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0006 This manual was originally translated from LATEX.HLP v1.0a in the
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0008 George D. Greenwade of Sam Houston State University.  The
0009 LaTeX 2.09 version was written by Stephen Gilmore.  The
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0020 Copyright 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
0021 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Karl Berry.
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0113 <a name="g_t_005cleft-_0026-_005cright"></a>
0114 <div class="header">
0115 <p>
0116 Next: <a href="_005cbigl-_0026-_005cbigr-etc.html#g_t_005cbigl-_0026-_005cbigr-etc" accesskey="n" rel="next">\bigl &amp; \bigr etc</a>, Up: <a href="Delimiters.html#Delimiters" accesskey="u" rel="up">Delimiters</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="IndexDocument.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
0117 </div>
0118 <hr>
0119 <a name="g_t_005cleft-_0026-_005cright-1"></a>
0120 <h4 class="subsubsection">16.2.5.1 <code>\left</code> &amp; <code>\right</code></h4>
0121 
0122 <a name="index-delimiters_002c-paired"></a>
0123 <a name="index-paired-delimiters"></a>
0124 <a name="index-matching-parentheses"></a>
0125 <a name="index-matching-brackets"></a>
0126 <a name="index-null-delimiter"></a>
0127 <a name="index-_005cleft"></a>
0128 <a name="index-_005cright"></a>
0129 
0130 
0131 <p>Synopsis:
0132 </p>
0133 <div class="example">
0134 <pre class="example">\left <var>delimiter1</var> ... \right <var>delimiter2</var>
0135 </pre></div>
0136 
0137 <p>Make matching parentheses, braces, or other delimiters.  LaTeX makes
0138 the delimiters tall enough to just cover the size of the formula that
0139 they enclose.
0140 </p>
0141 <p>This makes a unit vector surrounded by parentheses tall enough to cover
0142 the entries.
0143 </p>
0144 <div class="example">
0145 <pre class="example">\begin{equation}
0146   \left(\begin{array}{c}
0147     1   \\
0148     0   \\
0149   \end{array}\right)
0150 \end{equation}
0151 </pre></div>
0152 
0153 <p>See <a href="Delimiters.html#Delimiters">Delimiters</a> for a list of the common delimiters.
0154 </p>
0155 <p>Every <code>\left</code> must have a matching <code>\right</code>.  In the above
0156 example, leaving out the <code>\left(</code> gets the error message
0157 &lsquo;<samp>Extra \right</samp>&rsquo;.  Leaving out the <code>\right)</code> gets &lsquo;<samp>You
0158 can't use `\eqno' in math mode</samp>&rsquo;.
0159 </p>
0160 <a name="index-package_002c-amsmath-6"></a>
0161 <a name="index-amsmath-package-6"></a>
0162 
0163 <a name="index-package_002c-mathtools-2"></a>
0164 <a name="index-mathtools-package-2"></a>
0165 
0166 <p>However, <var>delimiter1</var> and <var>delimiter2</var> need not match.  A common
0167 case is that you want an unmatched brace, as below. Use a period,
0168 &lsquo;<samp>.</samp>&rsquo;, as a null delimiter.
0169 </p>
0170 <div class="example">
0171 <pre class="example">\begin{equation}
0172   f(n)=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}
0173                 1             &amp;\mbox{--if \(n=0\)} \\
0174                 f(n-1)+3n^2   &amp;\mbox{--else}       
0175        \end{array}\right.
0176 \end{equation}
0177 </pre></div>
0178 
0179 <p>Note that to get a curly brace as a delimiter you must prefix it with a
0180 backslash, <code>\{</code>.  (The packages <samp>amsmath</samp> and
0181 <samp>mathtools</samp> allow you to get the above construct through in a
0182 <code>cases</code> environment.)
0183 </p>
0184 <p>The <code>\left ... \right</code> pair make a group.  One consequence is that
0185 the formula enclosed in the <code>\left ... \right</code> pair cannot have
0186 line breaks in the output.  This includes both manual line breaks and
0187 LaTeX-generated automatic ones.  In this example, LaTeX breaks the
0188 equation to make the formula fit the margins.
