# Correct way to write Pauli matrices [closed]

This is purely a question of notation for the Pauli matrices. What is the correct way to write them for use as operators? Would I just write the vector of the matrices as a vector i.e $$\vec{\sigma}\,,$$ or just as an operator, i.e. $$\hat{\sigma}\,,$$ or as both, i.e. $$\vec{\hat{\sigma}}$$

I've seen different ways of writing them in the literature I'm studying and just wanted to know if there was a "proper" way to write it or if it made no difference

## closed as primarily opinion-based by AccidentalFourierTransform, stafusa, Qmechanic♦Oct 2 '17 at 9:03

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To avoid having both hats and arrows on top of vector-valued operators, one often indicates the 3-vector using boldface, e.g. $$\hat{\vec{A}}~=~\hat{\bf A},$$ and so forth.