Greek letters in LaTeX
Updated:
Greek letters are typed as their name after a backslash: \alpha, \beta, \gamma. For the capital letter, capitalize the name, e.g. \Delta. Some capitals look exactly like Latin letters (A, B, E), so they have no commands of their own.
Most common lowercase letters
\alpha \beta \gamma \delta \varepsilon \lambda \mu \pi \rho \sigma \tau \varphi \omegaThese cover most physics and math. \varepsilon, \varphi and \vartheta are alternative shapes of the same letters; physics texts usually write permittivity as \varepsilon.
Copying this from handwritten notes? Snap a photo of the page and CamteX turns the formulas into LaTeX. Try it free
Capital letters
\Gamma \Delta \Theta \Lambda \Pi \Sigma \Phi \Psi \OmegaOnly capitals that differ from Latin letters have commands. They are upright by default; amsmath adds italic versions such as \varGamma and \varDelta.
Example
\Delta E = h \nu = \frac{hc}{\lambda}Greek letters behave like any other variable: they take subscripts and superscripts and sit inside fractions. Here \nu is the frequency and \lambda the wavelength of a photon.
Bold Greek letters
\boldsymbol{\sigma} = \boldsymbol{\varepsilon} E\mathbf has no effect on Greek letters. For a bold vector or tensor use \boldsymbol from amsmath, or \bm from the bm package.
Letters that look alike
\nu \; v \qquad \omega \; w \qquad \rho \; pIn italics nu looks like v, omega like w and rho like p. If a reader could mix them up, name the symbol in the text the first time it appears.
Common mistakes
- \Alpha and \Beta do not exist, because they look like the Latin A and B. Just write A.
- Mixing \epsilon and \varepsilon in one document: they are two different letter shapes.
- \mathbf{\alpha}: the letter does not turn bold. Use \boldsymbol{\alpha}.
See also
Don't want to memorize commands?
Draw a formula or paste a screenshot, and CamteX turns it into ready LaTeX.