Definition
If f is a function which maps an interval of the real line to the real numbers, and is both continuous and injective then we can define the f-mean of two numbers
as
For numbers
- ,
the f-mean is
We require f to be injective in order for the inverse function to exist. Since is defined over an interval, lies within the domain of .
Since f is injective and continuous, it follows that f is a strictly monotonic function, and therefore that the f-mean is neither larger than the largest number of the tuple nor smaller than the smallest number in .
Read more about this topic: Quasi-arithmetic Mean
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“The man who knows governments most completely is he who troubles himself least about a definition which shall give their essence. Enjoying an intimate acquaintance with all their particularities in turn, he would naturally regard an abstract conception in which these were unified as a thing more misleading than enlightening.”
—William James (18421910)
“It is very hard to give a just definition of love. The most we can say of it is this: that in the soul, it is a desire to rule; in the spirit, it is a sympathy; and in the body, it is but a hidden and subtle desire to possessafter many mysterieswhat one loves.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (16131680)
“One definition of man is an intelligence served by organs.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)