Short Math Guide for LATEX
Michael Downes
American Mathematical Society
Version 1.09 (2002-03-22), currently available at
http://www.ams.org/tex/short-math-guide.html
1. Introduction This is a concise summary of recommended features in LATEX and a
couple of extension packages for writing math formulas. Readers needing greater depth
of detail are referred to the sources listed in the bibliography, especially [Lamport], [LUG],
[AMUG], [LFG], [LGG], and [LC]. A certain amount of familiarity with standard LATEX
terminology is assumed; if your memory needs refreshing on the LATEX meaning of command,
optional argument, environment, package, and so forth, see [Lamport].
The features described here are available to you if you use LATEX with two extension
packages published by the American Mathematical Society: amssymb and amsmath. Thus,
the source file for this document begins with
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb,amsmath}
The amssymb package might be omissible for documents whose math symbol usage is rela-
tively modest; the easiest way to test this is to leave out the amssymb reference and see if
any math symbols in the document produce ‘Undefined control sequence’ messages.
Many noteworthy features found in other packages are not covered here; see Section 10.
Regarding math symbols, please note especially that the list given here is not intended to be
comprehensive, but to illustrate such symbols as users will normally find already present in
their LATEX system and usable without installing any additional fonts or doing other setup
work.
If you have a need for a symbol not shown here, you will probably want to consult The
Comprehensive LATEX Symbols List (Pakin):
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/.
2. Inline math formulas and displayed equations
2.1. The fundamentals Entering and leaving math mode in LATEX is normally done with
the following commands and environments.
inline formulas
displayed equations
$ . . . $
\( . . . \)
\[...\]
\begin{equation*}
. . .
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation}
. . .
\end{equation}
unnumbered
unnumbered
automatically
numbered
Note. Alternative environments \begin{math} . . . \end{math}, \begin{displaymath} . . . \end{displaymath}
are seldom needed in practice. Using the plain TEX notation $$ . . . $$ for displayed equations is not recom-
mended. Although it is not expressly forbidden in LATEX, it is not documented anywhere in the LATEX book
as being part of the LATEX command set, and it interferes with the proper operation of various features
such as the fleqn option.
Environments for handling equation groups and multi-line equations are shown in Table 1.
1
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
2
Table 1: Multi-line equations and equation groups (vertical lines indicating nominal mar-
gins).
\begin{equation}\label{xx}
\begin{split}
a& =b+c-d\\
& \quad +e-f\\
& =g+h\\
& =i
\end{split}
\end{equation}
\begin{multline}
a+b+c+d+e+f\\
+i+j+k+l+m+n
\end{multline}
\begin{gather}
a_1=b_1+c_1\\
a_2=b_2+c_2-d_2+e_2
\end{gather}
\begin{align}
a_1& =b_1+c_1\\
a_2& =b_2+c_2-d_2+e_2
\end{align}
\begin{align}
a_{11}& =b_{11}&
a_{12}& =b_{12}\\
a_{21}& =b_{21}&
a_{22}& =b_{22}+c_{22}
\end{align}
\begin{flalign*}
a_{11}& =b_{11}&
a_{12}& =b_{12}\\
a_{21}& =b_{21}&
a_{22}& =b_{22}+c_{22}
\end{flalign*}
a = b + c − d
+ e − f
= g + h
= i
(2.1)
a + b + c + d + e + f
+ i + j + k + l + m + n (2.2)
a1 = b1 + c1
a2 = b2 + c2 − d2 + e2
a1 = b1 + c1
a2 = b2 + c2 − d2 + e2
(2.3)
(2.4)
(2.5)
(2.6)
a11 = b11
a21 = b21
a12 = b12
a22 = b22 + c22
(2.7)
(2.8)
a11 = b11
a21 = b21
a12 = b12
a22 = b22 + c22
Note 1. The split environment is something of a special case. It is a subordinate environment that can
be used as the contents of an equation environment or the contents of one “line” in a multiple-equation
structure such as align or gather.
