How to display circumflex, hat(^), and caret symbol in LaTeX?

Syntax for hat caret symbol in math mode

LaTeX provides three commands to use this symbol in math mode, which are: \hat{}, \wedge, and \widehat{}. You will see some differences in the output of these three commands.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{MnSymbol} % For \longrightarrow command
\begin{document}
  \[ \verb|\hat{}|\longrightarrow \hat{} \]
  \[ \verb|\wedge|\longrightarrow \wedge \]
  \[ \verb|\widehat{}|\longrightarrow \widehat{} \]
\end{document}

Output :

Use circumflex, hat, or caret symbol in math mode

You can also print this symbol above a letter by passing arguments to the \hat{} and \widehat{} commands. With the \widehat{} command, you can also pass three letters as arguments, since the ^ symbol is slightly wider in the output of this command.

But with the \wedge command, you cannot use the ^ symbol above any letter.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{MnSymbol} % For \longrightarrow command
\begin{document}
  \[ \verb|\hat{a}|\longrightarrow \hat{a} \]
  \[ \verb|\widehat{abc}|\longrightarrow \widehat{abc} \]
  \[ \verb|\widehat{ab}|\longrightarrow \widehat{ab} \]
  \[ \verb|\widehat{a}|\longrightarrow \widehat{a} \]
  \[ \verb|a\wedge b|\longrightarrow a\wedge b \]
\end{document}

Output :

Circumflex, hat, or caret symbol in text mode

There are two commands to use the circumflex, hat, or caret ^ symbol in Latex’s text mode, which are \textasciicircum and \^{}. You will see similar output for both commands.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{MnSymbol} % For \longrightarrow command
\begin{document}
  \verb|\textasciicircum|$\longrightarrow$ \textasciicircum \\[4pt]
  \verb|\^{}|$\longrightarrow$ \^{} 
\end{document}

Output :

Meanwhile, the \textasciicircum command does not allow you to print the ^ symbol over any letter.

But you can print this symbol over any letter by passing arguments to the \^{} command. Take a look

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{MnSymbol} % For \longrightarrow command
\begin{document}
  \verb|\^{o}|$\longrightarrow$ \^{o}\\[4pt]
  \verb|a\textasciicircum b|$\longrightarrow$ a\textasciicircum b
\end{document}

Output :

Some other way to print the “^” symbol

There are three other ways to print this symbol in a LaTeX document, which are \string^, \char`\^, or \verb!^! commands.

You can also write the \verb!^! command like this \verb|^|. And these commands work in both math mode and text mode of LaTeX.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{lcc}
    Command          &   Text mode   &   Math mode   \\ \hline
    \verb|\string^|  &   \string^    &   $\string^$  \\
    \verb|\char`\^|  &   \char`\^    &   $\char`\^$  \\
    \verb|\verb!^!|  &   \verb!^!    &   $\verb!^!$  \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

Output :