Parallel Symbol in TeX

[Zhaoyu Zhang]

Hi, all,

I am wondering why the parallel symbol(∥) is "vertical" in TeX symbols(\parallel)? It looks like two vertical lines "||" instead of two oblique lines ("//"), which is the better "parallel symbol" for me. 

Another question is do we have a Unicode character for "parallel and equal" (the picture is )? I didn't find anything similar in TeX symbols.

Thanks!

Best,

Zhaoyu

[Davide P. Cervone]

I am wondering why the parallel symbol(∥) is "vertical" in TeX symbols(\parallel)? It looks like two vertical lines "||" instead of two oblique lines ("//"), which is the better "parallel symbol" for me. 

That is because TeX's version of \parallel is vertical not oblique, and the MathJax fonts are based on TeX's CM fonts.

Another question is do we have a Unicode character for "parallel and equal" (the picture is )? I didn't find anything similar in TeX symbols.

MathJax fonts don't include this symbol, but you could use \unicode{x22D5} to obtain it, provided your viewer has a font that includes it (not guaranteed).  You might also try

\mathrel{\rlap{\,\parallel}}=

as an alternative that uses only the MathJax fonts.

Davide