Note 2. The eqnarray and eqnarray* environments described in [Lamport] are not recommended because
they produce inconsistent spacing of the equal signs and make no attempt to prevent overprinting of the
equation body and equation number.
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
2.2. Automatic numbering and cross-referencing To get an auto-numbered equa-
tion, use the equation environment; to assign a label for cross-referencing, use the \label
command:
3
\begin{equation}\label{reio}
...
\end{equation}
To get a cross-reference to an auto-numbered equation, use the \eqref command:
... using equations \eqref{ax1} and \eqref{bz2}, we
can derive ...
The above example would produce something like
using equations (3.2) and (3.5), we can derive
In other words, \eqref{ax1} is equivalent to (\ref{ax1}).
To give your equation numbers the form m.n (section-number.equation-number), use
the \numberwithin command in the preamble of your document:
\numberwithin{equation}{section}
For more details on custom numbering schemes see [Lamport, §6.3, §C.8.4].
The subequations environment provides a convenient way to number equations in a
group with a subordinate numbering scheme. For example, supposing that the current
equation number is 2.1, write
\begin{equation}\label{first}
a=b+c
\end{equation}
some intervening text
\begin{subequations}\label{grp}
\begin{align}
a&=b+c\label{second}\\
d&=e+f+g\label{third}\\
h&=i+j\label{fourth}
\end{align}
\end{subequations}
to get
some intervening text
a = b + c
a = b + c
d = e + f + g
h = i + j
(2.9)
(2.10a)
(2.10b)
(2.10c)
By putting a \label command immediately after \begin{subequations} you can get a
reference to the parent number; \eqref{grp} from the above example would produce (2.10)
while \eqref{second} would produce (2.10a).
3. Math symbols and math fonts
3.1. Classes of math symbols The symbols in a math formula fall into different classes
that correspond more or less to the part of speech each symbol would have if the formula
were expressed in words. Certain spacing and positioning cues are traditionally used for
the different symbol classes to increase the readability of formulas.
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
4
Class
number Mnemonic
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Ord
Op
Bin
Rel
Open
Close
Pun
Examples
A 0 Φ ∞
P Q R
Description
(part of speech)
simple/ordinary (“noun”)
prefix operator
binary operator (conjunction) + ∪ ∧
= < ⊂
relation/comparison (verb)
( [ { h
left/opening delimiter
) ] } i
right/closing delimiter
postfix/punctuation
. , ; !
Note 1. The distinction in TEX between class 0 and an additional class 7 has to do only with font selection
issues and is immaterial here.
Note 2. Symbols of class Bin, notably the minus sign −, are automatically coerced to class 0 (no space) if
they do not have a suitable left operand.
The spacing for a few symbols follows tradition instead of the general rule: although /
is (semantically speaking) of class 2, we write k/2 with no space around the slash rather
than k / 2. And compare p|q p|q (no space) with p\mid q p | q (class-3 spacing).
The proper way to define a new math symbol is discussed in LATEX 2ε font selection
[LFG]. It is not really possible to give a useful synopsis here because one needs first to
understand the ramifications of font specifications.
3.2. Some symbols intentionally omitted here The following math symbols that
are mentioned in the LATEX book [Lamport] are intentionally omitted from this discussion
because they are superseded by equivalent symbols when the amssymb package is loaded.
If you are using the amssymb package anyway, the only thing that you are likely to gain by
using the alternate name is an unnecessary increase in the number of fonts used by your
document.
\Box, see \square
\Diamond, see \lozenge ♦
\leadsto, see \rightsquigarrow
\Join, see \bowtie ./
\lhd, see \vartriangleleft C
\unlhd, see \trianglelefteq E
\rhd, see \vartriangleright B
\unrhd, see \trianglerighteq D
Furthermore, there are many, many additional symbols available for LATEX use above
and beyond the ones included here. This list is not intended to be comprehensive. For a
much more comprehensive list of symbols, including nonmathematically oriented ones such
as phonetic alphabetic or dingbats, see The Comprehensive LATEX Symbols List (Pakin):
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/.
