Leaving some space between the 'Contents' heading and the ToC

Question

In amsart, how do you leave an additional \vspace{3mm} between the heading 'Contents' and the Table of Contents?

Answer 1

Here's one option:

\documentclass{amsart}

\makeatletter
\def\@starttoc#1#2{\begingroup
  \setTrue{#1}%
  \par\removelastskip\vskip\z@skip
  \@startsection{}\@M\z@{\linespacing\@plus\linespacing}%
    {.5\linespacing}{\centering\contentsnamefont}{#2}%
  \ifx\contentsname#2%
    \vspace{3mm}% Here for the ToC only
  \else \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{#2}\fi
    %\vspace{3mm}% Here for all lists
  \makeatletter
  \@input{\jobname.#1}%
  \if@filesw
    \@xp\newwrite\csname tf@#1\endcsname
    \immediate\@xp\openout\csname tf@#1\endcsname \jobname.#1\relax
  \fi
  \global\@nobreakfalse \endgroup
  \addvspace{32\p@\@plus14\p@}%
  \let\tableofcontents\relax
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\tableofcontents
\listoftables
\listoffigures

\section{Test section}
\begin{figure}
\caption{A test figure}
\end{figure}
\begin{table}
\caption{A test table}
\end{table}

\end{document}

use

    \vspace{3mm}% Here for the ToC only

to add the spacing for the ToC only. Comment out the previous line and uncomment

    %\vspace{3mm}% Here for all lists

if the addition must be also done for the LoF and the LoT.

Answer 2

For all ToC-related structures, the following patch from etoolbox works:

\usepackage{etoolbox}
\makeatletter
% \patchcmd{<cmd>}{<search>}{<replace>}{<success>}{<failure>}
\patchcmd{\@starttoc}{.5\linespacing}{5\baselineskip}{}{}
\makeatother

It replaces the existing vertical gap (of .5\linespacing or 6pt) with 5\baselineskip (or whatever you choose). If you want to only affect the ToC (and not the LoF or LoT), then you need to place the following before the above patch:

\makeatletter
\let\old@starttoc\@starttoc
\renewcommand{\listoffigures}{\old@starttoc{lof}\listfigurename}
\renewcommand{\listoftables}{\old@starttoc{lot}\listtablename}
\makeatother

Here is a complete example:

\documentclass{amsart}

\usepackage{etoolbox}

\makeatletter
\let\old@starttoc\@starttoc
\renewcommand{\listoffigures}{\old@starttoc{lof}\listfigurename}
\renewcommand{\listoftables}{\old@starttoc{lot}\listtablename}
% \patchcmd{<cmd>}{<search>}{<replace>}{<success>}{<failure>}
\patchcmd{\@starttoc}{.5\linespacing}{5\baselineskip}{}{}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\tableofcontents

\listoffigures

\section{A section}

\begin{figure}
  \caption{A figure caption}
\end{figure}

\end{document}