In mathematics, the Fréchet distance is a
measure of similarity between
curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
s that takes into account the location and ordering of the points along the curves. It is named after
Maurice Fréchet Maurice may refer to:
People
*Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
* Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
.
Intuitive definition
Imagine a person traversing a finite curved path while walking their dog on a leash, with the dog traversing a separate finite curved path. Each can vary their speed to keep slack in the leash, but neither can move backwards. The Fréchet distance between the two curves is the length of the shortest leash sufficient for both to traverse their separate paths from start to finish. Note that the definition is symmetric with respect to the two curves—the Fréchet distance would be the same if the dog were walking its owner.
Formal definition
Let
be 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 sett ...
. A
curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
in
is a
continuous
Continuity or continuous may refer to:
Mathematics
* Continuity (mathematics), the opposing concept to discreteness; common examples include
** Continuous probability distribution or random variable in probability and statistics
** Continuous g ...
map from the
unit interval
In mathematics, the unit interval is the closed interval , that is, the set of all real numbers that are greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1. It is often denoted ' (capital letter ). In addition to its role in real analys ...
into
, i.e.,
. A
reparameterization of