# aligning a matrix with its label

Suppose I have the following latex code which draws a matrix within a matrix as follows where the cell (1,2) of the outer matrix is a vector that defines the column labels and the cell (2,1) of the outer matrix is a vector that defines the row labels and the cell (2,2) contains the matrix:

\begin{matrix}
& \begin{matrix}
\cdots & \rho_{ij} & \cdots & \rho_{ik} & \cdots & \gamma_i & \cdots & \gamma_j  & \cdots & \lambda
\end{matrix}\\
\begin{matrix}
\cdots \\
\rho_{ij}\\
\cdots \\
\rho_{ik}\\
\cdots \\
\gamma_i \\
\cdots \\
\lambda \\
\end{matrix} & \begin{bmatrix}
\cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\
\cdots & 1 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & b_i \mu_i & \cdots & 0 \\
\cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\
\cdots & 0 & \cdots & 1 & \cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\
\cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\
\cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & b_k \mu_k & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & -\mu_i\\
\cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\
\cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & -\mu_i & \cdots & -\mu_j & \cdots & 0
\end{bmatrix}
\end{matrix}


The problem I have at hand is that the row labels (in cell (2,1)) and the column labels (in cell(1,2)) do not necessarily align with the matrix (in cell (2,2)).

How can I align them?

To stay true to your implementation, you'll have to use some way of specifying the width of the columns that have differing widths-than-headings. Easiest is to make a box where you find the widest element in the column to get the correct width, and set the heading within that box of said width:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mathtools,calc}
\newcommand{\mathwd}[2]{\makebox[\widthof{$#1$}]{$#2$}}
\begin{document}

$\begin{matrix} & \begin{matrix} \cdots & \mathwd{b_j\mu_j}{\rho_{ij}} & \cdots & \mathwd{b_k\mu_k}{\rho_{ik}} & \cdots & \mathwd{b_j\mu_j}{\gamma_i} & \cdots & \mathwd{-\mu_j}{\gamma_j} & \cdots & \mathwd{-\mu_i}{\lambda} \end{matrix} \\ \begin{matrix} \cdots \\ \rho_{ij}\\ \cdots \\ \rho_{ik}\\ \cdots \\ \gamma_i \\ \cdots \\ \lambda \\ \end{matrix} & \begin{bmatrix} \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\ \cdots & 1 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & b_i \mu_i & \cdots & 0 \\ \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\ \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 1 & \cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\ \cdots & b_j \mu_j & \cdots & b_k \mu_k & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & -\mu_i\\ \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots\\ \cdots & 0 & \cdots & 0 & \cdots & -\mu_i & \cdots & -\mu_j & \cdots & 0 \end{bmatrix} \end{matrix}$

\end{document}


Alternative inputs also exist in the form of bordermatrix, blkarray and kbordermatrix. See Array with labeling columns.