LaTeX:Symbols

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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