How can I write a colomn vector like following without using \bmatrix? (no \usepackage{amsmath})
Thanks a lot!
[Tex/LaTex] column vector without using \bmatrix
alignmath-modematrices
Related Solutions
Note that you have extra space around your vector. You should probably using something like (pmatrix is part of the amsmath package)
\begin{pmatrix}a\\b\end{pmatrix}
The standard LaTeX \newcommand provides a way to have a single optional argument.
\newcommand*\colvec[3][]{
\begin{pmatrix}\ifx\relax#1\relax\else#1\\\fi#2\\#3\end{pmatrix}
}
Note that you have to use \colvec[a]{b}{c} if you want three elements or \colvec{a}{b} if you want two.
Update
As per your request in the comments, here's one that takes any number of elements based on the number passed in the first argument.
\newcount\colveccount
\newcommand*\colvec[1]{
\global\colveccount#1
\begin{pmatrix}
\colvecnext
}
\def\colvecnext#1{
#1
\global\advance\colveccount-1
\ifnum\colveccount>0
\\
\expandafter\colvecnext
\else
\end{pmatrix}
\fi
}
You use it exactly as you wanted, \colvec{5}{a}{b}{c}{d}{e}.
If using a Times Roman font instead of Computer Modern is an option for you, you may want to look into using the MathTime Professional II math font package to achieve your objective. Its square brackets are satisfyingly thick even at the smallest sizes.
Note that while the full MathTime Pro II package isn't free of charge, its "lite" subset, which is all that's needed in this case, is free of charge.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[lite]{mtpro2}
\begin{document}
\[
\begin{bmatrix} A & B & C & D \end{bmatrix}
\begin{bmatrix} u \\ v \\ w \\ y \end{bmatrix}
= 0.
\]
\end{document}
Best Answer
No
amsmathneeded, using\left[...\right]and anarrayenvironment in between, just 'ordinary' math - content from LaTeX: