LaTeX:Symbols
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This article provides a short list of commonly used LaTeX symbols.
Contents
[hide]Finding Other Symbols
Here are some external resources for finding less commonly used symbols:
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Detexify is an online application which allows you to draw the symbol you'd like and shows you the code for it!
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MathJax (what allows us to use on the web, (technically an AJAX library simulating it.)) maintains a list of supported commands.
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The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List.
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Comprehensive List of Mathematical Symbols.
Operators
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\pm | \mp | \times | |||
\div | \cdot | \ast | |||
\star | \dagger | \ddagger | |||
\amalg | \cap | \cup | |||
\uplus | \sqcap | \sqcup | |||
\vee | \wedge | \oplus | |||
\ominus | \otimes | \circ | |||
\bullet | \diamond | \lhd | |||
\rhd | \unlhd | \unrhd | |||
\oslash | \odot | \bigcirc | |||
\triangleleft | \Diamond | \bigtriangleup | |||
\bigtriangledown | \Box | \triangleright | |||
\setminus | \wr | \sqrt{x} | |||
x^{\circ} | \triangledown | \sqrt[n]{x} | |||
a^x | a^{xyz} | a_x |
Relations
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\le | \ge | \neq | |||
\sim | \ll | \gg | |||
\doteq | \simeq | \subset | |||
\supset | \approx | \asymp | |||
\subseteq | \supseteq | \cong | |||
\smile | \sqsubset | \sqsupset | |||
\equiv | \frown | \sqsubseteq | |||
\sqsupseteq | \propto | \bowtie | |||
\in | \ni | \prec | |||
\succ | \vdash | \dashv | |||
\preceq | \succeq | \models | |||
\perp | \parallel | ||||
\mid | \bumpeq |
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 couple examples, plus many other negations; it works for many of the many others as well.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\nmid | \nleq | \ngeq | |||
\nsim | \ncong | \nparallel | |||
\not< | \not> | \not= or \neq or \ne | |||
\not\le | \not\ge | \not\sim | |||
\not\approx | \not\cong | \not\equiv | |||
\not\parallel | \nless | \ngtr | |||
\lneq | \gneq | \lnsim | |||
\lneqq | \gneqq |
To use other relations not listed here, such as =, >, and <, in LaTeX, you must use the symbols on your keyboard, as they are not available in .
Greek Letters
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
\alpha | \beta | \gamma | \delta | ||||
\epsilon | \varepsilon | \zeta | \eta | ||||
\theta | \vartheta | \iota | \kappa | ||||
\lambda | \mu | \nu | \xi | ||||
\pi | \varpi | \rho | \varrho | ||||
\sigma | \varsigma | \tau | \upsilon | ||||
\phi | \varphi | \chi | \psi | ||||
\omega |
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
\Gamma | \Delta | \Theta | \Lambda | ||||
\Xi | \Pi | \Sigma | \Upsilon | ||||
\Phi | \Psi | \Omega |
Arrows
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|
\gets | \to | ||
\leftarrow | \Leftarrow | ||
\rightarrow | \Rightarrow | ||
\leftrightarrow | \Leftrightarrow | ||
\mapsto | \hookleftarrow | ||
\leftharpoonup | \leftharpoondown | ||
\rightleftharpoons | \longleftarrow | ||
\Longleftarrow | \longrightarrow | ||
\Longrightarrow | \longleftrightarrow | ||
\Longleftrightarrow | \longmapsto | ||
\hookrightarrow | \rightharpoonup | ||
\rightharpoondown | \leadsto | ||
\uparrow | \Uparrow | ||
\downarrow | \Downarrow | ||
\updownarrow | \Updownarrow | ||
\nearrow | \searrow | ||
\swarrow | \nwarrow | ||
\overrightarrow{AB} | \overleftarrow{AB} | ||
\overleftrightarrow{AB} |
(For those of you who hate typing long strings of letters, \iff and \implies can be used in place of \Longleftrightarrow and \Longrightarrow respectively.)
Dots
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | |
---|---|---|---|---|
\cdot | \vdots | |||
\dots | \ddots | |||
\cdots | \iddots |
Accents
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\hat{x} | \check{x} | \dot{x} | |||
\breve{x} | \acute{x} | \ddot{x} | |||
\grave{x} | \tilde{x} | \mathring{x} | |||
\bar{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} | \tilde{\imath} |
\tilde and \hat have wide versions that allow you to accent an expression:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|
\widehat{7+x} | \widetilde{abc} |
Others
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\infty | \triangle | \angle | |||
\aleph | \hbar | \imath | |||
\jmath | \ell | \wp | |||
\Re | \Im | \mho | |||
\prime | \emptyset | \nabla | |||
\surd | \partial | \top | |||
\bot | \vdash | \dashv | |||
\forall | \exists | \neg | |||
\flat | \natural | \sharp | |||
\backslash | \Box | \Diamond | |||
\clubsuit | \diamondsuit | \heartsuit | |||
\spadesuit | \Join | \blacksquare | |||
\diamondsuit | \copyright | \underarc{XYZ} | |||
\heartsuit | \overarc{ABC} | \cup | |||
\S | \P | \Vdash | |||
\pounds | \in | \vDash | |||
\bigstar | \implies | \LaTeX | |||
\square | \text{\LaTeX} | ||||
\smiley | |||||
\mathbb{R} (represents all real numbers) | |||||
\checkmark | |||||
\cancer |
Note: and do not work in the classroom.
Command Symbols
Some symbols are used in commands, so they need to be treated in a special way.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
\textdollar or $ | \& | \% | \# | ||||
\_ | \{ | \} | \backslash |
(Warning: Using $ for will result in . This is a bug as far as we know. Depending on the version of this is not always a problem.)
European Language Symbols
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{\oe} | {\ae} | {\o} | |||||
{\OE} | {\AE} | {\AA} | {\O} | ||||
{\l} | {\ss} | !` | |||||
{\L} | {\SS} |
Bracketing Symbols
In mathematics, sometimes we need to enclose expressions in brackets, 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 | \lfloor | \rfloor | |||
\lceil | \rceil | \langle | |||
\rangle |
You might notice that if you use any of these to typeset an expression that is vertically large, like
- (\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:
- \left(\frac{a}{x} \right)^2
gives
For systems of equations or piecewise functions, use the cases environment:
f(x) = \begin{cases} x^2 &\text{if } x \ge 0 \ x &\text{if } x < 0 \end{cases}
which gives
In addition to the \left and \right commands, when doing floor or ceiling functions with fractions, using
\left\lceil\frac{x}{y}\right\rceil
and \left\lfloor\frac{x}{y}\right\rfloor
gives both and , respectively.
And, if you type this
\underbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}_{x}
Gives
Or
\overbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}^{x}
Gives
\left and \right can also be used to resize the following symbols:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\uparrow | \downarrow | \updownarrow | |||
\Uparrow | \Downarrow | \Updownarrow |
Multi-Size Symbols
Some symbols render differently in inline math mode and in display mode. Display mode occurs when you use \[...\] or $$...$$, or environments like \begin{equation}...\end{equation}
or \begin{align}...\end{align}
. 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 display mode, then in inline mode.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\sum | \int | \oint | |||
\prod | \coprod | \bigcap | |||
\bigcup | \bigsqcup | \bigvee | |||
\bigwedge | \bigodot | \bigotimes | |||
\bigoplus | \biguplus |