to tilde or not to tilde

[barbara beeton]

Dear Paulo Ney,

On Sun, 6 Oct 2019, Paulo Ney de Souza wrote:

> Dear Thomas Schneider,
> NO centered mathematical formula should contain any punctuation at the end
> of the line -- even if it is to terminate a sentence.
> 
> Punctuation have a role in typography -- to introduce a pause at reading --
> and with a centered formula that pause already EXIST. The correct is:
> 
> \begin{equation}
> A = \pi r ^2
> \end{equation}
> 
> even if it is ending a sentence or a paragraph.
> 
> Paulo Ney

May I refer you to the AMS Style GGuide, available online from
a link on the oage www.ams.org.authors .  See section 13.4,
punctuation.

A space is usually a matter of personal style, but it definitely
helps after a fraction, although AMS practice is more likely to
be a thin space -- \, -- than a full space.
 						-- bb

> On Sun, Oct 6, 2019 at 1:41 PM Thomas Schneider via texhax <texhax at tug.org>
> wrote:
>       Dear TexHaxers:
>
>       In a paper we are finishing, my co-author, a physicist, added a
>       tilde
>       '~' in front of the period '.' or comma ',' at the end of
>       equations,
>       for example
>
>       \begin{equation}
>       A = \pi r ^2 ~.
>       \end{equation}
>
>       He says ``It is a stylistic convention that some physicists use.
>       But
>       it's not universal practice.''
>
>       Is it a typographically recommended practice or should it be
>       avoided?
>
>       Here's a minimal example for you to try:
>
>       \documentclass[12pt]{article}
>       \begin{document}
>       Here's an example without a tilde:
>       \begin{equation}
>       A = \pi r ^2.
>       \end{equation}
>       Here's an example with a tilde:
>       \begin{equation}
>       A = \pi r ^2 ~. \\
>       \end{equation}
>       \end{document}
>
>       Tom
>
>         Thomas D. Schneider, Ph.D.
>         Senior Investigator
>         National Institutes of Health
>         National Cancer Institute
>         Center for Cancer Research
>         RNA Biology Laboratory
>         Biological Information Theory Group
>         Frederick, Maryland  21702-1201
>         schneidt at mail.nih.gov
>         https://alum.mit.edu/www/toms
> 
> 
>