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LaTeX:Symbols

Revision as of 17:11, 13 July 2020 by Orca25 (talk | contribs) (Added more commands)
LaTeX
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This article will provide a short list of commonly used LaTeX symbols.

Finding Other Symbols

Here are some external resources for finding less commonly used symbols:

  • Detexify is an app which allows you to draw the symbol you'd like and shows you the $\text{\LaTeX}$ code for it!

  • MathJax (what allows us to use <math\text{\LaTeX}$on the web, (technically an AJAX library simulating it.)) maintains a [http://docs.mathjax.org/en/latest/tex.html#supported-latex-commands list of supported commands]. <br/><br/></li> <li> [http://mirrors.ctan.org/info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-a4.pdf The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List]. <br/><br/></li> </ul> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ==Operators== {| class="latextable" !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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$||\wr||$\sqrt{x}$||\sqrt{x} |- |$x^{\circ}$||x^{\circ}||$\triangledown$||\triangledown||$\sqrt[n]{x}$||\sqrt[n]{x} |- |$a^x$||a^x||$a^{xyz}$||a^{xyz}||$a_x$||a_x |} ==Relations== {| class="latextable" !Symbol !! Command !!Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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$||\mid||$\bumpeq$||\bumpeq|| |} Negations of many of these relations can be formed by just putting \not before the symbol, or by slipping an n between the \ and the word. Here are a couple examples, plus many other negations; it works for many of the many others as well. {| class="latextable"} !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\nmid$||\nmid||$\nleq$||\nleq||$\ngeq$||\ngeq |- |$\nsim$||\nsim||$\ncong$||\ncong||$\nparallel$||\nparallel |- |$\not<$||\not<||$\not>$||\not>||$\not=$||\not= or \neq |- |$\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$||\gneqq |} To use other relations not listed here, such as =, >, and <, in LaTeX, you must use the symbols on your keyboard, they are not available in$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\LaTeX$. ==Greek Letters== {| class="latextable" |+ Lowercase Letters !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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$||\omega |} {| class="latextable" |+ Capital Letters !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\Gamma$||\Gamma||$\Delta$||\Delta||$\Theta$||\Theta||$\Lambda$||\Lambda |- |$\Xi$||\Xi||$\Pi$||\Pi||$\Sigma$||\Sigma||$\Upsilon$||\Upsilon |- |$\Phi$||\Phi||$\Psi$||\Psi||$\Omega$||\Omega |} == Arrows == {| class="latextable" !Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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$||\nwarrow |- |$\overrightarrow$||\overrightarrow||$\overleftarrow$||\overleftarrow |- |$\overleftrightarrow$||\overleftrightarrow|| |} (For those of you who hate typing long strings of letters, \iff and \implies can be used in place of \Longleftrightarrow and \Longrightarrow respectively.) ==Dots== {| class="latextable" !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!! |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\cdot$||\cdot|| |$\vdots$||\vdots|| |- |$\dots$||\dots|| |$\ddots$||\ddots|| |- |$\cdots$||\cdots|| |$\iddots$||\iddots|| |} ==Accents== {| class="latextable" !Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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}$||\vec{x} |} When applying accents to i and j, you can use \imath and \jmath to keep the dots from interfering with the accents: {| class="latextable" !Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\vec{\jmath}$||\vec{\jmath}||$\tilde{\imath}$||\tilde{\imath} |} \tilde and \hat have wide versions that allow you to accent an expression: {| class="latextable" !Symbol !! Command!!Symbol !! Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\widehat{7+x}$||\widehat{7+x}||$\widetilde{abc}$||\widetilde{abc} |} ==Others== {| class="latextable" !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\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$||\heartsuit |- |[[Image:Spadesuit.gif]]||\spadesuit||$\Join$||\Join||$\blacksquare$||\blacksquare |- |$\S$||\S||$\P$||\P||$\copyright$||\copyright |- |$\pounds$||\pounds||$\overarc{ABC}$||\overarc{ABC}||$\underarc{XYZ}$||\underarc{XYZ} |- |$\bigstar$||\bigstar||$\in$||\in||$\cup$||\cup |- |$\square$||\square|| |- |$\smiley$||\smiley|| |- |$\mathbb{R}$||\mathbb{R} (represents all real numbers)|| |- |$\checkmark$||\checkmark|| |- |$\cancer$||\cancer|| |} ==Command Symbols== Some symbols are used in commands so they need to be treated in a special way. {| class="latextable" !Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command!!Symbol!!Command |- |$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\textdollar$||\textdollar or \$||$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)\&$||\&||$\%$||\%||$\#$||\# |- |$\_$||\_||$\{$||\{||$\}$||\}||$\backslash$||\backslash |} (Warning: Using $ for $\textdollar$ will result in $$. This is a bug as far as we know. Depending on the version of $\LaTeX$ this is not always a problem.)

    European Language Symbols

    Symbol Command Symbol Command Symbol Command Symbol Command
    ${\oe}$ {\oe} ${\ae}$ {\ae} ${\o}$ {\o}
    ${\OE}$ {\OE} ${\AE}$ {\AE} ${\AA}$ {\AA} ${\O}$ {\O}
    ${\l}$ {\l} ${\ss}$ {\ss} $\text{!`}$ !`
    ${\L}$ {\L} ${\SS}$ {\SS}

    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

    (\frac{a}{x} )^2

    the parentheses don't come out the right size:

    $(\frac{a}{x})^2$

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

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

    gives

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

    For systems of equations or piecewise functions, use the cases environment:

    f(x) = \begin{cases} x^2 & x \ge 0 \\ x & x < 0 \end{cases}

    which gives

    $f(x) = \begin{cases} x^2 & x \ge 0 \\ x & x < 0 \end{cases}$

    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

    give both $\left\lceil\frac{x}{y}\right\rceil\text{ and }\left\lfloor\frac{x}{y}\right\rfloor\text{, respectively.}$


    And, if you type this

    \underbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}_{x}

    Gives

    $\underbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}_{x}$

    Or

    \overbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}^{x}

    Gives

    $\overbrace{a_0+a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n}^{x}$


    \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 inline math mode and in display mode. Display mode occurs when you use \[...\] or $$...$$, or environments like \begin{equation}...\end{equation}, \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
    $\sum \textstyle\sum$ \sum $\int \textstyle\int$ \int $\oint \textstyle\oint$ \oint
    $\prod \textstyle\prod$ \prod $\coprod \textstyle\coprod$ \coprod $\bigcap \textstyle\bigcap$ \bigcap
    $\bigcup \textstyle\bigcup$ \bigcup $\bigsqcup \textstyle\bigsqcup$ \bigsqcup $\bigvee \textstyle\bigvee$ \bigvee
    $\bigwedge \textstyle\bigwedge$ \bigwedge $\bigodot \textstyle\bigodot$ \bigodot $\bigotimes \textstyle\bigotimes$ \bigotimes
    $\bigoplus \textstyle\bigoplus$ \bigoplus $\biguplus \textstyle\biguplus$ \biguplus

    See Also

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