Basic math symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

5 = 2+3
= equals sign equality
5 is equal to 2+3

5≠4
≠ not equal sign inequality
5 is not equal to 4

sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01,
approximately x ≈ y means x is
≈ equal
approximation
approximately
equal to y

5>4
> strict inequality greater than
5 is greater than 4

4<5
< strict inequality less than
4 is less than 5

5 ≥ 4,
x ≥ y means x is
≥ inequality greater than or equal to
greater than or
equal to y

4 ≤ 5,
x ≤ y means x is
≤ inequality less than or equal to
less than or equal
to y
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

calculate expression
() parentheses
inside first
2 × (3+5) = 16

calculate expression
[] brackets
inside first
[(1+2)×(1+5)] = 18

+ plus sign addition 1+1=2

− minus sign subtraction 2−1=1

both plus and minus

± plus - minus
operations
3 ± 5 = 8 and -2

both minus and plus

± minus - plus
operations
3 ∓ 5 = -2 and 8

* asterisk multiplication 2*3=6

× times sign multiplication 2×3=6

multiplication
⋅ dot
multiplication 2⋅3=6

division sign /
÷ obelus
division 6÷2=3

/ division slash division 6/2=3

— horizontal line division / fraction

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

Mod modulo remainder calculation 7 mod 2 = 1

decimal point, decimal
. period
separator
2.56 = 2+56/100

ab power exponent 23 = 8

a^b caret exponent 2 ^ 3= 8

√a square root √a ⋅ √a = a √9 = ±3

√a
3 cube root 3
√a ⋅ 3√a ⋅ 3√a = a √8 = 2
3

4
√a ⋅ 4√a ⋅ √a ⋅ √a =
4 4

√a
4 fourth root
a
√16 = ±2
4

n-th root
n
√a (radical)
for n=3, n√8 = 2

% percent 1% = 1/100 10% × 30 = 3

‰ per-mille 1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1% 10‰ × 30 = 0.3

10ppm × 30 =
ppm per-million 1ppm = 1/1000000
0.0003
10ppb × 30 =
Ppb per-billion 1ppb = 1/1000000000
3×10-7
ppt per-trillion 1ppt = 10-12 10ppt × 30 = 3×10-
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
10

Geometry symbols
Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l

∠ABC =
∠ angle formed by two rays
30°
measured
ABC = 30°
angle

spherical
angle
AOB = 30°

∟ right angle = 90° α = 90°

° degree 1 turn = 360° α = 60°

deg degree 1 turn = 360deg α = 60deg

′ prime arcminute, 1° = 60′ α = 60°59′

α=
″ double prime arcsecond, 1′ = 60″
60°59′59″

line infinite line

AB line segment line from point A to point B

Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l

ray line that start from point A

arc arc from point A to point B = 60°

⊥ perpendicular perpendicular lines (90° angle) AC ⊥ BC

|| parallel parallel lines AB | | CD

equivalence of geometric ∆ABC≅

≅ congruent to
shapes and size ∆XYZ

∆ABC~
~ similarity same shapes, not same size
∆XYZ

ΔABC≅
Δ triangle triangle shape
ΔBCD

|x-y| distance distance between points x and y | x-y | = 5

π = 3.141592654...
c = π⋅d =
π pi constant is the ratio between the circumference
2⋅π⋅r
and diameter of a circle

360° = 2π
rad radians radians angle unit
rad
c
radians radians angle unit 360° = 2π c
Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l

gradians / 360° = 400

grad grads angle unit
gons grad
gradians /
g
gons
grads angle unit 360° = 400 g

Algebra symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

unknown value to when 2x = 4, then x =

X x variable
find 2

≡ equivalence identical to

equal by
≜ definition
equal by definition

equal by
:= definition
equal by definition

approximately
~ equal
weak approximation 11 ~ 10

approximately
≈ equal
approximation sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01

y ∝ x when y = kx,
∝ proportional to proportional to
k constant
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

∞ lemniscate infinity symbol

≪ much less than much less than 1 ≪ 1000000

much greater
≫ than
much greater than 1000000 ≫ 1

calculate expression
() parentheses
inside first
2 * (3+5) = 16

calculate expression
[] brackets
inside first
[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18

{} braces set

rounds number to
⌊x⌋ floor brackets
lower integer
⌊4.3⌋ = 4

rounds number to
⌈x⌉ ceiling brackets
upper integer
⌈4.3⌉ = 5

exclamation
x! mark
factorial 4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24

single vertical
|x| bar
absolute value | -5 | = 5

maps values of x to
f (x) function of x
f(x)
f (x) = 3x+5

function f (x)=3x,g(x)=x-1
(f ∘ g) composition (f ∘ g) (x) = f (g(x))
⇒(f ∘ g)(x)=3(x-1)

(a,b) open interval (a,b) = x∈ (2,6)

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

{x | a < x < b}
[a,b] =
[a,b] closed interval
{x | a ≤ x ≤ b}
x ∈ [2,6]

