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Straight vertical bars around a square grid, denoting its determinant.
Also known as: Determinant notation, Vertical bar delimiters
Sometimes confused with: Modulus bars
Straight vertical bars around a square array denote its determinant: a single number derived from the matrix that says, among other things, whether it can be inverted and how it scales area or volume. The same pair of bars means different things according to what sits between them — absolute value around a number, length around a vector, cardinality around a set — so the delimiter is read together with its contents rather than on its own.
Denotes the determinant of a square matrix: one number derived from the whole array, whose value says whether the matrix can be inverted and by what factor it scales area or volume.
Contexts: Mathematics
Means something different according to what it encloses — absolute value around a number, length around a vector, cardinality around a set, determinant around a matrix — which makes it one of the most overloaded delimiters in mathematics.
Contexts: Mathematics
Two straight vertical lines of equal height standing one on each side of an expression, with no curve or serif at their ends.
Bars mark a derived number; brackets mark the array itself.
Both are pairs of vertical strokes flanking an expression; the short serif is the only difference.