How can I align 4 equations in a 2 by 2 layout while having them separately numbered?

Question

I have four equations that I want to present in a 2 by 2 layout.

I found this thread, but I would like to be able to \cref each equation separately and have them numbered like in this image below but aligned nicely:

Is there a way to do this or am I better off just having 4 equations below each other?

Answer 1

You can do this with two minipages, each with its own align environment.

I made the left minipage 40% of \textwidth and the right 60%, but you can adjust that how you like. For example, with .5\textwidth on both minipages it looks like this:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath,lipsum}

\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]


\noindent\begin{minipage}{.4\textwidth}
  \begin{align}
    x&=1 \\
    y&=1
  \end{align}
\end{minipage}% <-- % symbol necessary
\begin{minipage}{.6\textwidth}
  \begin{align}
    z&=1\\
    w&=1
  \end{align}
\end{minipage}

\vspace{\baselineskip}

\lipsum[2]

\end{document}

Also, as @frabjous suggested in the comments, you could make smaller minipages and center them to get the labels closer:

\noindent\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{.3\textwidth}
  \begin{align}
    x&=1 \\
    y&=1
  \end{align}
\end{minipage}\hspace{1cm}% <-- % symbol necessary
\begin{minipage}{.3\textwidth}
  \begin{align}
    z&=1\\
    w&=1
  \end{align}
\end{minipage}\end{center}