LaTeX math markup

Note: this page is a subsection of the Wikipedia page Help:Displaying a formula.

Subscripts, superscripts, integrals

Feature	Syntax	How it looks rendered
		HTML	PNG
Superscript	a^2	$a^{2}$	$a^{2}\,\!$
Subscript	a_2	$a_{2}$	$a_{2}\,\!$
Grouping	a^{2+2}	$a^{2+2}$	$a^{2+2}\,\!$
	a_{i,j}	$a_{i,j}$	$a_{i,j}\,\!$
Combining sub & super	x_2^3	$x_{2}^{3}$
Preceding and/or Additional sub & super	\sideset{_1^2}{_3^4}\prod_a^b	$\sideset {_{1}^{2}}{_{3}^{4}}\prod _{a}^{b}$
	{}_1^2\!\Omega_3^4	${}_{1}^{2}\!\Omega _{3}^{4}$
Stacking	\overset{\alpha}{\omega}	${\overset {\alpha }{\omega }}$
	\underset{\alpha}{\omega}	${\underset {\alpha }{\omega }}$
	\overset{\alpha}{\underset{\gamma}{\omega}}	${\overset {\alpha }{\underset {\gamma }{\omega }}}$
	\stackrel{\alpha}{\omega}	${\stackrel {\alpha }{\omega }}$
Derivative (forced PNG)	x', y, f', f\!		$x',y'',f',f''\!$
Derivative (f in italics may overlap primes in HTML)	x', y, f', f	$x',y'',f',f''$	$x',y'',f',f''\!$
Derivative (wrong in HTML)	x^\prime, y^{\prime\prime}	$x^{\prime },y^{\prime \prime }$	$x^{\prime },y^{\prime \prime }\,\!$
Derivative (wrong in PNG)	x\prime, y\prime\prime	$x\prime ,y\prime \prime$	$x\prime ,y\prime \prime \,\!$
Derivative dots	\dot{x}, \ddot{x}	${\dot {x}},{\ddot {x}}$
Underlines, overlines, vectors	\hat a \ \bar b \ \vec c	${\hat {a}}\ {\bar {b}}\ {\vec {c}}$
	\overrightarrow{a b} \ \overleftarrow{c d} \ \widehat{d e f}	${\overrightarrow {ab}}\ {\overleftarrow {cd}}\ {\widehat {def}}$
	\overline{g h i} \ \underline{j k l}	${\overline {ghi}}\ {\underline {jkl}}$
Arrows	A \xleftarrow{n+\mu-1} B \xrightarrow[T]{n\pm i-1} C	$A{\xleftarrow {n+\mu -1}}B{\xrightarrow[{T}]{n\pm i-1}}C$
Overbraces	\overbrace{ 1+2+\cdots+100 }^{5050}	$\overbrace {1+2+\cdots +100} ^{5050}$
Underbraces	\underbrace{ a+b+\cdots+z }_{26}	$\underbrace {a+b+\cdots +z} _{26}$
Sum	\sum_{k=1}^N k^2	$\sum _{k=1}^{N}k^{2}$
Sum (force \textstyle)	\textstyle \sum_{k=1}^N k^2	$\textstyle \sum _{k=1}^{N}k^{2}$
Product	\prod_{i=1}^N x_i	$\prod _{i=1}^{N}x_{i}$
Product (force \textstyle)	\textstyle \prod_{i=1}^N x_i	$\textstyle \prod _{i=1}^{N}x_{i}$
Coproduct	\coprod_{i=1}^N x_i	$\coprod _{i=1}^{N}x_{i}$
Coproduct (force \textstyle)	\textstyle \coprod_{i=1}^N x_i	$\textstyle \coprod _{i=1}^{N}x_{i}$
Limit	\lim_{n \to \infty}x_n	$\lim _{n\to \infty }x_{n}$
Limit (force \textstyle)	\textstyle \lim_{n \to \infty}x_n	$\textstyle \lim _{n\to \infty }x_{n}$
Integral	\int\limits_{-N}^{N} e^x\, dx	$\int \limits _{-N}^{N}e^{x}\,dx$
Integral (force \textstyle)	\textstyle \int\limits_{-N}^{N} e^x\, dx	$\textstyle \int \limits _{-N}^{N}e^{x}\,dx$
Double integral	\iint\limits_{D} \, dx\,dy	$\iint \limits _{D}\,dx\,dy$
Triple integral	\iiint\limits_{E} \, dx\,dy\,dz	$\iiint \limits _{E}\,dx\,dy\,dz$
Quadruple integral	\iiiint\limits_{F} \, dx\,dy\,dz\,dt	$\iiiint \limits _{F}\,dx\,dy\,dz\,dt$
Path integral	\oint\limits_{C} x^3\, dx + 4y^2\, dy	$\oint \limits _{C}x^{3}\,dx+4y^{2}\,dy$
Intersections	\bigcap_1^{n} p	$\bigcap _{1}^{n}p$
Unions	\bigcup_1^{k} p	$\bigcup _{1}^{k}p$

