\documentclass{article} \usepackage[pdftex,active,tightpage]{preview} \setlength\PreviewBorder{0mm} \usepackage{amsmath,array} \renewcommand\arraycolsep{4pt} % default value: 6pt \begin{document} \begin{preview} \begin{equation*} S^T \cdot A \cdot S = \left( \, \begin{array}{r@{}r@{}r r r} % @{} is used twice to suppress intercolumn whitespace \underbrace{ \begin{array}{rrr} % First block (1) 1 & & \\ & \ddots & \\ & & 1 \\ \end{array} }_{r_+(s)-mal}\\ & \underbrace{ \begin{array}{rrr} % Second block (-1) -1 & & \\ & \ddots & \\ & & -1\\ \end{array} }_{r_{-}(s)-mal} \\ & & \underbrace{ \begin{array}{rrr} % Third block 0 & & \\ & \ddots & \\ & & 0\\ \end{array} }_{r_0(s)-mal} \\ \end{array}\,\right) \end{equation*} \end{preview} \end{document}