A set of at least points in -dimensional Euclidean space is said to be in general linear position (or just general position) if no hyperplane contains more than points — i.e. the points do not satisfy any more linear relations than they must. A set containing points for is in general linear position if and only if no -dimensional flat contains all points.
A set of points in general linear position is also said to be affinely independent (this is the affine analog of linear independence of vectors, or more precisely of maximal rank), and points in general linear position in affine d-space are an affine basis. See affine transformation for more.
Similarly, n vectors in an n-dimensional vector space are linearly independent if and only if the points they define in projective space (of dimension ) are in general linear position.
If a set of points is not in general linear position, it is called a degenerate case or degenerate configuration — they satisfy a linear relation that need not always hold.
A fundamental application is that, in the plane, five points determine a conic, as long as the points are in general linear position (no three are collinear).
Read more about this topic: General Position
Famous quotes containing the words general and/or position:
“We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“On fields all drenched with blood he made his record in war, abstained from lawless violence when left on the plantation, and received his freedom in peace with moderation. But he holds in this Republic the position of an alien race among a people impatient of a rival. And in the eyes of some it seems that no valor redeems him, no social advancement nor individual development wipes off the ban which clings to him.”
—Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911)