An overview of commonly used math symbols in LaTeX
Since LaTeX offers a large amount of features, it’s hard to remember all commands. Even though commands follow a logical naming scheme, you will probably need a table for the most common math symbols at some point. I don’t want to provide a complete list of LaTeX symbols on this website. The ctan already provides a huge list with currently 5913 symbols, which you can download here
. Instead I’m trying to limit this list to the most common math symbols and commands. If you think I forgot some very important basic function or symbol here, please let me know.
List of common \(\LaTeX\) math symbols
Trigonometric functions
The symbols for trigonometric functions have a very straightforward naming scheme. Just precede the common abbreviations with a backslash \ and put your variables in braces.
| Name | Symbol | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Sine | \(\sin x\) | \sin x |
| Cosine | \(\cos x\) | \cos x |
| Tangent | \(\tan x \) | \tan x |
| Cotangent | \(\cot x\) | \cot x |
| Secant | \(\sec x\) | \sec x |
| Cosecant | \(\csc x\) | \csc x |
Integrals
LaTeX offers math symbols for various kinds of integrals out of the box. Note that you can set the integral boundaries by using the underscore _ and circumflex ^ symbol as seen below.
| Name | Symbol | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite integral | \(\int f(x) dx\) | \int f(x) dx |
| Definite integral | \(\int_a^b f(x) x\) | \int_a^b f(x) x |
| Domain integral | \(\int_D f(x) dx\) | \int_D f(x) dx |
| Double integral | \(\iint f(x,y) dx dy\) | \iint f(x,y) dx dy |
| Triple integral | \(\iiint f(x,y,z) dx dy dz\) | \iiint f(x,y,z) dx dy dz |
| Closed curve integral | \(\oint_C F ds\) | \oint_C F ds |
Matrices
Of course LaTeX is able to typeset matrices as well. For this purpose LaTeX offers the following environments. Columns are separated with ampersand & and rows with a double backslash \\ (the linebreak command). Make sure that the number of ampersands is the same for every row.
| Name | Symbol | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Matrix | \(\begin{matrix}1&0\\1&0\end{matrix}\) |
\begin{matrix}1&0\\ 1&0\end{matrix} |
| bMatrix | \(\begin{bmatrix}1&0\\1&0\end{bmatrix}\) |
\begin{bmatrix}1&0\\ 1&0\end{bmatrix} |
| pMatrix | \(\begin{pmatrix}1&0\\1&0\end{pmatrix}\) |
\begin{pmatrix}1&0\\ 1&0\end{pmatrix} |
| vMatrix | \(\begin{vmatrix}1&0\\1&0\end{vmatrix}\) |
\begin{vmatrix}1&0\\ 1&0\end{vmatrix} |
| Determinant | \(\det{\begin{vmatrix}1&0\\1&0\end{vmatrix}}\) |
\det{\begin{vmatrix}1&0\\ 1&0\end{vmatrix}} |
If you want to typeset very large matrices, the following commands can become in handy as well.
Dots
The most common dot symbols used in math notation are available in LaTeX as well.
| Name | Symbol | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Middot / Centered dot | \(\cdot\) | \cdot |
| Horizontal Dots / Centered dots | \(\cdots\) | \cdots |
| Vertical Dots | \(\vdots\) | \vdots |
|
Diagonal Dots |
\(\ddots\) | \ddots |
|
Lower Dots |
\(\ldots\) |
\ldots |
|
Example: \(\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\1 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\1 & 0 & 0 & 0\end{bmatrix}\) |
\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ 1 & 0 & \cdots & 0\\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} |
|
Miscellaneous functions
Here are some more basic functions which don’t fit in the categories mentioned above.
| Name | Symbol | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Logarithmic Function / Logarithm | \(\log{x}\) | \log{x} |
| Logarithm (base a) | \(\log_a{b}\) | \log_a{b} |
| Square root function / Square root | \(\sqrt{x}\) | \sqrtx} |
| n-th root function / n-th root | \(\sqrt[n]{x}\) | \sqrt[n]{x} |
| Rational function / Fraction | \(\frac{u(x)}{v(x)}\) | \frac{u(x)}{v(x)} |