How do I insert a backslash inside a mathematical statement?

Question

I'm trying to write a set subtraction operation in an AMS formatted template. In the end, what I want should look like A\B. But I'm doing this in math-mode $A\B$ and this gives me errors. I've also tried using the \diagdown symbol, but it doesn't work either. Is there another way to do this?

Remember that \ is TeX escape character, so TeX is seeing \B as a macro name (probably undefined). What about $A\backslash B$ ? — JLDiaz, Dec 09 '12 at 18:33
For your special Problem, @corentin already gave the answer below. For a more geneal answer, see http://tex.stackexchange.com/q/9363/18674 — Benedikt Bauer, Dec 09 '12 at 18:33

score 160 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

160

\setminus should be what you are after.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb} % for \smallsetminus

\begin{document}
\[ \mbox{setminus: } A \setminus B,\quad \mbox{smallsetminus: } A \smallsetminus B, \quad \mbox{backslash: } A \backslash B\]
\end{document}

enter image description here

Note that you can find more information here on How to look up a symbol?. In particular, you have the Comprehensive LaTeX symbols and the website Detexify. There is also this post which was mentioned earlier in a comment

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

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answered Dec 09 '12 at 18:31

Corentin

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You can include also $\backslash$ , which produces a different spacing, for comparison. – JLDiaz Dec 09 '12 at 18:35
@JLDiaz Thanks for your comment, you are right, I will update my post. – Corentin Dec 09 '12 at 18:37
there is also \smallsetminus, available with \usepackage{amssymb}, for those who prefer a smaller symbol (with the same meaning). – barbara beeton Dec 09 '12 at 18:38
This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! :) – Paul Dec 09 '12 at 19:06

How do I insert a backslash inside a mathematical statement?

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