[Tex/LaTex] Spacing after equals sign in align

alignmath-mode

I find that I have unpleasant spacing between the equals sign and (e.g.) the exponential function in this particular case, while using the align environment. I have a long expression which has to be split up in multiple rows. The alignment character & appears to gobble up all space when it comes after the equals sign. How could I remedy this while still preserving the plus sign alignment below?

Ideally, I would like to have the second row from the first equation, and the first row from the second equation.

Compiled document

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{align} % bad spacing at first row, but correctly placed second row
    2 \cosh t =& e^t \\
            &+ e^{-t} 
\end{align}
\begin{align} % good spacing at first row, but incorrectly placed second row
    2\cosh t &= e^t \\
            &+ e^{-t} 
\end{align}
\end{document}

Best Answer

Put the ampersand before the equals sign. Then use \quad to create the indentation in the second row.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{align}                                                                   
    2 \cosh t &= e^t \\                                                         
              &\quad+ e^{-t}                                                    
\end{align}
\end{document}

You can also use \hspace if you want a different length for the indentation.

alignment

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