Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ What do you think of my table?

[theo moore]

I'm mildly unhappy with how my table looks (see the pdf below). Do you have any suggestions on how to improve it?

Horizontal spacing is quite tight (try not to make any suggestions that would add to the width). I've tried using diagonal fractions, but they don't look very good, and the rest of the document uses vertically-aligned fractions anyways.

The code is:

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{multirow}
\newcolumntype{Z}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X}
\newcolumntype{A}{>{$}l<{$}}
\newcolumntype{S}{>{$}c<{$}}
\newcolumntype{D}{>{$}r<{$}}

\usepackage{xparse}
\makeatletter
\NewDocumentCommand{\raisedminus}{m}{%
  \raisebox{0.05em}{$\m@th#1{-}$}%
}
\NewDocumentCommand{\unaryminus}{}{%
  \mathbin{%
    \mathchoice{%
      \raisedminus\scriptstyle
    }{%
      \raisedminus\scriptstyle
    }{%
      \raisedminus\scriptscriptstyle
    }{%
      \raisedminus\scriptscriptstyle
    }%
  }%
}
\makeatother


\begin{document}
\renewcommand\arraystretch{1.5}% (MyValue=1.0 is for standard spacing)
\begin{table}[t]\centering \footnotesize
\begin{tabular}{DSDASDASA}
\toprule
  S'_{1}(Z\to0) &\sim 
  		& \Bigl[ -\frac{2}{5} \Bigr] & Z^{\frac{3}{2}} 
 		& + & \Bigl[\frac{8}{125}\Bigr] & Z^{\frac{13}{2}} 
		& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{\frac{23}{2}}\bigr) \\
  S'_{2,3}(Z\to0) &\sim 
  		& \Bigl[ \pm i \Bigr] & Z^{-1} 
 		& + & \Bigl[\frac{1}{5}\Bigr] & Z^{\frac{3}{2}} 
		& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{4}\bigr) \\ 
 S'_{1,3}(Z\to Z_0) &\sim 
 	& \Bigl[ \Bigl(\frac{2 e^{-7\pi i}}{5^4}\Bigr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \Bigr] 
	&  & \pm & \Bigl[\Bigl( \frac{e^{7\pi i}}{15}\Bigr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \Bigr]
	& W^{\frac{1}{2}} 
	& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(W^{\frac{3}{2}}\bigr) \\
  S'_{2}(Z\to Z_0) &\sim 
  		& \Bigl[ 2 \Bigl(\frac{3e^{3\pi i}}{5^4} \Bigr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \Bigr] 
		&  
 		& + 
		& \Bigl[ \frac{13}{3} \Bigl(\frac{e^{11\pi i}}{3^3 5^8}\Bigr)^\frac{1}{10} \Bigr] 
		& W 
		& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(W^2\bigr) \\ 
 S'_{1}(Z\to\infty) 
 		&\sim 
		& \multicolumn{4}{D}{\Bigl[ - \left(\frac{2}{5}\right)^{\frac{1}{3}} \Bigr]} 
		& Z^{\unaryminus\frac{1}{6}} 
 		& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{\unaryminus \frac{11}{6}}\bigr) \\
  S'_{2,3}(Z\to\infty) &\sim 
  		& \multicolumn{4}{D}{\Bigl[\left(\frac{1}{20}\right)^{\frac{1}{3}}(1\pm\sqrt{3}i) \Bigr]}   
		& Z^{\unaryminus\frac{1}{6}} 
		& + & \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{\unaryminus\frac{11}{6}}\bigr) \\	\bottomrule			
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}

[localghost]

What about a completely different approach with a math environment? Spacing is neat (horizontal and vertical), alignment is correct and fractions are legible.

Code: Select all

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{mathtools}  % loads »amsmath«

\begin{document}
  \begin{table}[!ht]
    \setlength{\arrayrulewidth}{0.8pt}  % default value 0.4pt
    \begin{alignat*}{5}\hline\\[-3\jot]
      S'_{1}(Z\to0) &
      \sim &
      \biggl[ -\frac{2}{5} \biggr] &
      Z^{\frac{3}{2}} &
      + &&
      \biggl[\frac{8}{125}\biggr] &
      Z^{\frac{13}{2}} &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{\frac{23}{2}}\bigr) \\
%
      S'_{2,3}(Z\to0) &
      \sim &
      \biggl[ \pm i \biggr] &
      Z^{-1} &
      + &&
      \biggl[\frac{1}{5}\biggr] &
      Z^{\frac{3}{2}} &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{4}\bigr) \\
%
      S'_{1,3}(Z\to Z_0) &
      \sim &
      \biggl[ \biggl(\frac{2 e^{-7\pi i}}{5^4}\biggr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \biggr] &&
      \pm &&
      \biggl[\biggl( \frac{e^{7\pi i}}{15}\biggr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \biggr] &
      W^{\frac{1}{2}} &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(W^{\frac{3}{2}}\bigr) \\
%
      S'_{2}(Z\to Z_0) &
      \sim &
      \biggl[ 2 \biggl(\frac{3e^{3\pi i}}{5^4} \biggr)^{\frac{1}{10}} \biggr] &&
      + &&
      \biggl[ \frac{13}{3} \biggl(\frac{e^{11\pi i}}{3^3 5^8}\biggr)^\frac{1}{10} \biggr] &
      W &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(W^2\bigr) \\
%
      S'_{1}(Z\to\infty) &
      \sim &&&&&
      \biggl[ - \biggl(\frac{2}{5}\biggr)^{\frac{1}{3}} \biggr] &
      Z^{-\frac{1}{6}} &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{-\frac{11}{6}}\bigr) \\
%
      S'_{2,3}(Z\to\infty) &
      \sim &&&&&
      \biggl[\biggl(\frac{1}{20}\biggr)^{\frac{1}{3}}(1\pm\sqrt{3}i) \biggr] &
      Z^{-\frac{1}{6}} &&
      + \mathcal{O}\bigl(Z^{-\frac{11}{6}}\bigr) \\[2\jot]\hline
    \end{alignat*}
  \end{table}
\end{document}

The only small hitch is the manual vertical adjustment for the rules at the top and bottom.


Thorsten