How to add arrow command on a curve plot without leaving a gap?

Question

Before I add /. Line -> Arrow, I had a continuous plot by using Joined -> True command. Why there is a small gap at the tip of the arrow now? What did I do wrong?

n=100;
Do[
ss[j] = N[2 Pi (j - 1)/n];
rr[j] = N[Sqrt[1 + (Cos[4 ss[j]])^2]];  
    ETA[j] = N[rr[j] Exp[I ss[j]]];
      fA[j] = N[Exp[rr[j]]],
{j, 1, n + 1}]

Shape = ListPlot[Table[{Re[ETA[j]], Im[ETA[j]]}, {j, n + 1}], 
Joined -> True, PlotStyle -> {Black, Thick}, 
AspectRatio -> Automatic, PlotRange -> {{-2, 2}, {-2, 2}}, 
Axes -> False, Frame -> {{True, False}, {True, False}}, 
FrameTicks -> {{{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, None}, {{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, 
   None}},
FrameLabel -> {Re t, Im t}, RotateLabel -> False, 
FrameStyle -> Directive[FontSize -> 24]] /. Line -> Arrow;

Answer 1

Partially for the sake of answering the question in a way close the the way OP is doing, but also to clean up the code a little bit:

First of all, using Do is overkill. Instead, do

Clear[rr, ss, ETA, fA, n];
n = 100;
ss[j_] = N[2 Pi (j - 1)/n];
rr[j_] = N[Sqrt[1 + (Cos[4 ss[j]])^2]];
ETA[j_] = rr[j] Exp[I ss[j]];

or even just

ETA[j_] = Sqrt[1 + (Cos[4 ss[j]])^2] Exp[I 2 Pi (j - 1)/n];

Then, use ParametricPlot (with some of the extraneous Options removed):

Shape = ParametricPlot[{Re[ETA[j]], Im[ETA[j]]}, {j, 1, n + 1},
          PlotStyle -> {Black, Thick}, 
          PlotRange -> {{-2, 2}, {-2, 2}},
          Axes -> False, Frame -> {{True, False}, {True, False}},
          FrameTicks -> {{{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, None}, {{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, None}},
          FrameLabel -> {"Re t", "Im t"}, 
          BaseStyle -> {FontSize -> 24}];

Finally, the way that I would fix this problem is to add an Arrowheads specification of the following form:

Shape /. Line[a_] :> {Arrowheads[{{0.06, 0.1}}], Arrow[a]}

This places the arrow about 10% along the curve, away from the end. It also allows you to put it in a more natural place (i.e. along a straight-ish section of the curve.

Answer 2

You can plot two figures on top of each other.

Shape = ListPlot[Table[{Re[ETA[j]], Im[ETA[j]]}, {j, n + 1}], Joined -> True, PlotStyle -> {Black, Thick}, AspectRatio -> Automatic, PlotRange -> {{-2, 2}, {-2, 2}}, Axes -> False, Frame -> {{True, False}, {True, False}}, FrameTicks -> {{{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, None}, {{-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, None}}, FrameLabel -> {Re t, Im t}, RotateLabel -> False, FrameStyle -> Directive[FontSize -> 24]];
Show[{Shape, Shape /. Line -> Arrow}]

Answer 3

There's nothing wrong, it's just the way Arrow objects are being plotted - a line ending with an Arrowhead, which causes this gap. If you don't want an arrow, but a line with an arrowhead at some point - you can simply add it on top of your plot with Epilog:

table = Table[{Re[ETA[j]], Im[ETA[j]]}, {j, n + 1}];

ListPlot[table, Joined -> True, AspectRatio -> Automatic,
  Epilog -> Arrow[table[[-3 ;; -1]]]]