Bold vectors in LaTeX
filed in LaTeX, Math, Physics on Feb.12, 2007
Vectors can be typeset in LaTeX with the command \vec, which decorates the argument with a little arrow. This was cute at first, but it doesn’t look very good, especially in fractions. Textbooks use bold face for vectors, so here’s how to do that in LaTeX.
\let\oldhat\hat
\renewcommand{\vec}[1]{\mathbf{#1}}
\renewcommand{\hat}[1]{\oldhat{\mathbf{#1}}}
\renewcommand{\vec}[1]{\mathbf{#1}}
\renewcommand{\hat}[1]{\oldhat{\mathbf{#1}}}
This also makes unit vectors (typeset with \hat) bold.
August 8th, 2008 on 9:04 pm
Just saying thanks — I found this helpful.
September 18th, 2008 on 12:53 pm
Ditto! This is precisely what I was looking for. Thanks!
October 28th, 2008 on 8:32 pm
I was wondering how to get rid of the dots when doing \hat{i} or \hat{j}
The dots under the hat really annoy me
December 24th, 2008 on 2:59 pm
\hat{\imath} and \hat{jmath}
December 24th, 2008 on 3:00 pm
edited to correct:
\hat{\imath} and \hat{\jmath} reply to madhu
June 17th, 2010 on 5:28 am
How about Greek letters as vectors, i.e. they need to be upright (Roman), and bold. The one I really want is phi, this ought to do it but doesn’t:
\mathbf{\mathrm{\phi}}
I have been following a wild goose chase around the LaTeX documentation and still haven’t pinned it down – do any of you guys know?
Robert