3.3. Latin letters and Arabic numerals The Latin letters are simple symbols, class 0.
The default font for them in math formulas is italic.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
When adding an accent to an i or j in math, dotless variants can be obtained with \imath
and \jmath:
ı \imath
\jmath
ˆ \hat{\jmath}
Arabic numerals 0–9 are also of class 0. Their default font is upright/roman.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
3.4. Greek letters Like the Latin letters, the Greek letters are simple symbols, class 0.
For obscure historical reasons, the default font for lowercase Greek letters in math formu-
las is italic while the default font for capital Greek letters is upright/roman.
(In other
fields such as physics and chemistry, however, the typographical traditions are somewhat
different.) The capital Greek letters not present in this list are the letters that have the
same appearance as some Latin letter: A for Alpha, B for Beta, and so on. In the list of
lowercase letters there is no omicron because it would be identical in appearance to Latin o.
In practice, the Greek letters that have Latin look-alikes are seldom used in math formulas,
to avoid confusion.
5
Γ \Gamma
∆ \Delta
Λ \Lambda
Φ \Phi
Π \Pi
Ψ \Psi
Σ \Sigma
Θ \Theta
Υ \Upsilon
Ξ \Xi
Ω \Omega
α \alpha
β \beta
γ \gamma
δ \delta
\epsilon
ζ \zeta
η \eta
θ \theta
ι \iota
κ \kappa
λ \lambda
µ \mu
ν \nu
ξ \xi
π \pi
ρ \rho
σ \sigma
τ \tau
υ \upsilon
φ \phi
χ \chi
ψ \psi
ω \omega
z \digamma
ε \varepsilon
κ \varkappa
ϕ \varphi
\varpi
\varrho
ς \varsigma
ϑ \vartheta
3.5. Other alphabetic symbols These are also class 0.
ℵ \aleph
\hslash
f \mho
i \beth
k \daleth
∂ \partial
ג \gimel
℘ \wp
{ \complement
‘ \ell
ð \eth
\hbar
s \circledS
k \Bbbk
‘ \Finv
a \Game
= \Im< \Re
3.6. Miscellaneous simple symbols These symbols are also of class 0 (ordinary) which
means they do not have any built-in spacing.
♣ \clubsuit
\diagdown
\diagup
♦ \diamondsuit
∅ \emptyset
∃ \exists
[ \flat
∀ \forall
♥ \heartsuit
∞ \infty
# \#
& \&
∠ \angle
8 \backprime
F \bigstar
\blacklozenge
\blacksquare
N \blacktriangle
H \blacktriangledown
⊥ \bot
Note 1. A common mistake in the use of the symbols and # is to try to make them serve as binary
operators or relation symbols without using a properly defined math symbol command. If you merely use
the existing commands \square or \# the inter-symbol spacing will be incorrect because those commands
produce a class-0 symbol.
Note 2. Synonyms: ¬ \lnot
\square
√
\surd
> \top
4 \triangle
O \triangledown
∅ \varnothing
♦ \lozenge
] \measuredangle
∇ \nabla
\ \natural
¬ \neg
@ \nexists
0 \prime
] \sharp
♠ \spadesuit
^ \sphericalangle
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
3.7. Binary operator symbols
∗ *
+ +− -q \amalg
· \cdot
\centerdot
◦ \circ
~ \circledast
} \circledcirc
\circleddash
∪ \cup
d \Cup
g \curlyvee
