Alignment issue with \overline{x}

Question

I used LaTeX to write a document, and I was writing complex conjugates, so I had to make line a line on top of each number like this

       \overline X\cdot\overline y

But there's an alignment issue with the line on top of them. How to fix that?

Does \overline{x \vphantom y} \cdot \overline y solve the problem? — Arun Debray, Jan 17 '16 at 21:22
@ArunDebray oh yes, never thought of using \vphantom (always thought about \phantom as being horizontal, not vertical) please write answer to accept it — user153330, Jan 17 '16 at 21:40
Welcome to TeX.SX! I'm not sure what alignment issue you're talking about, because the overlines are at the same height. Are you thinking to a and b, rather than x and y? — egreg, Jan 17 '16 at 22:21
@egreg just giving an example, or like \overline{X}\cdot\overline{z} — user153330, Jan 17 '16 at 22:24
I prefer using \bar, usually; if the characters have different height, then the bar will be at different height. — egreg, Jan 17 '16 at 22:26

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '16 at 00:55

3

You can use \vphantom to ensure they have the same heights:

\overline{x \vphantom y} \cdot \overline y

\vphantom y adds the vertical space of a y, but no horizontal space.

answered Jan 18 '16 at 00:55

Arun Debray

1 Answers1