Shorter line for math-mode?

Question

I have

$A-V$

but the line "-" is shown too long:

I would like to have shorter line.

How can you have a shorter line there in the math-mode?

Is it not a minus sign? Load amsmath and use $A\text{ - }V$ — , Nov 03 '15 at 23:07
$A{-}V$ will reduce the spacing, while $A\mbox{-}V$ will change the font and therefore not set - as a minus. — Werner, Nov 03 '15 at 23:10
$A$\nobreakdash-$V$ (requires amsmath). Or $A\text{-}V$ , but it's wrong to begin with. — egreg, Nov 03 '15 at 23:14

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 03 '15 at 23:22

A hyphen in math mode is interpreted as a minus sign. If you mean to have a variable named A-V in math mode, with a hyphen in between, you need to define a “math hyphen” or resort to $A\text{-}V$ .

For defining a math hyphen you can do

\DeclareMathSymbol{\mh}{\mathord}{operators}{`\-}

Full example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\DeclareMathSymbol{\mh}{\mathord}{operators}{`\-}

\begin{document}

$A\mh V$

$A\text{-}V$

\end{document}

The first option, with \mh (or the name you prefer), is better.

Of course, if this is not a variable, but you're referring to two variables in some text, the correct input would be

$A$\nobreakdash-$V$

Thank you for your answer! I love "\mh", very convenient! – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Nov 03 '15 at 23:26 — Léo Léopold Hertz 준영, Nov 03 '15 at 23:26

Shorter line for math-mode?

1 Answers1