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Help Contents → Math markup

MediaWiki uses LaTeX markup to render mathematical formulas as SVG images. LaTeX markup goes inside <math> ... </math> tags. Line breaks within these tags are fine, and aren't rendered. They're a good idea to keep the raw markup clear (for instance, a line break after each term or row of a matrix).

This page contains selected examples of math markup that can be used in Memory Alpha articles. For more detailed information, see Help:Displaying a formula at Wikipedia.

Special characters

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
std. functions (good) \sin x + \ln y + \sgn z
std. functions (wrong) sin x + ln y + sgn z
Modular arithmetic s_k \equiv 0 \pmod{m}
Derivatives \nabla \partial x dx \dot x \ddot y
Sets \forall \exists \empty \emptyset \varnothing
\in \ni \not \in \notin \subset \subseteq \supset \supseteq
\cap \bigcap \cup \bigcup \biguplus \setminus \smallsetminus
Logic p \land \bar{q} \to p\lor \lnot q
Roots \sqrt{2}\approx 1.4
\sqrt[n]{x}
Relations \sim \simeq \cong \le \ge \equiv \not\equiv \approx \ne
Geometric \Diamond \Box \triangle \angle \perp \mid \nmid \| 45^\circ
Arrows

\leftarrow \rightarrow \leftrightarrow
\longleftarrow \longrightarrow
\mapsto \longmapsto
\nearrow \searrow \swarrow \nwarrow
\uparrow \downarrow \updownarrow





\Leftarrow \Rightarrow \Leftrightarrow
\Longleftarrow \Longrightarrow \Longleftrightarrow
\Uparrow \Downarrow \Updownarrow



Special

\oplus \otimes \pm \mp \hbar \dagger \ddagger \star \circ \cdot \times \bullet \infty
\ell \mho \Finv \Re \Im \wp \complement \diamondsuit \heartsuit \clubsuit \spadesuit \Game \flat \natural \sharp


Subscripts and superscripts

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Superscript a^2
Subscript a_2
Grouping a^{2+2}
a_{i,j}
Combining sub & super x_2^3
Derivative (good) x'
Underlines and overlines \hat a \bar b \vec c \widehat {d e f} \overline {g h i} \underline {j k l}
Arrows A \xleftarrow{n+\mu-1} B \xrightarrow[T]{n\pm i-1} C
Overbraces \overbrace{ 1+2+\cdots+100 }^{5050}
Underbraces \underbrace{ a+b+\cdots+z }_{26}
Sum \sum_{k=1}^N k^2
Product \prod_{i=1}^N x_i
Limit \lim_{n \to \infty}x_n
Integral \int_{-N}^{N} e^x\, dx
Line Integral \oint_{C} x^3\, dx + 4y^2\, dy

Fractions, matrices, and multilines

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Fractions \frac{2}{4} or {2 \over 4}
Binomial coefficients {n \choose k}
Matrices \begin{pmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{pmatrix}
\begin{bmatrix} 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \vdots &

\ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & \cdots & 0\end{bmatrix}

\begin{Bmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Bmatrix}
\begin{vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{vmatrix}
\begin{Vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Vmatrix}
\begin{matrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{matrix}
Case distinctions f(n) = \left \{ \begin{matrix} n/2, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is

even} \\ 3n+1, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is odd} \end{matrix} \right.

Multiline equations \begin{matrix}f(n+1) & = & (n+1)^2 \\ \ &

= & n^2 + 2n + 1 \end{matrix}

Fonts

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Greek letters \alpha \beta \gamma \Gamma \phi \Phi \Psi\ \tau \Omega
Blackboard bold x\in\mathbb{R}\sub\mathbb{C}
Boldface (vectors) \mathbf{x}\cdot\mathbf{y} = 0
Boldface (Greek) \boldsymbol{\alpha} + \boldsymbol{\beta} + \boldsymbol{\gamma}
Fraktur typeface \mathfrak{a} \mathfrak{B}
Script \mathcal{ABC}
Hebrew \aleph \beth \gimel \daleth
Non-italicized characters \mbox{abc}
Mixed italics (bad) \mbox{if} n \mbox{is even}
Mixed italics (good) \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is even}

Parenthesizing big expressions

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Not good ( \frac{1}{2} )
Better \left ( \frac{1}{2} \right )

You can use various delimiters with \left and \right:

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Parentheses \left ( A \right )
Brackets \left [ A \right ]
Braces \left \{ A \right \}
Angle brackets \left \langle A \right \rangle
Bars and double bars \left | A \right | and \left \| B \right \|

Delimiters can be mixed, as
long as \left and \right match

\left [ 0,1 \right )
\left \langle \psi \right |


Use \left. and \right. if you don't
want a delimiter to appear 		\left . \frac{A}{B} \right \} \to X

Spacing

Note that TeX handles most spacing automatically, but you may sometimes want manual control.

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
double quad space a \qquad b
quad space a \quad b
text space a\ b
large space a\;b
medium space a\>b [not supported]
small space a\,b
no space ab
negative space a\!b

External links