LaTeX Brackets and Accolades: Sizing and Styling Guide

Brackets and Accolades in LaTeX

Master every type of delimiter in LaTeX—from simple parentheses to perfectly sized braces.

Types of Brackets

Parentheses (Round Brackets)

( ) — just type them directly in math mode

Square Brackets

[ ] — type directly

Curly Braces (Accolades)

Curly braces are special in LaTeX (they group content), so escape them:

\{ \} — escaped braces

Angle Brackets

\langle \rangle — proper angle brackets (not < >)

Vertical Bars

| | — single bars (absolute value) \| \| — double bars (norm)

Floor and Ceiling

\lfloor \rfloor — floor brackets \lceil \rceil — ceiling brackets

Auto-Sizing with \left and \right

The most powerful feature—brackets that grow with content:

$\left( \frac{a}{b} \right)$

Works with all bracket types:

$\left[ \frac{\sum_{i=1}^n x_i}{n} \right]$

$\left\{ x \in \mathbb{R} : x > 0 \right\}$

Important: \left and \right must be paired. For one-sided delimiters, use a period:

$\left. \frac{df}{dx} \right|_{x=0}$

Manual Sizing

When auto-sizing isn't right, use manual sizes:

\big( \Big( \bigg( \Bigg(

Each level increases size progressively:

- \big — slightly larger - \Big — medium large - \bigg — large - \Bigg — very large

Cases and Systems of Equations

Use the cases environment for piecewise functions:

$f(x) = \begin{cases} 0 & x < 0 \\ 1 & x \geq 0 \end{cases}$

This automatically adds the left brace.

Stretchy Braces Over/Under Expressions

$\overbrace{x + y + z}^{\text{sum}}$

$\underbrace{a + b + c}_{\text{terms}}$

Matrix Brackets

Different matrix environments provide different brackets:

- pmatrix — parentheses - bmatrix — square brackets - Bmatrix — curly braces - vmatrix — vertical bars (determinant) - Vmatrix — double bars

Common Patterns

Set Builder Notation

$\{ x \in \mathbb{R} \mid x > 0 \}$

Use \mid for proper spacing of the vertical bar.

Intervals

$[a, b] — closed interval $(a, b) — open interval $[a, b) — half-open

Inner Products

$\langle u, v \rangle$

Tips for Perfect Brackets

1. Always use \left\{ not \left{ for braces 2. Use \mid not | for "such that" in set notation 3. Consider manual sizing for nested fractions 4. Match your delimiters: every \left needs a \right

Perfect Delimiters with Octree

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