What is this symbol (E)?

Question

It was in an economics paper and I've been searching for it for 20 minutes with no luck.

I've tried detexify and most normal packages. amsfonts and dsfont both don't fit the bill

It looks very similar to a \mathds{E}. \documentclass{article} \usepackage{dsfont} \begin{document} $\mathds{E}$ \end{document} — , Apr 30 '20 at 02:50
This is a "blackboard bold" E. Although the particular image is from the dsfont package, a version usually considered to be the default is provided by the amsfonts package, \mathbb{E}. — barbara beeton, Apr 30 '20 at 03:04
@barbarabeeton I thought dsfont was the closest, but the wighted bar is the other side for dsfont compared to the one I want — , Apr 30 '20 at 03:17
Go to CTAN and search for "comprehensive". Go to the directory that holds all the files for that collection. Look for "raw fonts". That has font charts for every font covered by the document as a pdf file. On p.222 is a chart for one of the tx (Times) components, and I think you will find a matching "E" there. Then go to the pdf file for the comprehensive list and look for "alphabets, mathematical". That list shows only the first few letters of each alphabet, but it identifies the font package and the command to be used. — barbara beeton, Apr 30 '20 at 03:50
By the way, for the images you loaded into the question, you've got dsfont and amsfonts images reversed. — barbara beeton, Apr 30 '20 at 03:54
@barbarabeeton Ah. Thank you. How would I reproduce that in a Latex document? I don't see any command for it. Sorry if this is a trival question - I'm quite new to Latex. — , Apr 30 '20 at 04:05
do not choose a different font for a single letter, it's simply a double struck E use your document fonts, it's like saying a paper has a g with a closed loop but your font has an open tail, you wouldn't change fonts just for a g. In many papers you will see the author didn't have a double struck font available and simply uses IE (which works better in a serif font) — David Carlisle, Apr 30 '20 at 07:51
Although I agree with @DavidCarlisle that one should stick with the document fonts (if the needed symbol is available), here's the method for adding a new package, for general reference. Follow the instructions in my previous comment (the page number may change). In the list of mathematical alphabets, you will find the package name (txfonts); add it in your preamble with \usepackage. Then, for the particular letter, use the command specified for that package -- \varrmathbb{E}. Learn to use the comprehensive symbols list -- it's a treasure! — barbara beeton, Apr 30 '20 at 12:55
@barbarabeeton How would I generalize this? I see on p222 it shows the hex and octal codes for the character, as well as listing txbmia. How did you get from txbmia to txfonts and from there to the command \varrmathbb{E} from the raw font tables? — , Apr 30 '20 at 16:01
@DavidCarlisle I was unclear as to whether the different weights would convey different meanings. This makes sense. — , Apr 30 '20 at 16:01
@user760900 -- The information leading to txfonts and \varmathbb{E} is found in the main documentation file for the comprehensive symbols list (texdoc comprehensive) on the page for "mathematical alphabets". You have to look at both the raw font tables and the documentation. The exact name in the tables won't usually be matched in the documentation, but in this case, the first two letters, tx, are distinct and will match an entry in the alphabets list. (This becomes easier as you gain familiarity with these resources.) — barbara beeton, Apr 30 '20 at 16:39

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '20 at 05:09

Maybe this?

Observe that the first vertical stroke is thin while the second is thick: That's the same as in the screenshot you posted -- and the reverse of what \mathds{E} produces.

\documentclass[border=1pt]{standalone} 
\usepackage[bb=px]{mathalfa} 
\begin{document} 
$\mathbb{E}$
\end{document}

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 30 '20 at 12:10

Not an answer - Just to show the differences between font designer's choices, using some random math fonts (system fonts, so uses unicode-math package on xelatex):

The bb/ds math alphabet tries to emulate writing with the side of the stick of chalk, rather than with the pointy end.

Stay with one font design/package for stylistic consistency, rather than doing mix-and-match with glyphs from different fonts.

MWE

\documentclass[12pt,varwidth,border=6pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\pagecolor{red!3}
\usepackage{unicode-math}
\setmathfont{XITS Math}[Colour=blue]
\setmathfontface\masana{Asana Math}
\setmathfontface\mdejavu{DejaVu Math}
\setmathfontface\mtgdeja{TeX Gyre DejaVu Math}
\setmathfontface\mpagella{TeX Gyre Pagella Math}
\setmathfontface\mbonum{TeX Gyre Bonum Math}
\setmathfontface\mschola{TeX Gyre Schola Math}
\setmathfontface\mtermes{TeX Gyre Termes Math}
\setmathfontface\mlatin{Latin Modern Math}
\setmathfontface\mcambria{Cambria Math}
\setmathfontface\mfira{Fira Math}
\setmathfontface\mfreeserif{FreeSerif}
\setmathfontface\mlibert{Libertinus Math}
\setmathfontface\mnoto{Noto Sans Symbols}
\setmathfontface\mqui{Quivira}
\setmathfontface\mstixtwo{STIX Two Math}
\setmathfontface\mstixgen{STIXGeneral}
\setmathfontface\msymbola{Symbola}
\setmathfontface\mgaramond{\detokenize{Garamond-Math}}
\newcommand\mfsize{\Huge}
\setmainfont{Noto Serif}


\newcommand\themassym{}%

\begin{document}
\section*{Sampling {\mfsize $\themassym $}}

\vspace{24pt}

\begin{tabular}{rccl}
XITS Math & \mfsize $\themassym$ & \mfsize $\mcambria \themassym$ & Cambria Math \\ 
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Asana Math & \mfsize $\masana {\themassym}$ & \mfsize $\mfira \themassym$ & Fira Math \\ 
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
DejaVu Math & \mfsize $\mdejavu \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mfreeserif \themassym$ & FreeSerif \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Tex Gyre Bonum Math & \mfsize $\mbonum \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mlibert \themassym$ & Libertinus Math \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Tex Gyre DejaVu Math & \mfsize $\mtgdeja \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mnoto \themassym$ & Noto Sans Symbols \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Tex Gyre Pagella Math & \mfsize $\mpagella \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mqui \themassym$ & Quivira \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Tex Gyre Schola Math & \mfsize $\mschola \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mstixtwo \themassym$ &STIX Two Math \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Tex Gyre Termes Math & \mfsize $\mtermes \themassym$ & \mfsize $\mgaramond \themassym$ & Garamond-Math \\
\ &\ & \ & \ \\ 
Latin Modern Math & \mfsize $\mlatin \themassym$ & \mfsize $\msymbola \themassym$ & Symbola \\
\end{tabular}


\end{document}

I was unclear as to whether the different weights would convey different meanings. This makes sense. Thank you for the clarification! — , Apr 30 '20 at 15:59

What is this symbol (E)?

2 Answers2

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