0189 </p>
0190 <div class="example">
0191 <pre class="example">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
0192 \( (a+b+c+d+e+f+g+h+i+j+k+l+m+n+o+p+q+r+s+t+u+v+w+x+y+z) \)
0193 </pre></div>
0194 
0195 <p>But with <code>\left</code> and <code>\right</code>
0196 </p>
0197 <div class="example">
0198 <pre class="example">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
0199 \( \left(a+b+c+d+e+f+g+h+i+j+k+l+m+n+o+p+q+r+s+t+u+v+w+x+y+z\right) \)
0200 </pre></div>
0201 
0202 <p>LaTeX won&rsquo;t break the line, causing the formula to extend into the
0203 margin.
0204 </p>
0205 <p>Because <code>\left ... \right</code> make a group, all the usual grouping
0206 rules hold.  Here, the value of <code>\testlength</code> set inside the
0207 equation will be forgotten, and the output is &lsquo;<samp>1.2pt</samp>&rsquo;.
0208 </p>
0209 <div class="example">
0210 <pre class="example">\newlength{\testlength} \setlength{\testlength}{1.2pt}
0211 \begin{equation}
0212   \left( a+b=c \setlength{\testlength}{3.4pt} \right)
0213   \the\testlength
0214 \end{equation}
0215 </pre></div>
0216 
0217 <p>The <code>\left ... \right</code> pair affect the horizontal spacing of the
0218 enclosed formula, in two ways.  The first is that in <code>\( \sin(x) =
0219 \sin\left(x\right) \)</code> the one after the equals sign has more space
0220 around the <code>x</code>.  That&rsquo;s because <code>\left( ... \right)</code> inserts
0221 an inner node while <code>( ... )</code> inserts an opening node.  The second
0222 way that the pair affect the horizontal spacing is that because they
0223 form a group, the enclosed subformula will be typeset at its natural
0224 width, with no stretching or shrinking to make the line fit better.
0225 </p>
0226 <p>TeX scales the delimiters according to the height and depth of the
0227 contained formula.  Here LaTeX grows the brackets to extend the full
0228 height of the integral.
0229 </p>
0230 <div class="example">
0231 <pre class="example">\begin{equation}
0232   \left[ \int_{x=r_0}^{\infty} -G\frac{Mm}{r^2}\, dr \right] 
0233 \end{equation}
0234 </pre></div>
0235 
0236 <p>Manual sizing is often better.  For instance, although below the rule
0237 has no depth, TeX will create delimiters that extend far below the
0238 rule.
0239 </p>
0240 <div class="example">
0241 <pre class="example">\begin{equation}
0242   \left( \rule{1pt}{1cm} \right)
0243 \end{equation}
0244 </pre></div>
0245 
0246 <p>TeX can choose delimiters that are too small, as in <code>\( \left|
0247 |x|+|y| \right| \)</code>.  It can also choose delimiters that are too large,
0248 as here.
0249 </p>
0250 <div class="example">
0251 <pre class="example">\begin{equation}
0252   \left( \sum_{0\leq i&lt;n} i^k \right)
0253 \end{equation}
0254 </pre></div>
0255 
0256 <p>A third awkward case is when a long displayed formula is on more than
0257 one line and you must match the sizes of the opening and closing
0258 delimiter; you can&rsquo;t use <code>\left</code> on the first line and
0259 <code>\right</code> on the last because they must be paired.
0260 </p>
0261 <p>To size the delimiters manually, see&nbsp;<a href="_005cbigl-_0026-_005cbigr-etc.html#g_t_005cbigl-_0026-_005cbigr-etc">\bigl &amp; \bigr etc</a>.
0262 </p>
0263 
0264 
0265 
0266 <hr/><div class='referenceinfo'> <a href='https://latexref.xyz/'> <i>Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual</i></a></div>
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