∆ delta change / difference ∆t = t1 - t0

∆ discriminant Δ = b2 - 4ac
summation - sum of
∑ sigma all values in range of ∑ xi= x1+x2+...+xn
series

∑∑ sigma double summation

product - product of
∏ capital pi all values in range of ∏ xi=x1∙x2∙...∙xn
series

e constant / e = lim
E Euler's number
e = 2.718281828...
(1+1/x)x , x→∞
Euler-
Γ Mascheroni γ = 0.527721566...
constant

Φ golden ratio golden ratio constant

π = 3.141592654...
is the ratio between the
π pi constant
circumference and
c = π⋅d = 2⋅π⋅r
diameter of a circle
Linear Algebra Symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

· dot scalar product a·b

× cross vector product a×b
tensor product of A and
A⊗B tensor product
B A⊗B
inner product

[] brackets matrix of numbers

() parentheses matrix of numbers

|A| determinant determinant of matrix A

det(A) determinant determinant of matrix A

double vertical
|| x || bars
norm

(AT)ij =
AT transpose matrix transpose
(A)ji
matrix conjugate (A†)ij =
A † Hermitian matrix
transpose
(A)ji
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

matrix conjugate (A*)ij =

A* Hermitian matrix
transpose
(A)ji
A -1 inverse matrix A A-1 = I

rank(A) matrix rank rank of matrix A rank(A) = 3

dim(U) dimension dimension of matrix A rank(U) = 3

Probability and statistics symbols

Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

probability probability of
P(A) function event A
P(A) = 0.5

probability of
probability that of
P(A ∩ B) events
events A and B
P(A∩B) = 0.5
intersection

probability of probability that of

P(A ∪ B) events union events A or B
P(A∪B) = 0.5

P(A | B) conditional
probability
probability of
event A given
P(A | B) = 0.3
 Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

function event B occured

probability
P(a ≤ x ≤ b) = ∫
f (x) density
f (x) dx
function (pdf)

cumulative
F(x) distribution F(x) = P(X≤ x)
function (cdf)

population mean of
μ mean population values
μ = 10

expectation expected value of

E(X) value random variable X
E(X) = 10

expected value of
conditional
E(X | Y) expectation
random variable X E(X | Y=2) = 5
given Y

variance of
var(X) variance
random variable X
var(X) = 4

variance of
σ2 variance
population values
σ2 = 4

standard deviation
standard
std(X) deviation
of random variable std(X) = 2
X

σX standard
deviation
standard deviation σX = 2
value of random
 Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

variable X

middle value of
median
random variable x

covariance of
cov(X,Y) covariance random variables cov(X,Y) = 4
X and Y

corr(X,Y correlation
correlation of
random variables corr(X,Y) = 0.6
) X and Y

correlation of
ρX,Y correlation random variables ρX,Y = 0.6
X and Y

summation - sum
∑ summation of all values in
range of series

double
∑∑ summation
double summation

value that occurs

Mo mode most frequently in
population

MR =
MR mid-range
(xmax+xmin)/2
 Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

sample half the population

Md median is below this value

25% of population
lower / first
Q1 quartile
are below this
value

50% of population
median /
are below this
Q2 second
value = median of
quartile
samples

75% of population
upper / third
Q3 quartile
are below this
value

average / x = (2+5+9) / 3 =
x sample mean
arithmetic mean 5.333
population
sample
s 2
variance
samples variance s2 = 4
estimator

population
sample
samples standard
s standard
deviation
s=2
deviation
estimator

standard
zx score
zx = (x-x) / sx
 Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

distribution of distribution of
X~ X random variable X
X ~ N(0,3)

normal gaussian
N(μ,σ2) distribution distribution
X ~ N(0,3)

uniform equal probability

U(a,b) distribution in range a,b
X ~ U(0,3)

exponential
exp(λ) distribution
f (x) = λe-λx , x≥0

gamma f (x) = λ c xc-1e-

gamma(c, λ) distribution λx
/ Γ(c), x≥0

chi-square f (x) = xk/2-1e-x/2 / (

χ (k)
2
distribution 2k/2 Γ(k/2) )

F (k1, k2) F distribution

binomial f (k) = nCk pk(1-

Bin(n,p) distribution p)n-k
Poisson
Poisson(λ) distribution f (k) = λke-λ / k!
 Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition

geometric
Geom(p) distribution
f (k) = p(1-p) k

hyper-
HG(N,K,n) geometric
distribution

Bernoulli
Bern(p) distribution

Combinatorics Symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Examp

n! factorial n! = 1⋅2⋅3⋅...⋅n 5! = 1⋅2⋅3⋅4⋅5 = 1

n Pk permutation 5P3 = 5! / (5-3)! =

nCk combination 5C3 = 5!/[3!(5-3)

 Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Examp

Set theory symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

A=
{} set a collection of elements {3,7,9,14},
B = {9,14,28}

objects that belong to A∩B=

A ∩ B intersection set A and set B {9,14}

objects that belong to A∪B=

A ∪ B union set A or set B {3,7,9,14,28}

A is a subset of B. set A {9,14,28} ⊆

A ⊆ B subset is included in set B. {9,14,28}

proper subset / A is a subset of B, but A {9,14} ⊂

A ⊂ B strict subset is not equal to B. {9,14,28}

set A is not a subset of {9,66} ⊄

A ⊄ B not subset set B {9,14,28}

A is a superset of B. set {9,14,28} ⊇

A ⊇ B superset A includes set B {9,14,28}
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

proper superset / A is a superset of B, but {9,14,28} ⊃

A ⊃ B strict superset B is not equal to A. {9,14}

set A is not a superset {9,14,28} ⊅

A ⊅ B not superset of set B {9,66}

2A power set all subsets of A

power set all subsets of A

A={3,9,14},
both sets have the
A = B equality same members
B={3,9,14},
A=B
all the objects that do
Ac complement
not belong to set A

A = {3,9,14},
relative objects that belong to A
A\B complement and not to B
B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}

A = {3,9,14},
relative objects that belong to A
A-B complement and not to B
B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}

A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A
symmetric B = {1,2,3},
A ∆ B difference or B but not to their
intersection A∆B=
{1,2,9,14}
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A
A ⊖ symmetric B = {1,2,3},
or B but not to their
B difference A⊖B=
intersection
{1,2,9,14}
A={3,9,14}, 3 ∈
a∈A element of set membership
A

A={3,9,14}, 1
x∉A not element of no set membership
∉A

(a,b) ordered pair collection of 2 elements

set of all ordered pairs

A×B cartesian product
from A and B

the number of elements A={3,9,14}, |

|A| cardinality
of set A A|=3

the number of elements A={3,9,14},

#A cardinality
of set A #A=3
infinite cardinality of
aleph-null
natural numbers set

cardinality of countable
aleph-one
ordinal numbers set

Ø empty set Ø={} C = {Ø}

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

set of all possible

universal set
values

natural numbers /
0 whole numbers set 0 = {0,1,2,3,4,...} 0∈ 0
(with zero)

natural numbers /
1 whole numbers set 1 = {1,2,3,4,5,...} 6∈ 1
(without zero)

= {...-3,-2,-
integer numbers set -6 ∈
1,0,1,2,3,...}

rational numbers = {x | x=a/b, a,b∈

set
2/6 ∈
}

real numbers set = {x | -∞ < x <∞} 6.343434∈

complex numbers = {z | z=a+bi, -

6+2i ∈
set ∞<a<∞, -∞<b<∞}

Logic symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

⋅ and and x⋅y

^ caret / circumflex and x^y

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

& ampersand and x&y

+ plus or x+y

∨ reversed caret or x∨y

| vertical line or x|y

x' single quote not - negation x'

x bar not - negation x

¬ not not - negation ¬x

! exclamation mark not - negation !x

⊕ circled plus / oplus exclusive or - xor x⊕y

~ tilde negation ~x

⇒ implies

⇔ equivalent if and only if (iff)

↔ equivalent if and only if (iff)

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

∀ for all

∃ there exists

∄ there does not exists

∴ therefore

∵ because / since

Calculus & analysis symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

limit limit value of a function

represents a very small

ε epsilon
number, near zero
ε→0

e constant / e = lim
e Euler's number
e = 2.718281828...
(1+1/x)x , x→∞
derivative - Lagrange's
y' derivative
notation
(3x3)' = 9x2

second
y '' derivative
derivative of derivative (3x3)'' = 18x

y(n) nth derivative n times derivation (3x3)(3) = 18

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

derivative - Leibniz's
derivative
notation
d(3x3)/dx = 9x2

second
derivative
derivative of derivative d2(3x3)/dx2 = 18x

nth derivative n times derivation

derivative by time -
time derivative
Newton's notation

time second
derivative of derivative
derivative

derivative - Euler's
Dx y derivative
notation

second
Dx2y derivative
derivative of derivative

partial
derivative
∂(x2+y2)/∂x = 2x

∫ integral opposite to derivation ∫ f(x)dx

integration of function of
∫∫ double integral
2 variables
∫∫ f(x,y)dxdy

integration of function of
∫∫∫ triple integral
3 variables
∫∫∫ f(x,y,z)dxdydz
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

closed contour /
∮ line integral

closed surface
∯ integral

closed volume
∰ integral

[a,b] closed interval [a,b] = {x | a ≤ x ≤ b}

(a,b) open interval (a,b) = {x | a < x < b}

i imaginary unit i ≡ √-1 z = 3 + 2i

complex
z* conjugate
z = a+bi → z*=a-bi z* = 3 - 2i

complex
z conjugate
z = a+bi → z = a-bi z = 3 - 2i

gradient / divergence
∇ nabla / del
operator
∇f (x,y,z)

vector

unit vector
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

x*y convolution y(t) = x(t) * h(t)

Laplace
transform
F(s) = {f (t)}

Fourier
transform
X(ω) = {f (t)}

δ delta function

∞ lemniscate infinity symbol