mathabx + mathtools -> extremely odd underbrace behaviour... how to fix?

Question

This following code produce very strange result:

\documentclass[12pt]{book}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\usepackage{mathabx}
\usepackage{mathtools}

\begin{document}
$$W_n(\underbrace{\mbox{\textvisiblespace},
                  \mbox{\textvisiblespace},
                  \dots,
                  \mbox{\textvisiblespace}
                 }_n 
     )
$$
\end{document}

If I just remove one of mathabx or mathtools the brace is displayed normally. Any ideas?

P.S. I use some symbols from mathabx and some commands from mathtools in the book, so I probably need both packages...

mathabx has wider effects that aren't always predicted. maybe using just the particular symbols you need, and not loading the entire package, would get rid of this problem (not tried). good advice at the question Importing a Single Symbol From a Different Font — barbara beeton, Jun 04 '13 at 15:30
@barbarabeeton Sure, I see, probably it would be the best way. — Nick, Jun 04 '13 at 15:39
On a side note, no need to load both amsmath and mathtools. Former is loaded by latter. — , Jun 04 '13 at 22:12

score 17 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 04 '13 at 15:29

17

use it the other way round:

\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{mathabx}

answered Jun 04 '13 at 15:29

5

@Nick Note that it's not mathtools, but amsmath that redefines \underbrace. You'd get the same with loading mathabx before amsmath. – egreg Jun 04 '13 at 15:39

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

6

mathabx has wider effects that aren't always predicted. maybe using just the particular symbols you need, and not loading the entire package, would get rid of this problem (not tried).

good advice can be found at the question Importing a Single Symbol From a Different Font

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

Community

1

answered Jun 04 '13 at 15:42

barbara beeton

88,848

I'd prefer this way since mathabx produces some more strange behaviour if loaded later too, looks like relsize doesn't work as expected. Extracting required fonts and symbols was easy and works perfect. – Nick Jun 05 '13 at 09:59

Lodifice · Answer 3 · 2020-03-09T14:56:06.197

3

Mathtools redefines \underbrace and \overbrace, which leads to problems with some fonts. To access the original definitions, use \LaTeXunderbrace and \LaTeXoverbrace, respectively.

edited Mar 09 '20 at 14:56

answered Sep 17 '19 at 13:28

Lodifice

31

mathabx + mathtools -> extremely odd underbrace behaviour... how to fix?

3 Answers3

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