Error with matrix: erraneous nesting

Question

Hi why this gives me a warning:

Package amsmath Error: Erroneous nesting of equation structures;(amsmath) trying to recover with `aligned'. \end{align}

    $$\begin{align}
\vec{A}+\vec{B}  &= \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\
a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} & a_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
+ \begin{pmatrix}
b_{11} & b_{12} & \cdots & b_{1n} \\
b_{21} & b_{22} & \cdots & b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
b_{m1} & b_{m2} & \cdots & b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix} \\
&= \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} + b_{11} & a_{12} + b_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} + b_{1n} \\
a_{21} + b_{21} & a_{22} + b_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} + b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} + b_{m1} & a_{m2} + b_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} + b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
\end{align}
$$

Answer 1

align is an environment, defined by amsmath package which already goes in math mode; so you cannot nest it in a $$ (display math mode).

This code works fine for me

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
        \begin{align}
\vec{A}+\vec{B}  &= \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\
a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} & a_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
+ \begin{pmatrix}
b_{11} & b_{12} & \cdots & b_{1n} \\
b_{21} & b_{22} & \cdots & b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
b_{m1} & b_{m2} & \cdots & b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix} \\
&= \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} + b_{11} & a_{12} + b_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} + b_{1n} \\
a_{21} + b_{21} & a_{22} + b_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} + b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} + b_{m1} & a_{m2} + b_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} + b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
\end{align}

    \end{document}

Also please NEVER use $$ to start math mode, see this question

---

EDIT

I think, but maybe it's not what you're after, you should consider the gathered environment inside the equation in order to obtain one single equation number for your matrices formula ie:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
\begin{equation}
 \begin{gathered}
\vec{A}+\vec{B}  = \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} \\
a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} & a_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
+ \begin{pmatrix}
b_{11} & b_{12} & \cdots & b_{1n} \\
b_{21} & b_{22} & \cdots & b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
b_{m1} & b_{m2} & \cdots & b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix} \\[3ex]
= \begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} + b_{11} & a_{12} + b_{12} & \cdots & a_{1n} + b_{1n} \\
a_{21} + b_{21} & a_{22} + b_{22} & \cdots & a_{2n} + b_{2n} \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
a_{m1} + b_{m1} & a_{m2} + b_{m2} & \cdots & a_{mn} + b_{mn} \\
\end{pmatrix}
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
    \end{document}

producing (I added a bit of space too)