Greek Letters
How to type uppercase and lowercase Greek letters in LaTeX mathematical equations.
Typing Greek letters in LaTeX is incredibly simple. All Greek letters are rendered inside math mode by typing a backslash followed by the phonetic name of the letter.
Remember that Greek letters are considered mathematical symbols in LaTeX. If you try to type \alpha in normal text without dollar signs, the compiler will crash with a "Missing \alpha$`.
Lowercase Letters
To render a lowercase Greek letter, simply type the command in entirely lowercase.
The angle $\theta$ is calculated using $\alpha$ and $\beta$.| Name | Command |
|------|---------|
| Alpha | \alpha |
| Beta | \beta |
| Gamma | \gamma |
| Delta | \delta |
| Epsilon | \epsilon |
| Zeta | \zeta |
| Eta | \eta |
| Theta | \theta |
| Kappa | \kappa |
| Lambda | \lambda |
| Mu | \mu |
| Nu | \nu |
| Pi | \pi |
| Rho | \rho |
| Sigma | \sigma |
| Tau | \tau |
| Phi | \phi |
| Chi | \chi |
| Psi | \psi |
| Omega | \omega |
Uppercase Letters
To render an uppercase Greek letter, simply capitalize the first letter of the command.
Note: LaTeX does not have specific commands for uppercase letters that look identical to the standard English alphabet (e.g., uppercase Alpha is just a normal A, uppercase Beta is just a normal B).
The sum is denoted by $\Sigma$, and the product by $\Pi$.| Name | Command |
|------|---------|
| Gamma | \Gamma |
| Delta | \Delta |
| Theta | \Theta |
| Lambda | \Lambda |
| Xi | \Xi |
| Pi | \Pi |
| Sigma | \Sigma |
| Upsilon | \Upsilon |
| Phi | \Phi |
| Psi | \Psi |
| Omega | \Omega |
Variations
Some Greek letters have alternative "variant" forms commonly used in physics or specific math sub-disciplines. You access these by prepending var to the command name.
| Name | Standard | Variant Command |
|------|----------|-----------------|
| Epsilon | \epsilon | \varepsilon |
| Theta | \theta | \vartheta |
| Pi | \pi | \varpi |
| Rho | \rho | \varrho |
| Sigma | \sigma | \varsigma |
| Phi | \phi | \varphi |