LaTeX Glossary

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My.SUPA has been setup to allow maths to be written quickly using LaTeX notation. This can be included anywhere you see a text box in your course area -- including news or social forums, web pages and wikis. The format for entering LaTeX in My.SUPA is to wrap the code between two pairs of dollar signs. $$ a=b+c $$


If you are looking at this for the first time, please read the entries under 01 Getting Started for an overview. The list of entries may be viewed by categories or alphabetically.

01 Getting Started | 02 Arithmetic expressions | 03 Font Styles | 04 Delimiters
05 Spaces | 06 Symbols | 07 Relations | 09 Structures | 10 Feynman Diagrams
11 Other LaTeX Software
04 Delimiters (parentheses, braces,...)

angle bracket

  • Syntax: \left<...\right>
  • Ex.: $$\left<f,g\right>$$ gives

\left

braces

  • Syntax: \left{...\right}
  • Ex.: $$M=\left{a, b, c\right}$$ gives

M=\left{a, b, c\right}

delimiters (overview)

Delimiters (parentheses, braces, brackets. ...)
CommandExampleResult

\left(... \right)

$$2\left(a+b\right)$$2~\left(a+b\right)
\left[... \right]$$\left[a^2+b^2~\right]$$\left[a^2+b^2~\right]
\left{... \right}$$\left{x^2, x^3, x^4,... \right}$$\left{x^2, x^3, x^4,... \right}
\left\langle... \right\rangle$$\left\langle a,b~\right\rangle$$\left\langle a,b~\right\rangle
\left| ... \right| $$\det\left|\array{a&b\\c&d}\right| $$\det\left|\array{a&b\\c&d}\right|
\left\| ... \right\| $$\left\|f~\right\|$$\left\|f~\right\|

\left{ ... \right.

(note the dot!)

$$f(x)=\left{{x^2, \rm~if x>-1\atop~0, \rm~else}\right.$$

(\rm switches to roman style)

f(x)=\left{{x^2, \rm~if x>-1\atop~0, \rm~else}\right.

\left.{ ... \right\}

(note the dot!)

$$\left.{{\rm~term1\atop\rm~term2}\right}=y$$\left.{{\rm~term1\atop \rm~term2}\right}=y

Note: The delimiters are automatically sizes.

double vertical line (norm symbol)

  • Syntax: \left\|...\right\|
  • Exp.: $$\left\|af\right\| = \left|a\right|\left\|f\right\|$$ gives

\left\|af\right\| = \left|a\right|\left\|f\right\|

left only brace

  • Syntax: \left{...\right.  (note the dot at the end!)
  • Ex.: $$f(x)=\left{{x^2, \rm~if x>-1\atop~0, \rm~else}\right.$$ gives

f(x)=\left{{x^2, \rm~if x>-1\atop~0, \rm~else}\right.

(\rm~something switches to roman style)

parentheses

  • Syntax: \left(...\right) or ...
  • Ex.: $$2a\left(b+c\right)$$ gives

2a\left(b+c\right)

right only brace

  • Syntax: \left.{...\right}  (note the dot!)
  • Ex.: $$\left.{{\rm~term1\atop\rm~term2}\right}=y$$ gives

\left.{{\rm~term1\atop\rm~term2}\right}=y

(\rm~something switches to roman style)

square bracket

  • Synatx: \left[...\right]
  • Ex.: $$\left[a,b\right]$$ gives \left[a,b\right]

vertical line (absolute value, determinant, ...etc. symbol)

  • Syntax: \left|...\right|
  • Ex.: $$\left|b-a\right|$$ gives \left|b-a\right|
  • Ex.: $${\rm~det}\left|\begin{array}{cc}a&b\\c&d \end{array}\right|$$ gives  

{\rm~det}\left|\begin{array}{cc}a&b\\c&d \end{array}\right| 

 
("\rm~something" renders "something" in roman style)