What is the difference between the matrix and array environments?
[Tex/LaTex] Matrix vs. array environments
arraysmatrices
Related Solutions
How about a matrix inside a matrix?
\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}% for cropping
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
$
\begin{vmatrix}
Q & \begin{matrix} 0 \\ 0 \end{matrix} \\
\begin{matrix} 2 & 3 \end{matrix} & -1
\end{vmatrix}
$
\end{document}
The array environment is for math mode and cell contents will be typeset in math mode (textstyleby default) and tabular is for text mode.
While array requires being in math mode, the tabular environment can be used in math mode, and its contents will be typeset in text mode. Inside an array, the p, m or b specifiers also switch cell contents to text mode.
Best Answer
arrayis a default environment of LaTeX available to any document class, whilstmatrixcome withamsmathpackage or AMS classes (amsbook,amsart)The
matrixenvironment mainly exist for naming consistency, becauseamsmathalso provides several environments for matrices with delimiters (e.g.pmatrix,bmatrix,Bmatrix,vmatrix, andVmatrix).In
matrixthere are not column specifications as{ccc}. By default, you can have up to ten centered columns (for another alignment you must stay witharray). If you need more than ten columns you must modify theMaxMatrixColscounter.matrixis more economical with horizontal spacing (i.e.,arrayis wider thanmatrix).