# Uniform distribution symbol

What is the symbol for uniform distribution in LaTeX? I'm assuming that it is this symbol? Or should I just use a simple U?

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If you want to copy the symbol Wikipedia uses, it's $\mathcal{U}$. – dgs Jun 9 '12 at 18:18
Would you consider that as the correct notation for a uniform distribution? – Marnix Jun 9 '12 at 18:19
I'd say that depends on your field. I haven't seen a dedicated symbol for the uniform distribution so far, but I'm not a professional Statistician. – dgs Jun 9 '12 at 18:21

## 1 Answer

There is no standard symbol for a uniform distribution. (The page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_distribution_%28continuous%29 mentions “U” in italic in text but an image of a calligraphic “U” in summary table; this is inconsistent and non-authoritative.)

So you can use whatever symbol you prefer, preferably following normal conventions for using symbols. Using “U” in italics is certainly acceptable.

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A number of first year statistics texts use the notation n($\mu$,$\sigma$), the n may be upper or lower case, or itialics; and it may be $\sigma$ or $\sigma^2$. No standard notation. – R. Schumacher Jun 9 '12 at 20:12
And the cumulative standard normal is often denoted with $\phi(z)$ with z being the upper limit of the integration of the standard normal probability density function. – R. Schumacher Jun 9 '12 at 20:19
thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I checked my own statistics book and they use a simple U as well. – Marnix Jun 9 '12 at 21:38
@R.Schumacher It appears that you're referring to the Normal distribution, not to the Uniform distribution which was in question. The former is depicted as a bell curve and as such is quite different from the latter, which yields a constant graph. – dgs Jun 10 '12 at 14:48