Create List of Matrices in R (Example)

In this article you’ll learn how to store multiple matrices in a list object in R.

The article will consist of this content:

So let’s take a look at some R codes in action…

Creation of Example Data

We’ll use the following data as basement for this R programming tutorial:

mat1 <- matrix(1:15, ncol = 3)             # Create first example matrix
mat1                                       # Print first example matrix

Table 1 shows the structure of our first example matrix: It contains five rows and three integer columns.

Let’s create a second matrix object:

mat2 <- matrix(letters[1:16], ncol = 4)    # Create second example matrix
mat2                                       # Print second example matrix

The output of the previous R syntax is shown in Table 2: Another matrix containing character letters.

Example: Create List of Matrices Using list() Function

This example demonstrates how to combine multiple matrix objects in a single list.

For this task, we can apply the list function as shown below:

my_list <- list(mat1, mat2)                # Create list
my_list                                    # Print list
# [[1]]
#      [,1] [,2] [,3]
# [1,]    1    6   11
# [2,]    2    7   12
# [3,]    3    8   13
# [4,]    4    9   14
# [5,]    5   10   15
# 
# [[2]]
#      [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
# [1,] "a"  "e"  "i"  "m" 
# [2,] "b"  "f"  "j"  "n" 
# [3,] "c"  "g"  "k"  "o" 
# [4,] "d"  "h"  "l"  "p"

As you can see, each matrix has been stored as a separate list element.

Video & Further Resources

Have a look at the following video on my YouTube channel. In the video, I illustrate the R programming syntax of this page in a live session in RStudio.

In addition, you might want to read the related articles on this website. You can find some interesting articles below:

• Create List of Vectors in R
• Create List of Installed Packages in R
• Create List of Data Frames
• Create Nested List in R
• Introduction to R

In summary: In this article, I have explained how to combine multiple matrices in a list object in R programming. If you have additional questions, let me know in the comments. Furthermore, please subscribe to my email newsletter in order to get updates on new tutorials.