~ (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))

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### 19.7 `~`

Synopsis:

    before~after

The tie character, `~`, produces a space between before and after at which the line will not be broken. By default the white space has length 3.33333pt plus 1.66666pt minus 1.11111pt (see Lengths).

Here LaTeX will not break the line between the final two words.

    Thanks to Prof.~Lerman.

In addition, despite the period, LaTeX does not use the end-of-sentence spacing (see \@).

Ties prevent the end of line separation of things where that could cause confusion. But they also reduce LaTeX’s options when it breaks lines into paragraphs, so you can use too many. They are also matters of taste, sometimes alarmingly dogmatic taste, among readers. Nevertheless, here are some usage models, many of them from the TeXbook.

- Between an enumerator and its item, such as in references: `Chapter~12`, or `Theorem~\ref{th:Wilsons}`, or `Figure~\ref{fig:KGraph}`. When cases are enumerated inline: `(b)~Show that $f(x)$ is (1)~continuous, and (2)~bounded`.
- Between a number and its unit: `$745.7.8$~watts` (the `siunitx` package has a special facility for this) or `144~eggs`. This includes between a month and a date: `October~12` or `12~Oct`. In general, in any expressions where numbers and abbreviations or symbols are separated by a space: `AD~565`, or `2:50~pm`, or `Boeing~747`, or `268~Plains Road`, or `\$$1.4$~billion`.
- When mathematical phrases are rendered in words: `equals~$n$`, or `less than~$\epsilon$`, or `given~$X$`, or `modulo~$p^e$ for all large~$n$` (but compare `is~$15$` with `is $15$~times the height`). Between mathematical symbols in apposition with nouns: `dimension~$d$` or `function~$f(x)$` (but compare `with length $l$~or more`). When a symbol is a tightly bound object of a preposition: `of~$x$`, or `from $0$ to~$1$`, or `in common with~$m$`.
- Between symbols in series: `$1$,~$2$, or~$3$` or `$1$,~$2$, \ldots,~$n$`.
- Between a person’s forenames and between multiple surnames: `Donald~E. Knuth`, or `Luis~I. Trabb~Pardo`, or `Charles~XII` (but you must give TeX places to break the line so you may do `Charles Louis Xavier~Joseph de~la Vall\'ee~Poussin`).
- Before a dash: `pages 12~--14` or `it is~--- it must be said~--- plausible`.

Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual