5

I have the following matrix:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
$\begin{bmatrix}    
\begin{vmatrix}
168 & 368 \\ 
368 & 1026 
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
26 & 368\\ 
70 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
26 & 168\\ 
70 & 368 
\end{vmatrix}\\
\begin{vmatrix}
26 & 70\\ 
368 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 70\\ 
70 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 26\\ 
70 & 368
\end{vmatrix}\\ 
\begin{vmatrix}
26 & 70\\ 
168 & 368
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 70\\ 
26 & 368
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 26\\ 
26 & 168
\end{vmatrix}
\end{bmatrix} = 
\begin{bmatrix}
36944 & -916 & -2192 \\
\end{bmatrix}
$
\end{document}

Each row contains a 2x2 determinant. The problem is that the vertical lines of the neighboring determinants are touching, creating the impression that this is a 3x1 matrix with three 6x2 determinants. I have experimented a little with adding [3pt] after the delimiting \\, but had no success. Any help will be appreciated!

By the way, I am calling LaTeX from a Markdown document, which means using extra/alternative packages is highly undesirable (albeit possible after a manual intervention during text conversion). Thanks in advance!

2
  • 1
    please edit your example to be a complete document showing the packages required (I assume amsmath, but you don't say). Otherwise we don't know what it's supposed to look like... Dec 24, 2013 at 19:48
  • My apologies. I've included the full document.
    – Maxim.K
    Dec 24, 2013 at 20:11

3 Answers 3

6

The [] optional argument does not add that much space, but rather specifies a minimumn dept, but your matrices are already deep, so you need a larger value.

\end{vmatrix}\\[15pt]
\begin{vmatrix}

looks better

0
3

The values of \vskip in the following solution are too big for better effect, but the idea should be clear.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
$\begin{bmatrix}    
\begin{vmatrix}
168 & 368 \\ 
368 & 1026 
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
26 & 368\\ 
70 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
26 & 168\\ 
70 & 368 
\end{vmatrix}\\\noalign{\vskip12pt}
\begin{vmatrix}
26 & 70\\ 
368 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 70\\ 
70 & 1026
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 26\\ 
70 & 368
\end{vmatrix}\\ \noalign{\vskip18pt}
\begin{vmatrix}
26 & 70\\ 
168 & 368
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 70\\ 
26 & 368
\end{vmatrix} & \begin{vmatrix}
5 & 26\\ 
26 & 168
\end{vmatrix}
\end{bmatrix} = 
\begin{bmatrix}
36944 & -916 & -2192 \\
\end{bmatrix}
$
\end{document}

enter image description here

3
  • \\[18pt] would have the same effect
    – egreg
    Dec 24, 2013 at 20:28
  • @egreg as I was just writing in my answer at the time of your comment:-) Dec 24, 2013 at 20:29
  • @DavidCarlisle AND egreg: Certainly! But always the same solution? It would be boring. :-) Dec 24, 2013 at 20:44
3

You can adjust the stretch of bmatrix and/or vmatrix, perhaps via a new environment altogether:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}% http://ctan.org/pkg/amsmath
\newenvironment{BMatrix}[1][1]
  {\begingroup\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{#1}
  \begin{bmatrix}}
  {\end{bmatrix}\endgroup}
\newenvironment{VMatrix}[1][1]
  {\begingroup\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{#1}
  \begin{vmatrix}}
  {\end{vmatrix}\endgroup}

\begin{document}
\[
\begin{BMatrix}[2]
    \begin{VMatrix}
      168 &  368 \\ 368 & 1026
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
       26 &  368 \\  70 & 1026
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
       26 &  168 \\  70 &  368
    \end{VMatrix} \\
    \begin{VMatrix}
       26 &   70 \\ 368 & 1026
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
        5 &   70 \\  70 & 1026
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
        5 &   26 \\  70 &  368
    \end{VMatrix} \\
    \begin{VMatrix}
       26 &   70 \\ 168 &  368
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
        5 &   70 \\  26 &  368
    \end{VMatrix} & \begin{VMatrix}
        5 &   26 \\  26 &  168
    \end{VMatrix}
  \end{BMatrix} = 
  \begin{bmatrix}
    36944 & -916 & -2192
  \end{bmatrix}
\]
\end{document}

Both BMatrix and VMatrix takes an optional argument that specifies the \arraystretch used (default is 1). The outer BMatrix is set with an \arraystretch of 2.

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