f \curlywedge
† \dagger
‡ \ddagger
\diamond
÷ \div
> \divideontimes
u \dotplus
[ \doublebarwedge
m \gtrdot
| \intercal
h \leftthreetimes
l \lessdot
n \ltimes
∓ \mp \odot
\ominus
⊕ \oplus
\oslash
⊗ \otimes
± \pm
i \rightthreetimes
o \rtimes
\ \setminus
∗ \ast
Z \barwedge
\bigcirc
5 \bigtriangledown
4 \bigtriangleup
\boxdot
\boxminus
\boxplus
\boxtimes
• \bullet
∩ \cap
e \Cap
Synonyms: ∧ \land, ∨ \lor, d \doublecup, e \doublecap
3.8. Relation symbols: < = > ∼ and variants
5 \leqq
6 \leqslant
/ \lessapprox
Q \lesseqgtr
S \lesseqqgtr
≶ \lessgtr
. \lesssim
\ll
≪ \lll
\lnapprox
\lneq
\lneqq
\lnsim
\lvertneqq
\ncong
6= \neq
\ngeq
\ngeqq
\ngeqslant
0 \eqslantless
≡ \equiv
; \fallingdotseq
≥ \geq
= \geqq
> \geqslant
\gg
≫ \ggg
\gnapprox
\gneq
\gneqq
\gnsim
’ \gtrapprox
R \gtreqless
T \gtreqqless
≷ \gtrless
& \gtrsim
\gvertneqq
≤ \leq
< <
= =
> >
≈ \approx
u \approxeq
\asymp
v \backsim
w \backsimeq
l \bumpeq
m \Bumpeq
$ \circeq
∼= \cong
2 \curlyeqprec
3 \curlyeqsucc
.= \doteq
+ \doteqdot
P \eqcirc
h \eqsim
1 \eqslantgtr
Synonyms:
6= \ne, ≤ \le, ≥ \ge, + \Doteq, ≪ \llless, ≫ \gggtr
6
r \smallsetminus
u \sqcap
t \sqcup
? \star
× \times
/ \triangleleft
. \triangleright
] \uplus
∨ \vee
Y \veebar
∧ \wedge
o \wr
∼ \sim
’ \simeq
\succ
v \succapprox
< \succcurlyeq
\succeq
\succnapprox
\succneqq
\succnsim
% \succsim
≈ \thickapprox
∼ \thicksim
, \triangleq
≯ \ngtr
\nleq
\nleqq
\nleqslant
≮ \nless
⊀ \nprec
\npreceq
\nsim
\nsucc
\nsucceq
≺ \prec
w \precapprox
4 \preccurlyeq
\preceq
\precnapprox
\precneqq
\precnsim
- \precsim
: \risingdotseq
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
3.9. Relation symbols: arrows See also Section 4.
\circlearrowleft
W \Lleftarrow
←− \longleftarrow
\circlearrowright
⇐= \Longleftarrow
x \curvearrowleft
←→ \longleftrightarrow
y \curvearrowright
⇐⇒ \Longleftrightarrow
\downdownarrows
7−→ \longmapsto
\downharpoonleft
−→ \longrightarrow
\downharpoonright
←- \hookleftarrow
=⇒ \Longrightarrow
,→ \hookrightarrow
" \looparrowleft
← \leftarrow
# \looparrowright
⇐ \Leftarrow
\Lsh
7→ \mapsto
\leftarrowtail
( \multimap
) \leftharpoondown
: \nLeftarrow
( \leftharpoonup
⇔ \leftleftarrows
< \nLeftrightarrow
↔ \leftrightarrow
; \nRightarrow
⇔ \Leftrightarrow
% \nearrow
\leftrightarrows
8 \nleftarrow
\leftrightharpoons
= \nleftrightarrow
! \leftrightsquigarrow
9 \nrightarrow
Synonyms: ← \gets, → \to, \restriction
3.10. Relation symbols: miscellaneous
7
- \nwarrow
→ \rightarrow
⇒ \Rightarrow
\rightarrowtail
+ \rightharpoondown
* \rightharpoonup
\rightleftarrows
\rightleftharpoons
⇒ \rightrightarrows
\rightsquigarrow
V \Rrightarrow
\Rsh& \searrow
. \swarrow
\twoheadleftarrow
\twoheadrightarrow
\upharpoonleft
\upharpoonright
\upuparrows
\backepsilon
∵ \because
G \between
J \blacktriangleleft
I \blacktriangleright
./ \bowtie
a \dashv
_ \frown
∈ \in
| \mid
|= \models
3 \ni
- \nmid
/∈ \notin
∦ \nparallel
. \nshortmid