Fractions, matrices, multilines

Feature	Syntax	How it looks rendered
Fractions	\frac{2}{4}=0.5	${\frac {2}{4}}=0.5$
Small Fractions	\tfrac{2}{4} = 0.5	${\tfrac {2}{4}}=0.5$
Large (normal) Fractions	\dfrac{2}{4} = 0.5	${\dfrac {2}{4}}=0.5$
Large (nested) Fractions	\cfrac{2}{c + \cfrac{2}{d + \cfrac{2}{4}}} = a	${\cfrac {2}{c+{\cfrac {2}{d+{\cfrac {2}{4}}}}}}=a$
Binomial coefficients	\binom{n}{k}	${\binom {n}{k}}$
Small Binomial coefficients	\tbinom{n}{k}	${\tbinom {n}{k}}$
Large (normal) Binomial coefficients	\dbinom{n}{k}	${\dbinom {n}{k}}$
Matrices	\begin{matrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{matrix}	${\begin{matrix}x&y\\z&v\end{matrix}}$
	\begin{vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{vmatrix}	${\begin{vmatrix}x&y\\z&v\end{vmatrix}}$
	\begin{Vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Vmatrix}	${\begin{Vmatrix}x&y\\z&v\end{Vmatrix}}$
	\begin{bmatrix} 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & \cdots & 0 \end{bmatrix}	${\begin{bmatrix}0&\cdots &0\\\vdots &\ddots &\vdots \\0&\cdots &0\end{bmatrix}}$
	\begin{Bmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Bmatrix}	${\begin{Bmatrix}x&y\\z&v\end{Bmatrix}}$
	\begin{pmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{pmatrix}	${\begin{pmatrix}x&y\\z&v\end{pmatrix}}$
	\bigl( \begin{smallmatrix} a&b\\ c&d \end{smallmatrix} \bigr)	${\bigl (}{\begin{smallmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{smallmatrix}}{\bigr )}$
Case distinctions	f(n) = \begin{cases} n/2, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is even} \\ 3n+1, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is odd} \end{cases}	$f(n)={\begin{cases}n/2,&{\mbox{if }}n{\mbox{ is even}}\\3n+1,&{\mbox{if }}n{\mbox{ is odd}}\end{cases}}$
Multiline equations	\begin{align} f(x) & = (a+b)^2 \\ & = a^2+2ab+b^2 \\ \end{align}	${\begin{aligned}f(x)&=(a+b)^{2}\\&=a^{2}+2ab+b^{2}\\\end{aligned}}$
	\begin{alignat}{2} f(x) & = (a-b)^2 \\ & = a^2-2ab+b^2 \\ \end{alignat}	${\begin{alignedat}{2}f(x)&=(a-b)^{2}\\&=a^{2}-2ab+b^{2}\\\end{alignedat}}$
Multiline equations (must define number of colums used ({lcr}) (should not be used unless needed)	\begin{array}{lcl} z & = & a \\ f(x,y,z) & = & x + y + z \end{array}	${\begin{array}{lcl}z&=&a\\f(x,y,z)&=&x+y+z\end{array}}$
Multiline equations (more)	\begin{array}{lcr} z & = & a \\ f(x,y,z) & = & x + y + z \end{array}	${\begin{array}{lcr}z&=&a\\f(x,y,z)&=&x+y+z\end{array}}$
Breaking up a long expression so that it wraps when necessary	<math>f(x) \,\!</math> <math>= \sum_{n=0}^\infty a_n x^n </math> <math>= a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2+\cdots</math>	$f(x)\,\!$$=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }a_{n}x^{n}$$=a_{0}+a_{1}x+a_{2}x^{2}+\cdots$
Simultaneous equations	\begin{cases} 3x + 5y + z \\ 7x - 2y + 4z \\ -6x + 3y + 2z \end{cases}	${\begin{cases}3x+5y+z\\7x-2y+4z\\-6x+3y+2z\end{cases}}$