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Math Commands and Symbols

It can be a little hard to remember all the math symbols and commands. Here is a quick reference guide to help you out.

For practice, I recommend the texnique website which turns LaTeX equations in to a game.

Note

This page uses a lot of MathJax, so some symbols may take a second to render.

Greek Letters

Lowercase Command Symbol Uppercase Command Symbol
\alpha \(\alpha\) A \(A\)
\beta \(\beta\) B \(B\)
\gamma \(\gamma\) \Gamma \(\Gamma\)
\delta \(\delta\) \Delta \(\Delta\)
\epsilon \(\epsilon\) E \(E\)
\zeta \(\zeta\) Z \(Z\)
\eta \(\eta\) H \(H\)
\theta \(\theta\) \Theta \(\Theta\)
\iota \(\iota\) I \(I\)
\kappa \(\kappa\) K \(K\)
\lambda \(\lambda\) \Lambda \(\Lambda\)
\mu \(\mu\) M \(M\)
\nu \(\nu\) N \(N\)
\xi \(\xi\) \Xi \(\Xi\)
\omicron \(\omicron\) O \(O\)
\pi \(\pi\) \Pi \(\Pi\)
\rho \(\rho\) P \(P\)
\sigma \(\sigma\) \Sigma \(\Sigma\)
\tau \(\tau\) T \(T\)
\upsilon \(\upsilon\) \Upsilon \(\Upsilon\)
\phi \(\phi\) \Phi \(\Phi\)
\chi \(\chi\) X \(X\)
\psi \(\psi\) \Psi \(\Psi\)
\omega \(\omega\) \Omega \(\Omega\)

In addition to the standard Greek letters, there are also some variant forms:

Command Symbol
\varepsilon \(\varepsilon\)
\vartheta \(\vartheta\)
\varkappa \(\varkappa\)
\varpi \(\varpi\)
\varrho \(\varrho\)
\varsigma \(\varsigma\)
\varphi \(\varphi\)

Delimiters

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\left( \((\) \right) \()\)
\left[ \([\) \right] \(]\)
\left\{ \(\{\) \right\} \(\}\)
\left\langle \(\langle\) \right\rangle \(\rangle\)
\left\lfloor \(\lfloor\) \right\rfloor \(\rfloor\)
\left\lceil \(\lceil\) \right\rceil \(\rceil\)
\left\| \(\vert\) \right\| \(\vert\)
\left\\| \(\Vert\) \right\\| \(\Vert\)
\left. \(.\) \right. \(.\)
\left/ \(/\) \right/ \(/\)
\left\backslash \(\backslash\) \right\backslash \(\backslash\)

Arrows

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\leftarrow \(\leftarrow\) \longleftarrow \(\longleftarrow\)
\uparrow \(\uparrow\) \Uparrow \(\Uparrow\)
\rightarrow \(\rightarrow\) \longrightarrow \(\longrightarrow\)
\downarrow \(\downarrow\) \Downarrow \(\Downarrow\)
\leftrightarrow \(\leftrightarrow\) \longleftrightarrow \(\longleftrightarrow\)
\updownarrow \(\updownarrow\) \Updownarrow \(\Updownarrow\)
\mapsto \(\mapsto\) \longmapsto \(\longmapsto\)
\hookleftarrow \(\hookleftarrow\) \hookrightarrow \(\hookrightarrow\)
\leftharpoonup \(\leftharpoonup\) \rightharpoonup \(\rightharpoonup\)
\leftharpoondown \(\leftharpoondown\) \rightharpoondown \(\rightharpoondown\)
\rightleftharpoons \(\rightleftharpoons\) \leftrightharpoons \(\leftrightharpoons\)
\nearrow \(\nearrow\) \searrow \(\searrow\)
\swarrow \(\swarrow\) \nwarrow \(\nwarrow\)
\leadsto \(\leadsto\) \rightsquigarrow \(\rightsquigarrow\)
\curvearrowleft \(\curvearrowleft\) \curvearrowright \(\curvearrowright\)
\circlearrowleft \(\circlearrowleft\) \circlearrowright \(\circlearrowright\)
\Leftrightarrow \(\Leftrightarrow\) \Longleftrightarrow \(\Longleftrightarrow\)
\Leftarrow \(\Leftarrow\) \Longleftarrow \(\Longleftarrow\)
\Rightarrow \(\Rightarrow\) \Longrightarrow \(\Longrightarrow\)
\iff \(\iff\) \implies \(\implies\)

