In Vector Spaces
Let S be a vector space over the real numbers, or, more generally, some ordered field. This includes Euclidean spaces. A set C in S is said to be convex if, for all x and y in C and all t in the interval, the point
- (1 − t ) x + t y
is in C. In other words, every point on the line segment connecting x and y is in C. This implies that a convex set in a real or complex topological vector space is path-connected, thus connected.
A set C is called absolutely convex if it is convex and balanced.
The convex subsets of R (the set of real numbers) are simply the intervals of R. Some examples of convex subsets of the Euclidean plane are solid regular polygons, solid triangles, and intersections of solid triangles. Some examples of convex subsets of a Euclidean 3-dimensional space are the Archimedean solids and the Platonic solids. The Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra are examples of non-convex sets.
Read more about this topic: Convex Set
Famous quotes containing the word spaces:
“In any case, raw aggression is thought to be the peculiar province of men, as nurturing is the peculiar province of women.... The psychologist Erik Erikson discovered that, while little girls playing with blocks generally create pleasant interior spaces and attractive entrances, little boys are inclined to pile up the blocks as high as they can and then watch them fall down: the contemplation of ruins, Erikson observes, is a masculine specialty.”
—Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938)