Minimum Distance

The term minimum distance may refer to

  • Minimum distance estimation, a statistical method for fitting a model to data
  • Closest pair of points problem, the algorithmic problem of finding two points that have the minimum distance among a larger set of points
  • Euclidean distance, the minimum length of any curve between two points in the plane
  • Shortest path problem, the minimum length of a path between two points in a graph
  • The minimum distance of a block code in coding theory, the smallest Hamming distance between any two of its code words

Famous quotes containing the words minimum and/or distance:

    “After decades of unappreciated drudgery, American women just don’t do housework any more—that is, beyond the minimum that is required in order to clear a path from the bedroom to the front door so they can get off to work in the mourning.”
    —Barbara Ehrenreich (20th century)

    “A solitary traveler whom we saw perambulating in the distance loomed like a giant. He appeared to walk slouchingly, as if held up from above by straps under his shoulders, as much as supported by the plain below. Men and boys would have appeared alike at a little distance, there being no object by which to measure them. Indeed, to an inlander, the Cape landscape is a constant mirage.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)