LaTeX Cheat Sheet

Document structure

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
Hello, world!
\end{document}

The smallest complete document. The preamble (before \begin{document}) loads packages.

```
\title{My paper}
\author{Ada Lovelace}
\maketitle
```
Title block; \maketitle goes after \begin{document}
```
\section{Introduction}
```
Numbered section (also \subsection, \subsubsection)
```
\section*{Acknowledgements}
```
Starred: no number, not in the contents
```
\tableofcontents
```
Table of contents (compile twice)
```
% a comment
```
Everything after % on a line is ignored
```
\newpage
```
Start a new page

Text formatting

```
\textbf{bold}
```
bold
```
\textit{italic}
```
italic
```
\emph{emphasis}
```
emphasis
Italic, or upright inside italics
```
\underline{underlined}
```
underlined
```
\texttt{monospace}
```
monospace
```
\textsc{Small Caps}
```
Small Caps
```
``quoted''
```
“quoted”
Two backticks, two apostrophes
```
pages 10--12
```
pages 10–12
En dash for ranges
```
wait---what?
```
wait—what?
Em dash
```
\% \& \$ \# \_ \{ \}
```
% & $ # _ { }
Characters that need a backslash
```
Dr.~Smith
```
Dr. Smith
~ is a space that never breaks a line
```
\footnote{A note.}
```
Numbered footnote at the bottom of the page
```
\href{https://samskrift.com}{a link}
```
Clickable link (hyperref package)

Lists

\begin{itemize}
  \item First
  \item Second
\end{itemize}

Bullet points

\begin{enumerate}
  \item First
  \item Second
\end{enumerate}

Numbered list

\begin{description}
  \item[Term] Its meaning
\end{description}

Terms and definitions

Math mode

```
$E = mc^2$
```
\displaystyle E = mc^2
Inline math, inside a sentence
```
\[ a^2 + b^2 = c^2 \]
```
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Displayed on its own line

\begin{equation}
  e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0
  \label{eq:euler}
\end{equation}

e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0 \tag{1}

Numbered; refer to it with \eqref{eq:euler}

```
x^{2}  x_{i}  x_{i}^{2}
```
\displaystyle x^{2} \quad x_{i} \quad x_{i}^{2}
Superscripts and subscripts; braces for more than one character
```
\frac{a}{b}
```
\displaystyle \frac{a}{b}
Fraction
```
\sqrt{x}  \sqrt[3]{x}
```
\displaystyle \sqrt{x} \quad \sqrt[3]{x}
Roots
```
\pm \times \cdot \div
```
\displaystyle \pm \quad \times \quad \cdot \quad \div
Operators
```
\leq \geq \neq \approx \equiv
```
\displaystyle \leq \quad \geq \quad \neq \quad \approx \quad \equiv
Relations
```
\infty \partial \nabla \forall \exists
```
\displaystyle \infty \quad \partial \quad \nabla \quad \forall \quad \exists
Infinity, partial, nabla, for all, exists
```
\to \Rightarrow \iff \mapsto
```
\displaystyle \to \quad \Rightarrow \quad \iff \quad \mapsto
Arrows
```
\text{if } x > 0
```
\displaystyle \text{if } x > 0
Upright words inside math
```
a\,b \; c \quad d \qquad e
```
\displaystyle a\,b \; c \quad d \qquad e
Spaces: thin, medium, quad, double quad

Try formulas in the equation editor

Greek letters

```
\alpha \beta \gamma \delta \epsilon
```
\displaystyle \alpha \quad \beta \quad \gamma \quad \delta \quad \epsilon
```
\zeta \eta \theta \lambda \mu
```
\displaystyle \zeta \quad \eta \quad \theta \quad \lambda \quad \mu
```
\pi \rho \sigma \tau \phi
```
\displaystyle \pi \quad \rho \quad \sigma \quad \tau \quad \phi
```
\chi \psi \omega \varepsilon \varphi
```
\displaystyle \chi \quad \psi \quad \omega \quad \varepsilon \quad \varphi
var- forms are the alternative shapes
```
\Gamma \Delta \Theta \Sigma \Omega
```
\displaystyle \Gamma \quad \Delta \quad \Theta \quad \Sigma \quad \Omega
Capitals: capitalise the command

Find any symbol by name or by drawing it

Sums, integrals and limits

```
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i
```
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i
Sum (bounds go above and below when displayed)
```
\prod_{k=1}^{n} k
```
\prod_{k=1}^{n} k
Product
```
\int_{0}^{1} x^2 \, dx
```
\int_{0}^{1} x^2 \, dx
Integral; \, adds the thin space before dx
```
\iint_{D} f \, dA  \oint_{C} F \cdot dr
```
\iint_{D} f \, dA \qquad \oint_{C} F \cdot dr
Double and contour integrals
```
\lim_{x \to 0} \frac{\sin x}{x}
```
\lim_{x \to 0} \frac{\sin x}{x}
Limit
```
\frac{d}{dx}  \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}
```
\displaystyle \frac{d}{dx} \quad \frac{\partial f}{\partial x}
Derivatives

Brackets

```
\left( \frac{a}{b} \right)
```
\displaystyle \left( \frac{a}{b} \right)
\left and \right grow to fit
```
\{ x \mid x > 0 \}
```
\displaystyle \{ x \mid x > 0 \}
Braces need a backslash
```
\langle x, y \rangle
```
\displaystyle \langle x, y \rangle
Angle brackets
```
|x|  \lVert v \rVert
```
\displaystyle |x| \quad \lVert v \rVert
Absolute value, norm
```
\lfloor x \rfloor  \lceil x \rceil
```
\displaystyle \lfloor x \rfloor \quad \lceil x \rceil
Floor, ceiling

Matrices and cases

```
\begin{pmatrix}
  a & b \\
  c & d
\end{pmatrix}
```
\begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix}
Parentheses (bmatrix: brackets, vmatrix: determinant)
```
|x| = \begin{cases}
  x  & x \geq 0 \\
  -x & x < 0
\end{cases}
```
|x| = \begin{cases} x & x \geq 0 \\ -x & x < 0 \end{cases}
Piecewise definition

Aligned equations

```
\begin{align}
  f(x) &= (x + 1)^2 \\
       &= x^2 + 2x + 1
\end{align}
```
\begin{aligned} f(x) &= (x + 1)^2 && (1) \\ &= x^2 + 2x + 1 && (2) \end{aligned}
& marks where lines line up; \\ ends a line; align* has no numbers

Fonts and accents in math

```
\mathbb{R} \mathbb{N} \mathbb{Z}
```
\displaystyle \mathbb{R} \quad \mathbb{N} \quad \mathbb{Z}
Blackboard bold (amssymb)
```
\mathbf{v} \mathcal{L} \mathrm{d}x
```
\displaystyle \mathbf{v} \quad \mathcal{L} \quad \mathrm{d}x
Bold, calligraphic, upright
```
\vec{v} \hat{x} \bar{x} \dot{x} \tilde{x}
```
\displaystyle \vec{v} \quad \hat{x} \quad \bar{x} \quad \dot{x} \quad \tilde{x}
Accents
```
\overline{AB}  \underbrace{a + b}_{n}
```
\displaystyle \overline{AB} \quad \underbrace{a + b}_{n}

Tables

\begin{tabular}{lcr}
  \toprule
  Left & Centre & Right \\
  \midrule
  a & b & c \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabular}

Columns l, c, r; & between cells; rules from booktabs

\begin{table}[htbp]
  \centering
  % tabular here
  \caption{Results}
  \label{tab:results}
\end{table}

Floating table with a caption; refer to it with \ref{tab:results}

Build tables visually in the table generator

Figures

\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{plot.png}
  \caption{A plot}
  \label{fig:plot}
\end{figure}

Needs \usepackage{graphicx}; upload plot.png next to your .tex file

References and citations

```
\label{sec:intro}  \ref{sec:intro}
```
Label something, then refer to its number
```
\eqref{eq:euler}  \pageref{fig:plot}
```
Equation number in parentheses; page number
```
\cite{knuth1984}
```
Cite an entry from your .bib file

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{refs}

BibTeX: list cited works from refs.bib

@book{knuth1984,
  author    = {Donald E. Knuth},
  title     = {The TeXbook},
  publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
  year      = {1984}
}

An entry in refs.bib