To see how any formula was written in any question or answer, including this one, right-click on the expression it and choose “Show Math As > TeX Commands”. (When you do this, the ‘ ′willnotdisplay.Makesureyouaddthese.Seethenextpoint.)Forinlineformulas,enclosetheformulain ... .Fordisplayedformulas,use ... .Theserenderdifferently.Forexample,type \sum_{i=0}^n i^2 = \frac{(n^2+n)(2n+1)}{6} toshow \sum_{i=0}^n i^2 = \frac{(n^2+n)(2n+1)}{6} (whichisinlinemode)ortype ∑ni=0i2=(n2+n)(2n+1)6 toshow ∑ni=0i2=(n2+n)(2n+1)6 (whichisdisplaymode).ForGreekletters,useα,β,…,ω: \alpha, \beta, … \omega .Foruppercase,useΓ,Δ,…,Ω: \Gamma, \Delta, …, \Omega .Forsuperscriptsandsubscripts,useand.Forexample,x2i: x_i^2 ,log2x: \log_2 x .Groups.Superscripts,subscripts,andotheroperationsapplyonlytothenext“group”.A“group”iseitherasinglesymbol,oranyformulasurroundedbycurlybraces….Ifyoudo1010,youwillgetasurprise: 10^10 .But1010giveswhatyouprobablywanted: 10^{10}. Use curly braces to delimit a formula to which a superscript or subscript applies: x^5^6 is an error; {x^y}^z is{x^y}^z ,andxyzis x^{y^z} .Observethedifferencebetweenx2i x_i^2 andxi2 x_{i^2} .ParenthesesOrdinarysymbols()[]makeparenthesesandbrackets (2+3)[4+4] .Useandforcurlybraces \{\}$.
These do not scale with the formula in between, so if you write (\frac{\sqrt x}{y^3}) the parentheses will be too small: (x√y3) . Using \left(…\right) will make the sizes adjust automatically to the formula they enclose: \left(\frac{\sqrt x}{y^3}\right) is (x√y3) .
\left and\right apply to all the following sorts of parentheses: ( and ) (x) , [ and ] [x] , { and } {x} , | |x| , \vert |x| , \Vert ∥x∥ , \langle and \rangle ⟨x⟩ , \lceil and \rceil ⌈x⌉ , and \lfloor and \rfloor ⌊x⌋ . There are also invisible parentheses, denoted by .: \left.\frac12\right\rbrace is 12} .
If manual size adjustments are required: \Biggl(\biggl(\Bigl(\bigl((x)\bigr)\Bigr)\biggr)\Biggr) gives
(((((x)))))
.
Sums and integrals \sum and \int; the subscript is the lower limit and the superscript is the upper limit, so for example \sum_1^n
∑n1
. Don’t forget {…} if the limits are more than a single symbol. For example, \sum_{i=0}^\infty i^2 is
∑∞i=0i2
. Similarly, \prod
∏
, \int
∫
, \bigcup
⋃
, \bigcap
⋂
, \iint
∬
.
Fractions There are two ways to make these. \frac ab applies to the next two groups, and produces
ab
; for more complicated numerators and denominators use {…}: \frac{a+1}{b+1} is
a+1b+1
. If the numerator and denominator are complicated, you may prefer \over, which splits up the group that it is in: {a+1\over b+1} is
a+1b+1
.
Fonts
Use \mathbb or \Bbb for “blackboard bold”:
CHNQRZ
.
Use \mathbf for boldface:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.
Use \mathtt for “typewriter” font:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.
Use \mathrm for roman font:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.
Use \mathsf for sans-serif font:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.
Use \mathcal for “calligraphic” letters:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Use \mathscr for script letters:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Use \mathfrak for “Fraktur” (old German style) letters:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
.
Radical signs Use sqrt, which adjusts to the size of its argument: \sqrt{x^3}
x3−−√
; \sqrt[3]{\frac xy}
xy−−√3
. For complicated expressions, consider using {…}^{1/2} instead.
Some special functions such as “lim”, “sin”, “max”, “ln”, and so on are normally set in roman font instead of italic font. Use \lim, \sin, etc. to make these: \sin x
sinx
, not sin x
sinx
. Use subscripts to attach a notation to \lim: \lim_{x\to 0}
There are a very large number of special symbols and notations, too many to list here; see this shorter listing, or this exhaustive listing. Some of the most common include:
\lt \gt \le \ge \neq
<>≤≥≠
. You can use \not to put a slash through almost anything: \not\lt
≮
but it often looks bad.
\times \div \pm \mp
×÷±∓
. \cdot is a centered dot:
x⋅y
\cup \cap \setminus \subset \subseteq \subsetneq \supset \in \notin \emptyset \varnothing
∪∩∖⊂⊆⊊⊃∈∉∅∅
{n+1 \choose 2k} or \binom{n+1}{2k}
(n+12k)
\to \rightarrow \leftarrow \Rightarrow \Leftarrow \mapsto
→→←⇒⇐↦
\land \lor \lnot \forall \exists \top \bot \vdash \vDash
∧∨¬∀∃⊤⊥⊢⊨
\star \ast \oplus \circ \bullet
⋆∗⊕∘∙
\approx \sim \simeq \cong \equiv \prec \lhd
≈∼≃≅≡≺,⊲
.
\infty \aleph_0
∞ℵ0
\nabla \partial
∇∂
\Im \Re
IR
For modular equivalence, use \pmod like this: a\equiv b\pmod n
a≡b(modn)
.
\ldots is the dots in
a1,a2,…,an
\cdots is the dots in
a1+a2+⋯+an
Some Greek letters have variant forms: \epsilon \varepsilon
ϵε
, \phi \varphi
ϕφ
, and others. Script lowercase l is \ell
ℓ
.
Detexify lets you draw a symbol on a web page and then lists the
TEX
symbols that seem to resemble it. These are not guaranteed to work in MathJax but are a good place to start. To check that a command is supported, note that MathJax.org maintains a list of currently supported
LATEX
commands, and one can also check Dr. Carol JVF Burns’s page of
TEX
Commands Available in MathJax.
Spaces MathJax usually decides for itself how to space formulas, using a complex set of rules. Putting extra literal spaces into formulas will not change the amount of space MathJax puts in: a␣b and a␣␣␣␣b are both
ab
. To add more space, use , for a thin space
ab
; \; for a wider space
ab
. \quad and \qquad are large spaces:
ab
,
ab
.
To set plain text, use \text{…}:
{x∈s∣x is extra large}
. You can nest
…
inside of \text{…}.
Accents and diacritical marks Use \hat for a single symbol
Special characters used for MathJax interpreting can be escaped using the \ character: $
$
, {
{
, _
_
, etc. If you want \ itself, you should use \backslash
∖
, because \ is for a new line.