Binary Operators

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\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 \(\wedge\) \setminus \(\setminus\)
\wr \(\wr\) \diamond \(\diamond\)
\bigtriangleup \(\bigtriangleup\) \bigtriangledown \(\bigtriangledown\)
\triangleleft \(\triangleleft\) \triangleright \(\triangleright\)
\lhd \(\lhd\) \rhd \(\rhd\)
\unlhd \(\unlhd\) \unrhd \(\unrhd\)
\oplus \(\oplus\) \otimes \(\otimes\)
\odot \(\odot\) \oslash \(\oslash\)
\circledcirc \(\circledcirc\) \circledast \(\circledast\)
\circleddash \(\circleddash\) \boxplus \(\boxplus\)
\boxtimes \(\boxtimes\) \boxdot \(\boxdot\)
\bigcirc \(\bigcirc\) \bigodot \(\bigodot\)
\bigotimes \(\bigotimes\) \bigoplus \(\bigoplus\)
\biguplus \(\biguplus\) \bigsqcup \(\bigsqcup\)
\bigvee \(\bigvee\) \bigwedge \(\bigwedge\)
\coprod \(\coprod\)
\bigcap \(\bigcap\) \bigcup \(\bigcup\)
\prod \(\prod\) \sum \(\sum\)
\int \(\int\) \oint \(\oint\)
\iiint \(\iiint\) \iiiint \(\iiiint\)
\idotsint \(\idotsint\)
\therefore \(\therefore\) \because \(\because\)
\dotplus \(\dotplus\) \centerdot \(\centerdot\)
\ltimes \(\ltimes\) \rtimes \(\rtimes\)
\leftthreetimes \(\leftthreetimes\) \rightthreetimes \(\rightthreetimes\)
\curlywedge \(\curlywedge\) \curlyvee \(\curlyvee\)
\boxminus \(\boxminus\)
\boxdot \(\boxdot\) \divideontimes \(\divideontimes\)

Trigonometry

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\sin \(\sin\) \cos \(\cos\)
\tan \(\tan\) \cot \(\cot\)
\sec \(\sec\) \csc \(\csc\)
\arcsin \(\arcsin\) \arccos \(\arccos\)
\arctan \(\arctan\) \sinh \(\sinh\)
\cosh \(\cosh\) \tanh \(\tanh\)
\coth \(\coth\)

Logarithms

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\log \(\log\) \ln \(\ln\)
\lg \(\lg\) \exp \(\exp\)
\lim \(\lim\) \liminf \(\liminf\)
\limsup \(\limsup\) \sup \(\sup\)
\inf \(\inf\) \max \(\max\)
\min \(\min\) \arg \(\arg\)
\deg \(\deg\) \det \(\det\)
\dim \(\dim\) \hom \(\hom\)
\ker \(\ker\) \Pr \(\Pr\)
\gcd \(\gcd\) \varliminf \(\varliminf\)
\varlimsup \(\varlimsup\) \varinjlim \(\varinjlim\)
\varprojlim \(\varprojlim\)

Relations

Command Symbol Command Symbol
< \(<\) > \(>\)
\leq \(\leq\) \geq \(\geq\)
\ll \(\ll\) \gg \(\gg\)
\equiv \(\equiv\) \sim \(\sim\)
\subset \(\subset\) \supset \(\supset\)
\approx \(\approx\) \cong \(\cong\)
\subseteq \(\subseteq\) \supseteq \(\supseteq\)
\propto \(\propto\) \neq \(\neq\)
\in \(\in\) \ni \(\ni\)
\notin \(\notin\) \subsetneq \(\subsetneq\)
\supsetneq \(\supsetneq\) \nsubseteq \(\nsubseteq\)
\nsupseteq \(\nsupseteq\) \parallel \(\parallel\)
\nparallel \(\nparallel\) \perp \(\perp\)
\mid \(\mid\) \nmid \(\nmid\)
\asymp \(\asymp\) \doteq \(\doteq\)
\bowtie \(\bowtie\) \models \(\models\)
\smile \(\smile\) \frown \(\frown\)
\vdash \(\vdash\) \dashv \(\dashv\)
\infty \(\infty\) \aleph \(\aleph\)
\forall \(\forall\) \exists \(\exists\)
\nexists \(\nexists\) \emptyset \(\emptyset\)
\varnothing \(\varnothing\) \neg \(\neg\)
\top \(\top\) \bot \(\bot\)
\angle \(\angle\) \measuredangle \(\measuredangle\)
\sphericalangle \(\sphericalangle\) \triangle \(\triangle\)
\nabla \(\nabla\) \partial \(\partial\)
\hbar \(\hbar\) \imath \(\imath\)
\jmath \(\jmath\) \ell \(\ell\)
\wp \(\wp\) \Re \(\Re\)
\Im \(\Im\) \mho \(\mho\)
\eth \(\eth\) \Finv \(\Finv\)
\Game \(\Game\) \Bbbk \(\Bbbk\)
\circ \(\circ\) \bullet \(\bullet\)
\wr \(\wr\) \diamond \(\diamond\)
\bigtriangleup \(\bigtriangleup\) \bigtriangledown \(\bigtriangledown\)
\triangleleft \(\triangleleft\) \triangleright \(\triangleright\)

