Markdown guide · Code, tables, diagrams & math

Writing LaTeX math

The LaTeX commands for fractions, powers, roots, symbols and more.

Commands start with a backslash, and curly braces {} group what a command applies to. Spaces don't matter; LaTeX does the spacing for you.

Powers, indexes, fractions and roots

$x^2$, $x^{10}$, $a_i$, $a_{i+1}$, $\frac{1}{2}$, $\sqrt{x}$, $\sqrt[3]{x}$

Use braces when more than one character goes up, down or inside: x^{10}, not x^10.

Sums, integrals and limits

$$
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2} \qquad \int_0^1 x^2\,dx \qquad \lim_{x \to 0} \frac{\sin x}{x}
$$

Greek letters

$\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \delta, \theta, \lambda, \mu, \pi, \sigma, \phi, \omega, \Delta, \Sigma, \Omega$

Lowercase names give lowercase letters; a capital first letter gives the capital: \delta and \Delta.

Operators and relations

• \times ×, \div ÷, \pm ±, \cdot ·
• \leq ≤, \geq ≥, \neq ≠, \approx ≈
• \in ∈, \subset ⊂, \cup ∪, \cap ∩
• \to →, \Rightarrow ⇒, \Leftrightarrow ⇔
• \infty ∞, \partial ∂, \nabla ∇
• \forall ∀, \exists ∃, \neg ¬

Brackets that grow

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

\left( and \right) size the brackets to what's inside. Plain ( and ) stay text-sized.

Matrices and cases

$$
A = \begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix}
$$

$$
|x| = \begin{cases} x & \text{if } x \ge 0 \\ -x & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}
$$

& separates columns and \\ starts a new row. Use bmatrix for square brackets and vmatrix for a determinant.

Text, fonts and accents

$\text{speed} = \frac{d}{t}$, $\mathbb{R}$, $\mathbf{v}$, $\hat{x}$, $\vec{F}$, $\overline{AB}$