Can I get a \widebar without using the mathabx package?

Question

One can use \bar to put a bar over a letter in math mode, but often the bar isn't wide enough. An alternative is \overline, but this isn't an accent, so it doesn't take into account the skew of the letter. In the following example, the bar extends too far to the left:

Now the mathabx package offers a \widebar accent, but this has several drawbacks:

1. mathabx changes a lot of other things,

2. The \widebar sits slightly higher than \bar and \overline,

3. In previewers (checked with kpdf and acroread), the \widebar appears fuzzy, which \bar and \overline don't.

So my question is: How can I put a wide bar over a letter in math mode without the above drawbacks?

Answer 1

Here's a new implementation of \widebar, based on \overline. It works by hacking into amsmath's accent placement, so it needs that package. Here's a comparison of \widebar (first line) and \overline (second line):

I think the placement of the bars in the first line is better, except for the \sin z, where there's no difference. Note that \widebar works well together with superscripts, but not necessarily with subscripts. (\overline has the same issue.) It also works well over combined symbols like AB in most cases.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\makeatletter
\newcommand*\if@single[3]{%
  \setbox0\hbox{${\mathaccent"0362{#1}}^H$}%
  \setbox2\hbox{${\mathaccent"0362{\kern0pt#1}}^H$}%
  \ifdim\ht0=\ht2 #3\else #2\fi
  }
%The bar will be moved to the right by a half of \macc@kerna, which is computed by amsmath:
\newcommand*\rel@kern[1]{\kern#1\dimexpr\macc@kerna}
%If there's a superscript following the bar, then no negative kern may follow the bar;
%an additional {} makes sure that the superscript is high enough in this case:
\newcommand*\widebar[1]{\@ifnextchar^{{\wide@bar{#1}{0}}}{\wide@bar{#1}{1}}}
%Use a separate algorithm for single symbols:
\newcommand*\wide@bar[2]{\if@single{#1}{\wide@bar@{#1}{#2}{1}}{\wide@bar@{#1}{#2}{2}}}
\newcommand*\wide@bar@[3]{%
  \begingroup
  \def\mathaccent##1##2{%
%If there's more than a single symbol, use the first character instead (see below):
    \if#32 \let\macc@nucleus\first@char \fi
%Determine the italic correction:
    \setbox\z@\hbox{$\macc@style{\macc@nucleus}_{}$}%
    \setbox\tw@\hbox{$\macc@style{\macc@nucleus}{}_{}$}%
    \dimen@\wd\tw@
    \advance\dimen@-\wd\z@
%Now \dimen@ is the italic correction of the symbol.
    \divide\dimen@ 3
    \@tempdima\wd\tw@
    \advance\@tempdima-\scriptspace
%Now \@tempdima is the width of the symbol.
    \divide\@tempdima 10
    \advance\dimen@-\@tempdima
%Now \dimen@ = (italic correction / 3) - (Breite / 10)
    \ifdim\dimen@>\z@ \dimen@0pt\fi
%The bar will be shortened in the case \dimen@<0 !
    \rel@kern{0.6}\kern-\dimen@
    \if#31
      \overline{\rel@kern{-0.6}\kern\dimen@\macc@nucleus\rel@kern{0.4}\kern\dimen@}%
      \advance\dimen@0.4\dimexpr\macc@kerna
%Place the combined final kern (-\dimen@) if it is >0 or if a superscript follows:
      \let\final@kern#2%
      \ifdim\dimen@<\z@ \let\final@kern1\fi
      \if\final@kern1 \kern-\dimen@\fi
    \else
      \overline{\rel@kern{-0.6}\kern\dimen@#1}%
    \fi
  }%
  \macc@depth\@ne
  \let\math@bgroup\@empty \let\math@egroup\macc@set@skewchar
  \mathsurround\z@ \frozen@everymath{\mathgroup\macc@group\relax}%
  \macc@set@skewchar\relax
  \let\mathaccentV\macc@nested@a
%The following initialises \macc@kerna and calls \mathaccent:
  \if#31
    \macc@nested@a\relax111{#1}%
  \else
%If the argument consists of more than one symbol, and if the first token is
%a letter, use that letter for the computations:
    \def\gobble@till@marker##1\endmarker{}%
    \futurelet\first@char\gobble@till@marker#1\endmarker
    \ifcat\noexpand\first@char A\else
      \def\first@char{}%
    \fi
    \macc@nested@a\relax111{\first@char}%
  \fi
  \endgroup
}
\makeatother
\newcommand\test[1]{%
$#1{M}$ $#1{A}$ $#1{g}$ $#1{\beta}$ $#1{\mathcal A}^q$
$#1{AB}^\sigma$ $#1{H}^C$ $#1{\sin z}$ $#1{W}_n$}

\begin{document}
\test\widebar

\test\overline
\end{document}

---

Here is my previous simpler implementation; the intended use is for single symbols. It also works when applied to several symbols, but then the placement of the bar may not be appropriate (see AW at the end). Moreover, subsequent superscripts may be placed too close to the bar.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\makeatletter
\newcommand*\rel@kern[1]{\kern#1\dimexpr\macc@kerna}
\newcommand*\widebar[1]{%
  \begingroup
  \def\mathaccent##1##2{%
    \rel@kern{0.8}%
    \overline{\rel@kern{-0.8}\macc@nucleus\rel@kern{0.2}}%
    \rel@kern{-0.2}%
  }%
  \macc@depth\@ne
  \let\math@bgroup\@empty \let\math@egroup\macc@set@skewchar
  \mathsurround\z@ \frozen@everymath{\mathgroup\macc@group\relax}%
  \macc@set@skewchar\relax
  \let\mathaccentV\macc@nested@a
  \macc@nested@a\relax111{#1}%
  \endgroup
}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
$\widebar{M}$ $\widebar{A}$ $\widebar{\mathcal A}$ $\widebar{g}$ $\widebar{\beta}$
$\widebar{AB}$ $\widebar{AW}$

$\overline{M}$ $\overline{A}$ $\overline{\mathcal A}$ $\overline{g}$ $\overline{\beta}$
$\overline{AB}$ $\overline{AW}$
\end{document}

Answer 2

1) You can use only \widebar through:

% from mathabx.sty and mathabx.dcl
\DeclareFontFamily{U}{mathx}{\hyphenchar\font45}
\DeclareFontShape{U}{mathx}{m}{n}{
      <5> <6> <7> <8> <9> <10>
      <10.95> <12> <14.4> <17.28> <20.74> <24.88>
      mathx10
      }{}
\DeclareSymbolFont{mathx}{U}{mathx}{m}{n}
\DeclareFontSubstitution{U}{mathx}{m}{n}
\DeclareMathAccent{\widebar}{0}{mathx}{"73}

or simpler (with example):

\documentclass{article}
\DeclareFontFamily{U}{mathx}{\hyphenchar\font45}
\DeclareFontShape{U}{mathx}{m}{n}{<-> mathx10}{}
\DeclareSymbolFont{mathx}{U}{mathx}{m}{n}
\DeclareMathAccent{\widebar}{0}{mathx}{"73}
\begin{document}
$\widebar M = \widebar{abcd}$
\end{document}

2) I don't think it matters much, \bar h is also higher than \bar a. Just remember not to use \bar M and \widebar M together.

3) Maybe bad hinting. I've no idea.