For a paper I am writing, I frequently need to use a superscript *
before certain symbols (in math mode). I am currently using the command {}^*
to do this. The spacing between the *
and the symbol is often not right: for lowercase or slanted symbols (e.g. A), the spacing is far too much, whereas for other symbols it is pretty close (e.g. T). I could remove the spacing with a \!
, but sometimes this will be too much, or not enough. Plus, I'd rather not have to manually set the spacing on a case by case basis.
Is there a way to automatically adjust the spacing between them based on the shape of the symbol? I tried wrapping the superscript in braces, and using the \prescript
command from mathtools
, but neither seemed to make a difference. See the image below.
Here's a MWE:
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\newcommand{\N}{\mathbb{N}}
\newcommand{\h}{{}^*}
\newcommand{\hhh}[1]{\prescript{*}{}{#1}}
\begin{document}
$\begin{array}{cccc}
\h A & \h B & \h T & \h \N \\
{\h} A & {\h} B & {\h} T & {\h} \N \\
\hhh{A} & \hhh{B} & \hhh{T} & \hhh{\N} \\
\h\! A & \h\! B & \h\! T & \h\! \N \\
\end{array}$
\end{document}
Notice how in the first 3 rows, the *
is generally too far from the following symbol. I would like it about as close as it is to the T
. Using \!
to remove space, it is a good distance from the B
, but still too far from the A
, and now too close for T
and N
.
\prescript
command frommathtools
give any help?