LaTeX is the de facto standard typesetting system for scientific writing. A lot of the nice looking equations you see in books and all around the web are written using LaTeX commands. Knowing a few of the mathematics commands is not only helpful if you want to write a book or an article (or do some extreme stuff), but can come in handy in a lot of places, as many systems support LaTeX. You can use LaTeX in MathJax to display expressions on the web (like here), you can make yourself good looking mathematics flashcards in Anki, you can even nerd out and send formulas built with LaTeX commands to your friends via an iMessage app. Also, Apple’s latest Pages release now supports LaTeX equations.

Reasons enough to get familiar with the standard commands!

While a lot of commands can be written out in plain (e.g. 1+1=2), there are other frequently used commands you will need to look up or memorise.

I plan to update this post continuously as I find myself looking for a common symbol I haven’t listed yet. Feel free to drop me an email or comment when you land here and don’t find the answer to a frequently used symbol.

Here is the cheat sheet (naturally incomplete):

Fractions

CommandDescriptionOutput
\fracBuild a fraction like so: \frac{1}{2}$$\frac{1}{2}$$
\frac{\frac{}}{}You can nest fractions: \frac{\frac{1}{2}}{2}$$\frac{\frac{1}{2}}{2}$$

Greek letters

(capitalize by capitalizing the command)

CommandDescriptionOutput
\alphaalpha$$\alpha$$
\betabeta$$\beta$$
\gammagamma$$\gamma$$
\deltadelta$$\delta$$
\epsilonepsilon$$\epsilon$$
\zetazeta$$\zeta$$
\etaeta$$\eta$$
\thetatheta$$\theta$$
\iotaiota$$\iota$$
\kappakappa$$\kappa$$
\lambdalambda$$\lambda$$
\mumu$$\mu$$
\nunu$$\nu$$
\xixi$$\xi$$
oomicron$$o$$
\pipi$$\pi$$
\rhorho$$\rho$$
\sigmasigma$$\sigma$$
\tautau$$\tau$$
\upsilonupsilon$$\upsilon$$
\phiphi$$\phi$$
\chichi$$\chi$$
\psipsi$$\psi$$
\omegaomega$$\omega$$

Logic

CommandDescriptionOutput
\forallFor all$$\forall$$
\existsExists$$\exists$$
\lorOr$$\lor$$
\landAnd$$\land$$
\veebarXor$$\veebar$$
\negNot$$\neg$$

Operators

CommandDescriptionOutput
\timesTimes$$\times$$
\cdotDot$$\cdot$$
\divDivision$$\div$$
\pmPlus minus$$\pm$$

Relation

CommandDescriptionOutput
\neqNot equal$$\neq$$
\approxApproximately equal$$\approx$$
\leqLess than or equal$$\leq$$
\geqGreater than or equal$$\geq$$
\llMuch less than$$\ll$$
\ggMuch greater than$$\gg$$

Sets

(Often you can put an “n” before the command and get the negation)

CommandDescriptionOutput
\supsetProper superset$$\supset$$
\supseteqSuperset$$\supseteq$$
\subsetProper Subset$$\subset$$
\subseteqSubset$$\subseteq$$
\inMember$$\in$$
\emptysetEmpty set$$\emptyset$$
\mathbb{R}Set of real numbers$$\mathbb{R}$$
\cupSet union (belonging to A OR B)$$\cup$$
\capSet intersection (belonging to A AND B)$$\cap$$

Super-/Subscript (Exponents / Indices)

CommandDescriptionOutput
^Use ^ for superscript. Example: x^2$$x^2$$
^{}Use ^{} for exponents with >1 digit. Example: x^{10}$$x^{10}$$
_Use _ for subscript. Example: x_0$$x_0$$
_{}Use _{} for subscript with >1 digit. Example: x_{10}$$x_{10}$$

Others

CommandDescriptionOutput
\inftyInfinity$$\infty$$
\partialPartial$$\partial$$
\hat{}Estimator$$\hat{\theta}$$
\sqrt[root]{}Square root$$\sqrt[3]{4}$$