In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, convex metric spaces are, intuitively,
metric space
In mathematics, a metric space is a set together with a notion of ''distance'' between its elements, usually called points. The distance is measured by a function called a metric or distance function. Metric spaces are the most general settin ...
s with the property any "segment" joining two points in that space has other points in it besides the endpoints.
Formally, consider a
metric space
In mathematics, a metric space is a set together with a notion of ''distance'' between its elements, usually called points. The distance is measured by a function called a metric or distance function. Metric spaces are the most general settin ...
(''X'', ''d'') and let ''x'' and ''y'' be two points in ''X''. A point ''z'' in ''X'' is said to be ''between'' ''x'' and ''y'' if all three points are distinct, and
:
that is, the
triangle inequality
In mathematics, the triangle inequality states that for any triangle, the sum of the lengths of any two sides must be greater than or equal to the length of the remaining side.
This statement permits the inclusion of degenerate triangles, but ...
becomes an equality. A convex metric space is a metric space (''X'', ''d'') such that, for any two distinct points ''x'' and ''y'' in ''X'', there exists a third point ''z'' in ''X'' lying between ''x'' and ''y''.
Metric convexity:
* does not imply convexity in the usual sense for subsets of
Euclidean space
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of geometry, intended to represent physical space. Originally, that is, in Euclid's Elements, Euclid's ''Elements'', it was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, but in modern mathematics ther ...
(see the example of the rational numbers)
* nor does it imply
path-connectedness (see the example of the rational numbers)
* nor does it imply
geodesic convexity In mathematics — specifically, in Riemannian geometry — geodesic convexity is a natural generalization of convexity for sets and functions to Riemannian manifolds. It is common to drop the prefix "geodesic" and refer simply to "convexi ...
for
Riemannian manifolds
In differential geometry, a Riemannian manifold or Riemannian space , so called after the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann, is a real, smooth manifold ''M'' equipped with a positive-definite inner product ''g'p'' on the tangent space ''T ...
(consider, for example, the Euclidean plane with a closed disc removed).
Examples
* Euclidean spaces, that is, the usual three-dimensional space and its analogues for other dimensions, are convex metric spaces. Given any two distinct points
and
in such a space, the set of all points
satisfying the above "triangle equality" forms the
line segment
In geometry, a line segment is a part of a straight line that is bounded by two distinct end points, and contains every point on the line that is between its endpoints. The length of a line segment is given by the Euclidean distance between ...
between
and
which always has other points except
and
in fact, it has a
continuum
Continuum may refer to:
* Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes
Mathematics
* Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...
of points.
* Any
convex set
In geometry, a subset of a Euclidean space, or more generally an affine space over the reals, is convex if, given any two points in the subset, the subset contains the whole line segment that joins them. Equivalently, a convex set or a convex r ...
in a Euclidean space is a convex metric space with the induced Euclidean norm. For
closed set
In geometry, topology, and related branches of mathematics, a closed set is a set whose complement is an open set. In a topological space, a closed set can be defined as a set which contains all its limit points. In a complete metric space, a cl ...
s the
converse
Converse may refer to:
Mathematics and logic
* Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement
** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication
** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...
is also true: if a closed subset of a Euclidean space together with the induced distance is a convex metric space, then it is a convex set (this is a particular case of a more general statement to be discussed below).
* A
circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...
is a convex metric space, if the distance between two points is defined as the length of the shortest arc on the circle connecting them.
Metric segments
Let
be a metric space (which is not necessarily convex). A subset
of
is called a metric segment between two distinct points
and
in
if there exists a closed interval