## Binary and relational operators

Some "math" symbols are obtained by typing the corresponding keyboard character. Examples include

    + - = < >


Note: plus, minus, and equal sign may be used in either text or math mode, but < and > are math mode only (they produce inverted exclamation and question marks, respectively, in text mode).

The following commands may be used only in math mode.

• \pm - plus or minus sign
• \mp - minus or plus sign
• \times - times (an "x")
• \div - divided by sign
• \ast - an asterisk (centered)
• \star - a five-point star (centered)
• \bullet - a bullet
• \circ - an open bullet
• \leq - less than or equal to
• \ll - much less than
• \subset - is a subset of
• \geq - greater than or equal to
• \gg - much greater than
• \equiv - equivalence symbol
• \sim - similar to
• \simeq - similar or equal to
• \approx - approximately equal to
• \neq - not equal to
• \per - "perpendicular to" symbols
• \propto - proportional to

Note that "greater than" and "less than" are obtained simply by entering > and <.

A slash, indicating "not" can be placed through a symbol (or a letter) with the \not command. For example, not less than is

    \not<


and not less than or equal to is

    \not\leq


If the slash isn't properly positioned it can be moved by putting a math mode spacing command between the \not and the symbol.

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