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Not that significant, but annoying to no end. Why does matlab has no small phi ( \varphi ) symbol ? It has pretty much all other symbols LaTeX offers, but not this one. Why ?

I may be wrong of course, in which case would be delighted if someone could prove me wrong...

The default interpreter is TeX actually, not LaTeX, which is why you're having this problem. You can use LaTeX as the interpreter for a given part doing something like this:

plot(1);
hl = legend('$$\varphi$$');
set(hl,'Interpreter','latex')
or you can set LaTeX as your default interpretor using 
set(0,'DefaultTextInterpreter', 'latex');
which can be put in your startup.m file if you like.
                You don't need double $-signs if you use LaTeX as interpreter, though you will get a warning if the interpreter is still set to TeX.
– Jonas
                May 11, 2010 at 3:03
Matlab uses TeX as default. Often, it is possible to switch to LaTeX, but in some cases (dialog boxes), this is impossible.
%# here's an example with all three phis
plot(rand(3))
yh = get(gca,'YLabel');
set(yh,'Interpreter','latex','string','$\varphi$ $\phi$ $\Phi$')
                I am. For something completely different! (I'm using both of them). Although they are technically the same letter (there are two ways of writing small phi), this is the first time I've encountered a situation where you can write one and not the other.
– Rook
                May 11, 2010 at 2:52
                @Idigas: I'm not sure I understand your comment. Actually, I'm sure I don't understan it.
– Jonas
                May 11, 2010 at 2:59
                There are two ways of writing small letter phi, one looks like the result of \phi, the other looks like the symbol in my question. That one is used more often when writing my hand. Since there isn't a consensus which is the right one, pretty much every program offers both symbols. Except matlab, which offers only \phi. Which creates a problem, since more often then not, they're both used in technical calculations. So, now I have a problem, since I use, \Phi, \phi and \varphi (or at least I would, if it was available). I hope I managed to explain it a little clearer this time.
– Rook
                May 11, 2010 at 3:03
        
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