Typing math symbols with LaTeX

January 13, 2026

Instead of repeatedly searching on the internet for how to type math symbols with LaTeX, each time I look one up I’ll add it here. This is not intended to be a complete list of LaTeX syntax or commands.

What is a LaTeX command?

A LaTeX command is an instruction that tells the LaTeX typesetting system how to format the text. LaTeX commands begin with a backslash (\):

\commandname: e.g., \alpha
\commandname{required argument}: e.g., \mathbb{R}
\commandname[optional argument]{required argument}: (hasn’t come up for me yet)

The symbol for the set of real numbers

The symbol for the set of real numbers is $\mathbb{R}$ .

LaTeX:

$$
\mathbb{R}
$$

The degree symbol

To add the degree symbol after a number: $12^\circ$ :

$$
12^\circ
$$

omega

The lowercase Greek letter omega ( $\omega$ ) is typically used to represent angular velocity.

Angular velocity

Angular velocity is the rage of change of angular displacement ( $\theta$ ) ( $\theta$ ) over time ( $t$ ). Therefore

\omega = \frac{d\theta}{dt}

\omega = \Delta\theta/\Delta{t}

Delta (the math symbol for “change”)

The Greek capital letter Delta ( $\Delta$ ) is used in math notation as the symbol for change.

Latex:

$$
\Delta
$$

delta (lowercase) (the math symbol for infinitesimal change)

The lowercase Greek letter delta ( $\delta$ ) is used to represent very small changes.

LaTeX:

$$
\delta
$$

Left right arrow

$x \leftrightarrow y$ ( $x \leftrightarrow y$ )

The bar and overline symbols

Often used for the _complex conjugate. For example, $\bar{z}$ , or $\overline{a + b}$

LaTeX:

$$
\bar{z}
\overline{a + b}
$$

phi and varphi

Often used to describe the angular component of polar coordinates in 3D (and on Wikipedia). phi ( $\phi$ ), varphi ( $\varphi)$ . Note that varphi doesn’t render a symbol for me on Vim, but it does in Hugo math code.

LaTeX:

$$
\phi
\varphi
$$

theta ( $\theta$ ) is more commonly used for the angular part of polar coordinates.

References

York University. “The Macdonald Polynomial Web Page: Mathematical symbols for LaTeX.” Accessed on January 17, 2026. https://garsia.math.yorku.ca/MPWP/LATEXmath/latexsym.html .

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