List of letters used in mathematics and science
- This list is about the meanings of the letters used in mathematics and science. SI units are indicated in parentheses. For the Unicode block, see Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols.
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Some common conventions:
- Intensive quantities in physics are usually denoted with minuscules, while extensive are denoted with capital letters.
- Most symbols are written in italics.
- Vectors can be denoted in boldface.
- Sets of numbers are typically bold or "blackboard bold".
Contents
Latin
A — Ampere, area, a blood type, a spectral type, vector potential, Work, set of algebraic numbers
B — B meson, a blood type, boron, luminance, magnetic field, a spectral type
C — carbon, degrees Celsius, set of complex numbers, coulomb, molar heat capacity, the C programming language, specific heat capacity, Cunningham correction factor
D — deuterium, differential operator, electric displacement, D meson, density
E — electric field, energy, SI prefix exa–, expected value
F — degrees Fahrenheit, farad, fluorine, force, Helmholtz free energy, a spectral type
G — Einstein tensor, SI prefix giga–, Gibbs free energy, gravitational constant, Green's function, Momentum, a Spectral type
H — auxiliary magnetic field, enthalpy, Hamiltonian, Hankel function, Heaviside step function, Henry, Higgs boson, homology group, Hubble constant, hydrogen, set of quaternions, hat matrix
I — iodine, impulse, luminous intensity, moment of inertia, current
J — angular momentum, Bessel function of the first kind, current, joule
K — kaon, kelvin, potassium, sectional curvature, a spectral type
L — angular momentum, inductance (Henries), Lagrangian, litre, a spectral type
M — magnetization, mass, SI prefix mega–, a spectral type, torque
N — Avogadro's number, Bessel function of the second kind, set of natural numbers, newton, nitrogen, normal distribution, normal vector
O — big O notation, a blood type, oxygen, a spectral type
P — Legendre polynomial, luminous flux, phosphorus, polarization, power, pressure, probability, projection
Q — electric charge, quantity of heat, set of rational numbers, flow rate
R — curvature tensor, electrical resistance, radius, set of real numbers
S — area, entropy, siemens, sphere, spin operator, sulfur, symmetric group
T — a spectral type, temperature, tesla, tritium
U — potential energy, uranium, unitary operator
V — potential energy, vanadium, volt, voltage, volume
W — energy, Lambert's W function, tungsten, watt, W boson, Work, work function, Wiener process
X — random variable, abscissa
Y — Bessel function of the second kind, SI prefix yotta–, yttrium, ordinate, luminance
Z — atomic number, impedance, set of integers, partition function (statistical mechanics), partition function (quantum field theory), Z boson, SI prefix zetta–, altitude
a — SI prefix atto–, acceleration, reflectance
b — Bottom quark
c — SI prefix Charm quark, speed of light, speed of sound
d — SI prefix deci–, distance, Down quark, infinitesimal increment, differential operator, density
e — Napier's constant, electron, positron, electric charge
f — SI prefix femto–, frequency
g — gram, gravitational acceleration, gravitational field, distance metric of spacetime
h — height, hour, Planck's constant, spherical Hankel function
i — imaginary complex unit, imaginary quaternion unit, unit vector, current, row index
j — electric current and current density, radiant intensity, spherical Bessel function of the first kind, unit vector, column index, imaginary complex unit, imaginary quaternion unit
k — Boltzmann constant, imaginary quaternion unit, SI prefix kilo–, wave vector, unit vector
l — length, litre, mean free path
m — magnitude, mass, SI prefix milli–, metre, minute
n — SI prefix nano–, neutron, refractive index, spherical Bessel function of the second kind
o — small o notation
p — electric dipole moment, momentum, SI prefix pico-, proton, point of a space, sound pressure
q — electric charge, generalized coordinate
r — position (vector), radial polar coordinate, radius
s — second, Strange quark
u — Up quark
v — velocity (m/s)
w — velocity (m/s)
x — abscissa, real-valued argument, variable to be determined, vector,
y — ordinate, SI prefix yocto-, pixel row index
z — complex variable, altitude, SI prefix zepto-
Greek
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Β — Beta function
Γ — Angular momentum, Gamma function, Christoffel symbols
Δ — A macroscopic change in the value of a variable, Laplace operator, Delta particle
Λ — Iwasawa algebra, Lorentz transformation, Lambda Hyperon
Ξ — Cascade Hyperon
Π — Product
Σ — Sum, Surface, Sigma Hyperon
Φ — Alternative symbol for Quantum mechanical wavefunction
Ψ — Quantum mechanical wavefunction
Ω — Chaitin's constant, Ohm, Solid angle, Omega Hyperon
α — Alpha particle, Fine structure constant, Angular acceleration
β — Beta particle, Inverse temperature
γ — Euler–Mascheroni constant, Gamma-ray (Photon), Photon, Relativistic gamma factor
δ — Dirac delta function, Infinitesimal quantity, Kronecker delta
ε — Infinitesimal quantity, Permittivity
ζ — Damping Ratio, Riemann zeta function
η — Distance metric of flat spacetime, Efficiency, Dynamic viscosity, η-meson
θ — Angle, Angular polar coordinate, Temperature, Theta role
ι -
λ — Half-life, Lagrangian multiplicator, Lambda expression, Thermal conductivity, Wavelength
μ — Absorption coefficient, Chemical potential, Magnetic dipole moment, Mean, SI prefix micro–, Micron, Muon, Permeability, Reduced mass
ν — Frequency, Kinematic viscosity, Neutrino
ο —
π — Fundamental group, Conjugate momentum, Homotopy groups, Number π, Pion, Prime-counting function, Projection
ρ — Density, Electrical resistivity, Radial polar coordinate, ρ-meson
σ — Cross section, Electrical conductivity, Spin, Standard deviation, Stefan-Boltzmann constant
τ — Tau lepton, Torque, Shear stress, Time constant, the number τ
υ —
φ — Angular polar coordinate, Electric potential, Euler's totient function, Golden mean, Phase, Potential energy
ψ — Quantum mechanical wavefunction, J/ψ particle
ω — Frequency (rad/s), angular velocity (rad/sec)
More
Å — angstrom
Ш — Tate–Shafarevich group (Ш(G))
ℵ — Cardinality of infinite sets
ℶ — Cardinality of infinite sets
∇ — Del operator, Gradient, Divergence, Curl
