How to denote Big O notation in LaTeX like O(n log n)?

Big O is the strander mathematical notation. And this notation is denoted by capital O which is tilted at a slight angle on the right side.

Big O notation.

In most cases, you will notice the use of O symbols instead of Inline big o notation. in various books or documents.

Symbol Big O notation
Type asymptotic
Package mismath, physics
Commands O(arg), \mathcal{O}(arg)
Example O(log n)O(log n)
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
   \[ O(n^2) \]
   \[ O(n^c) \]
   \[ O(g(x)) \]
   \[ O(\max(g_1,g_2)) \]
\end{document}

Output :

Big O notation.

You have always noticed that backslash is used before the command name. But, in this case, there is no need.

\mathcal{o} will return big o. However, the top-left side of the capital o will remain open in terms of shape.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
   \[ \mathcal{O}(\log n) \]
   \[ \mathcal{O}(\log n^c) \]
   \[ \mathcal{O}(n\log n) \]
   \[ \mathcal{O}(n!) \]
\end{document}

Output :

Use \mathcal{O}(arg) command for big o.

Above two methods do not require any package. However, below we will learn two more ways to represent this symbol with the help of mismath and physics package.

\bigo and \big0 commands in mismath package

Use of mismath package is unknown to many. But, even then, \bigo and \bigO commands can denote this asymptotic notation.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mismath}
\begin{document}
   \[ \bigo(m^n) \]
   \[ \bigo(1) \]
   \[ \bigO(n^3) \]
   \[ \bigO(2^n) \]
\end{document}

Output :

\bigo and \big0 commands in mismath package.

Little o is used as an asymptotic notation like big o. For example

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mismath}
\begin{document}
   \[ f(n)=\lito(g(n)) \]
   \[ f\in \lito(g) \]
   \[ \lito \le f(n) <c*g(n) \]
\end{document}

Output :

Little o is used as an asymptotic notation.

Physics package for \order{arg} command

The advantage of \order command is that the size of symbol will increase and decrease according to the size of the argument.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{physics}
\begin{document}
   \[ \order{<n} \]
   \[ \order{c^n} \]
   \[ \order{n\log n} \]
   \[ \order{\order{h(n)}} \]
   \[ \order{\frac{n}{k}} \]
\end{document}

Output :

\order command for big o notation.

If you want to manually increase the size of the parenthesis, you can use the \big on the right side of the \order command.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{physics}
\begin{document}
   \[ \order\big{\log_b n} \]
   \[ \order\big{\log_c n} \]
   \[ \order\big{f(x)} \]
   \[ \order\Big{\frac{n}{q}} , \order\bigg{\frac{n_i}{q_k}} , \order\Bigg{\frac{n_{ij}}{q_{kj}}} \]
\end{document}

Output :

\order and \big commands for big o notation.

One thing to keep in mind is that the size of the symbol is fixed by using the * sign with each command in the physics package.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{physics}
\begin{document}
   \[ \order*{n^{\frac{5}{2}}} \]
   \[ \order*{\frac{n}{k}} \]
   \[ \order*{f(x)} \]
\end{document}

Output :

Size of big O symbol is fixed by using the * sign with each command in the physics package.

Md Jidan Mondal

LaTeX expert with over 10 years of experience in document preparation and typesetting. Specializes in creating professional documents, reports, and presentations using LaTeX.

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