Accents

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\hat{a} \(\hat{a}\) \check{a} \(\check{a}\)
\breve{a} \(\breve{a}\) \acute{a} \(\acute{a}\)
\grave{a} \(\grave{a}\) \tilde{a} \(\tilde{a}\)
\bar{a} \(\bar{a}\) \vec{a} \(\vec{a}\)
\dot{a} \(\dot{a}\) \ddot{a} \(\ddot{a}\)
\mathring{a} \(\mathring{a}\) \widehat{a} \(\widehat{a}\)
\widetilde{a} \(\widetilde{a}\) \overline{a} \(\overline{a}\)
\underline{a} \(\underline{a}\) \overbrace{a} \(\overbrace{a}\)
\underbrace{a} \(\underbrace{a}\) \overleftarrow{a} \(\overleftarrow{a}\)
\overrightarrow{a} \(\overrightarrow{a}\) \overleftrightarrow{a} \(\overleftrightarrow{a}\)

Environments

LaTeX has some built in environments and some common packages like amsmath and mathtools provide additional environments.

LaTeX Environments

Type Inline Display Numbered Description Command
equation No Yes Yes Standard equation environment \begin{equation} ... \end{equation}
Inline Yes No No Inline equation environment $ ... $
Inline (alt) Yes No No Inline equation environment \(...\)
Display No Yes No Display equation environment $$ ... $$
Display (alt) No Yes No Display equation environment \[ ... \]

The different inline and display environments extend from the difference in TeX and LaTeX. TeX uses $ ... $ for inline math and $$ ... $$ for display math. LaTeX uses \[ ... \] for display math and \(...\) for inline math. The results will be the same, and choice is personal preference. However, the LaTeX environments is considered better practice.

amsmath Environments

Type Inline Display Numbered Description Command
equation* No Yes No Standard equation environment \begin{equation*} ... \end{equation*}
align No Yes Yes Align multiple equations \begin{align} ... \end{align}
align* No Yes No Align multiple equations \begin{align*} ... \end{align*}
gather No Yes Yes Center multiple equations \begin{gather} ... \end{gather}
gather* No Yes No Center multiple equations \begin{gather*} ... \end{gather*}
multline No Yes Yes Multi-line equations \begin{multline} ... \end{multline}
multline* No Yes No Multi-line equations \begin{multline*} ... \end{multline*}
split No Yes No Multi-line equations \begin{split} ... \end{split}
aligned No Yes No Multi-line equations \begin{aligned} ... \end{aligned}
cases No Yes No Multi-line equations \begin{cases} ... \end{cases}
matrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{matrix} ... \end{matrix}
pmatrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{pmatrix} ... \end{pmatrix}
bmatrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{bmatrix} ... \end{bmatrix}
Bmatrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{Bmatrix} ... \end{Bmatrix}
vmatrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{vmatrix} ... \end{vmatrix}
Vmatrix No Yes No Matrix equations \begin{Vmatrix} ... \end{Vmatrix}

mathtools Environments

Type Inline Display Numbered Description Command
dcases No Yes No Multi-line equations \begin{dcases} ... \end{dcases}

Fonts

Command Symbol Command Symbol
\mathbb{A} \(\mathbb{A}\) \mathcal{A} \(\mathcal{A}\)
\mathfrak{A} \(\mathfrak{A}\) \mathsf{A} \(\mathsf{A}\)
\mathscr{A} \(\mathscr{A}\) \mathbf{A} \(\mathbf{A}\)
\mathit{A} \(\mathit{A}\) \mathrm{A} \(\mathrm{A}\)
\mathnormal{A} \(\mathnormal{A}\) \mathsf{A} \(\mathsf{A}\)
\mathbf{A} \(\mathbf{A}\)