup$	\rightharpoonup
$\rightharpoondown$	\rightharpoondown	$\leadsto$	\leadsto
$\uparrow$	\uparrow	$\Uparrow$	\Uparrow
$\downarrow$	\downarrow	$\Downarrow$	\Downarrow
$\updownarrow$	\updownarrow	$\Updownarrow$	\Updownarrow
$\nearrow$	\nearrow	$\searrow$	\searrow
$\swarrow$	\swarrow	$\nwarrow$	\nwarrow

Dots

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\ldots 2$	\ldots 2	$\vdots$	\vdots	$\cdots 2$	\cdots 2	$\ddots$	\ddots

(The '2's after \ldots and \cdots are only present to make the distinction between the two clear.)

Accents

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\hat{x}$	\hat{x}	$\check{x}$	\check{x}	$\dot{x}$	\dot{x}
$\breve{x}$	\breve{x}	$\acute{x}$	\acute{x}	$\ddot{x}$	\ddot{x}
$\grave{x}$	\grave{x}	$\tilde{x}$	\tilde{x}	$\mathring{x}$	\mathring{x}
\ $\bar{x}$	\bar{x}	$\vec{x}$	\vec{x}

When applying accents to i and j, you can use \imath and \jmath to keep the dots from interfering with the accents:

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\vec{\jmath}$	\vec{\jmath}	$\tilde{\imath}$	\tilde{\imath}

\tilde and \hat have wide versions that allow you to accent an expression:

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\widehat{3+x}$	\widehat{3+x}	$\widetilde{abc}$	\widetilde{abc}

Others

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\infty$	\infty	$\triangle$	\triangle	$\angle$	\angle
$\aleph$	\aleph	$\hbar$	\hbar	$\imath$	\imath
$\jmath$	\jmath	$\ell$	\ell	$\wp$	\wp
$\Re$	\Re	$\Im$	\Im	$\mho$	\mho
$\prime$	\prime	$\emptyset$	\emptyset	$\nabla$	\nabla
$\surd$	\surd	$\partial$	\partial	$\top$	\top
$\bot$	\bot	$\vdash$	\vdash	$\dashv$	\dashv
$\forall$	\forall	$\exists$	\exists	$\neg$	\neg
$\flat$	\flat	$\natural$	\natural	$\sharp$	\sharp
$\backslash$	\backslash	$\Box$	\Box	$\Diamond$	\Diamond
$\clubsuit$	\clubsuit	$\diamondsuit$	\diamondsuit	$\heartsuit$	\heartsuit
$\spadesuit$	\spadesuit	$\Join$	\Join	$\blacksquare$	\blacksquare

Bracketing Symbols

In mathematics, sometimes we need to enclose expressions in brackets or braces or parentheses. Some of these work just as you'd imagine in LaTeX; type ( and ) for parentheses, [ and ] for brackets, and | and | for absolute value. However, other symbols have special commands:

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\{$	\{	$\}$	\}	$\\|$	\\|
$\backslash$	\backslash	$\lfloor$	\lfloor	$\rfloor$	\rfloor
$\lceil$	\lceil	$\rceil$	\rceil	$\langle$	\langle
$\rangle$	\rangle

You might notice that if you use any of these to typeset an expression that is vertically large, like

\displaystyle (1 + \frac{a}{x} )^2

the parentheses don't come out the right size:

If we put \left and \right before the relevant parentheses, we get a prettier expression:

\displaystyle \left(1 + \frac{a}{x} \right)^2

gives

$\left(1 + \frac{a}{x} \right)^2$

\left and \right can also be used to resize the following symbols:

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\uparrow$	\uparrow	$\downarrow$	\downarrow	$\updownarrow$	\updownarrow
$\Uparrow$	\Uparrow	$\Downarrow$	\Downarrow	$\Updownarrow$	\Updownarrow

Multi-Size Symbols

Some symbols render differently in regular math mode and in display mode (display mode occurs when you use \displaystyle, $$...$$, or \[...\]). Read more in the commands section of the guide about how symbols which take arguments above and below the symbols, such as a summation symbol, behave in the two modes.

In each of the following, the two images show the symbol in regular mode, then in display mode.

Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol	Command
$\textstyle\sum \displaystyle\sum$	\sum	$\textstyle\int \displaystyle\int$	\int	$\textstyle\oint \displaystyle\oint$	\oint
$\textstyle\prod \displaystyle\prod$	\prod	$\textstyle\coprod \displaystyle\coprod$	\coprod	$\textstyle\bigcap \displaystyle\bigcap$	\bigcap
$\textstyle\bigcup \displaystyle\bigcup$	\bigcup	$\textstyle\bigsqcup \displaystyle\bigsqcup$	\bigsqcup	$\textstyle\bigvee \displaystyle\bigvee$	\bigvee
$\textstyle\bigwedge \displaystyle\bigwedge$	\bigwedge	$\textstyle\bigodot \displaystyle\bigodot$	\bigodot	$\textstyle\bigotimes \displaystyle\bigotimes$	\bigotimes
$\textstyle\bigoplus \displaystyle\bigoplus$	\bigoplus	$\textstyle\biguplus \displaystyle\biguplus$	\biguplus

(The two integral symbols render fine in a full LaTeX document .)

Examples

x^y is the same as x^{y}. $x^y$
x_y is the same as x_{y}. $x_y$
BUT x^10 is not the same as x^{10}. $x^10$ instead of $x^{10}$ .

@@ Line 276: / Line 276: @@
 |<math>\textstyle\bigoplus   \displaystyle\bigoplus</math>||\bigoplus||<math>\textstyle\biguplus   \displaystyle\biguplus</math>||\biguplus
 |}
+(The two integral symbols render fine in a full LaTeX document .)
-'''\boxed{Answer}'''  produces a box around your Answer.
-'''\frac{a}{b}''' produces a [[fraction]] with [[numerator]] <math>a</math> and [[denominator]] <math>b</math>.  <math>\frac{a}{b}</math>
-'''^\circ''' produces the degrees symbol.  <math>a^{\circ}</math>
-'''\text{Your Text Here}''' produces text within LaTeX.  <math>\mbox{Your Text Here}</math>.
-'''\mbox{Your Text Here}''' Produces text within LaTeX <math>\mbox{Your Text Here}</math>
-'''\sqrt{x}''' produces the square root of <math>x</math>.  <math>\sqrt{x}</math>
-'''\sqrt[n]{x}''' produces the <math>n</math>th root of <math>x</math>.  <math>\sqrt[n]{x}</math>
-'''a\equiv b \pmod{c}''' produces <math>a</math> is equivalent to <math>b</math> mod <math>c</math>.  <math>a\equiv b \pmod{c}</math> See [[Mods |Modular Arithmetic]]
-'''\binom{9}{3}''' produces 9 choose 3.
-'''{n}\choose{r}''' produces n choose r. <math>{n}\choose{r}</math>
-'''x^{y}''' produces x to the power of y.  <math>x^y</math>
-'''x_{y}''' produces x with y in subscript.  <math>x_y</math>
-'''\rightarrow''' produces an arrow to the right.  <math>\rightarrow</math>
-'''\leftarrow''' produces an arrow to the left. <math>\leftarrow</math>
-'''\uparrow''' produces an arrow pointing upwards. <math>\uparrow</math>
-'''\downarrow''' produces an arrow pointing downwards. <math>\downarrow</math>
-'''\updownarrow''' produces an arrow pointing up and down. <math>\updownarrow</math>
-'''\ge''' produces a greater than or equal to sign. <math>\ge</math>
-'''\le''' produces a less than or equal to sign. <math>\le</math>
-'''\not>''' produces a not greater than sign. <math>\not></math>
-'''\not<''' produces a not less than sign. <math>\not<</math>
-'''\not\ge''' produces a not greater than or equal to sign. <math>\not\ge</math>
-'''\not\le''' produces a not less than or equal to sign. <math>\not\le</math>
-'''\neq''' produces a not equal to sign. <math>\neq</math>
-'''\infty''' produces an infinity sign. <math>\infty</math>
-'''\perp''' produces a perpendicular sign. <math>\perp</math>
-'''\angle''' produces an angle sign. <math>\angle</math>
-'''\triangle''' produces a triangle. <math>\triangle</math>
-'''\ldots''' produces three dots at the bottom of a line (ellipsis). <math>\ldots</math>
-'''\cdots''' produces three dots in the middle of a line (as in a series sum or product). <math>\cdots</math>
-'''\times''' produces an <math>\times</math> as used in multiplication
-'''\otimes''' produces a <math>\otimes</math>
-Also note that you do not have to use braces, "{" and "}", when you only want one character in the operation.
 ==Examples==

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