/ \nshortparallel
* \nsubseteq
Synonyms: 3 \owns
" \nsubseteqq
+ \nsupseteq
# \nsupseteqq
6 \ntriangleleft
5 \ntrianglelefteq
7 \ntriangleright
4 \ntrianglerighteq
0 \nvdash
1 \nVdash
2 \nvDash
3 \nVDash
k \parallel
⊥ \perp
t \pitchfork
∝ \propto
p \shortmid
q \shortparallel
a \smallfrown
‘ \smallsmile
^ \smile
@ \sqsubset
v \sqsubseteq
A \sqsupset
w \sqsupseteq
⊂ \subset
b \Subset
⊆ \subseteq
j \subseteqq
( \subsetneq
$ \subsetneqq
⊃ \supset
c \Supset
⊇ \supseteq
k \supseteqq
) \supsetneq
% \supsetneqq
∴ \therefore
E \trianglelefteq
D \trianglerighteq
∝ \varpropto
\varsubsetneq
& \varsubsetneqq
! \varsupsetneq
’ \varsupsetneqq
M \vartriangle
C \vartriangleleft
B \vartriangleright
‘ \vdash
\Vdash
\vDash
\Vvdash
3.11. Cumulative (variable-size) operators
R \int
H \oint
T \bigcap
S \bigcup
J \bigodot
L \bigoplus
N \bigotimes
F \bigsqcup
U \biguplus
W \bigvee
V \bigwedge
‘ \coprod
Q \prod
P \sum
∫ \smallint
Short Math Guide for LATEX, version 1.09 (2002-03-22)
3.12. Punctuation
. .
/ /| |
, ,
; ;
: \colon
: :
! !
? ?
··· \dotsb
. . . \dotsc
··· \dotsi
··· \dotsm
. . . \dotso
... \ddots
8
... \vdots
Note 1. The : by itself produces a colon with class-3 (relation) spacing. The command \colon produces
special spacing for use in constructions such as f\colon A\to B f : A → B.
Note 2. Although the commands \cdots and \ldots are frequently used, we recommend the more seman-
tically oriented commands \dotsb \dotsc \dotsi \dotsm \dotso for most purposes (see 4.6).
3.13. Pairing delimiters (extensible) See Section 6 for more information.
\lgroup \rgroup
\lmoustache \rmoustache
[ ]
( )
hi
no
\lvert \rvert
\Vert
\vert
\lbrace \rbrace
\langle \rangle
\lVert \rVert
DE
lm
jk
/
\lceil \rceil
\backslash
\lfloor \rfloor
.
/
3.14. Nonpairing extensible symbols
\arrowvert
www \Arrowvert
\bracevert
Note 1. Using \vert, |, \Vert, or \| for paired delimiters is not recommended (see 6.2).
Synonyms: k \|
3.15. Extensible vertical arrows
x \uparrow
~ww \Uparrow
y \downarrow
ww \Downarrow
xy \updownarrow
~w \Updownarrow
3.16. Accents
´x \acute{x}
`x \grave{x}
¨x \ddot{x}
˜x \tilde{x}
¯x \bar{x}
˘x \breve{x}
ˇx \check{x}
ˆx \hat{x}
~x \vec{x}
˙x \dot{x}
¨x \ddot{x}
...
x \dddot{x}
gxxx \widetilde{xxx}
dxxx \widehat{xxx}
3.17. Named operators These operators are represented by a multiletter abbreviation.
arccos \arccos
arcsin \arcsin
arctan \arctan
arg \arg
cos \cos
cosh \cosh
cot \cot
coth \coth
csc \csc
deg \deg
det \det
dim \dim
exp \exp
gcd \gcd
hom \hom
inf \inf
inj lim \injlim
ker \ker
lg \lg
lim \lim
lim inf \liminf
lim sup \limsup
ln \ln
log \log
proj lim \projlim
max \max
min \min
Pr \Pr
sec \sec
sin \sin
sinh \sinh
sup \sup
tan \tan
tanh \tanh
lim−→ \varinjlim
lim←− \varprojlim
lim \varliminf
lim \varlimsup
To define additional named operators outside the above list, use the \DeclareMathOperator
command; for example, after