Nabla in LaTeX (\nabla)

Where it is used

Writes the nabla ∇, the vector differential operator for gradient, divergence, and curl.

\nabla f is the gradient, \nabla \cdot \mathbf{F} the divergence, \nabla \times \mathbf{F} the curl, and \nabla^2 or \Delta the Laplacian. In machine learning, \nabla_\theta L(\theta) denotes the gradient of a loss with respect to parameters, as in gradient descent \theta \leftarrow \theta - \eta \nabla_\theta L. Differential geometers use \nabla for a connection or covariant derivative, \nabla_X Y. It is an ordinary symbol, so no extra spacing is inserted. Some authors bold it with \boldsymbol{\nabla} to stress that it is a vector operator.

Also listed under: Advanced Operators, Calculus & Analysis, Physics, Machine Learning & AI

Minimal compilable example

Paste this into an empty .tex file and compile it with pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Nabla: $\nabla$

\[ \theta_{t+1} = \theta_t - \eta \nabla_\theta L(\theta_t) \]
\end{document}

Related symbols

• Plus Minus\pm
• Partial Derivative\partial
• Dot Product\cdot
• Empty Set\emptyset
• Intersection\cap
• Union\cup

Frequently asked questions

How do I write Nabla in LaTeX?

Type \nabla in math mode, for example $\theta_{t+1} = \theta_t - \eta \nabla_\theta L(\theta_t)$. It works in plain LaTeX without loading any package.

Which package do I need for \nabla?

None. \nabla is part of standard LaTeX, so it compiles with nothing in the preamble but the document class.

Can I use \nabla in text mode, or only in math mode?

Only in math mode. Outside $...$ LaTeX stops with "Missing $ inserted", so write $\nabla$ in running text. If you only need the glyph in text, paste the Unicode character ∇ instead (with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX and a font that has it).