Collections.addAll is what you want.
Collections.addAll(myArrayList, '+', '-', '*', '^');
Another option is to pass the list into the constructor using Arrays.asList like this:
List<Character> myArrayList = new ArrayList<Character>(Arrays.asList('+', '-', '*', '^'));
If, however, you are good with the arrayList being fixed-length, you can go with the creation as simple as list = Arrays.asList(...). Arrays.asList specification states that it returns a fixed-length list which acts as a bridge to the passed array, which could be not what you need.