to tilde or not to tilde

[Thomas Schneider]

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