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Distance Geometry Problem
Distance geometry is the branch of mathematics concerned with characterizing and studying sets of points based ''only'' on given values of the distances between pairs of points. More abstractly, it is the study of semimetric spaces and the isometric transformations between them. In this view, it can be considered as a subject within general topology. Historically, the first result in distance geometry is Heron's formula in 1st century AD. The modern theory began in 19th century with work by Arthur Cayley, followed by more extensive developments in the 20th century by Karl Menger and others. Distance geometry problems arise whenever one needs to infer the shape of a configuration of points ( relative positions) from the distances between them, such as in biology, sensor networks, surveying, navigation, cartography, and physics. Introduction and definitions The concepts of distance geometry will first be explained by describing two particular problems. First problem: hyper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Characterization (mathematics)
In mathematics, a characterization of an object is a set of conditions that, while possibly different from the definition of the object, is logically equivalent to it. To say that "Property ''P'' characterizes object ''X''" is to say that not only does ''X'' have property ''P'', but that ''X'' is the ''only'' thing that has property ''P'' (i.e., ''P'' is a defining property of ''X''). Similarly, a set of properties ''P'' is said to characterize ''X'', when these properties distinguish ''X'' from all other objects. Even though a characterization identifies an object in a unique way, several characterizations can exist for a single object. Common mathematical expressions for a characterization of ''X'' in terms of ''P'' include "''P'' is necessary and sufficient for ''X''", and "''X'' holds if and only if ''P''". It is also common to find statements such as "Property ''Q'' characterizes ''Y'' up to isomorphism". The first type of statement says in different words that the extension o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperbolic Navigation
Hyperbolic navigation is a class of radio navigation systems in which a navigation receiver instrument is used to determine location based on the difference in timing of radio waves received from radio navigation beacon transmitters. Such systems rely on the ability of two widely separated stations to broadcast a signal that is highly correlated in time. Typical systems broadcast either short pulses at the same time, or continual signals that are identical in phase. A receiver located at the midpoint between the two stations will receive the signals at the same time or have identical phase, but at any other location the signal from the closer station will be received first or have a different phase. Determining the location of a receiver requires that the two synchronized stations be tuned in at the same time so the signals can be compared. This reveals a ''difference'' in time, corresponding to a relative distance closer to one station or the other. Plotting all the locations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclic Quadrilateral
In geometry, a cyclic quadrilateral or inscribed quadrilateral is a quadrilateral (four-sided polygon) whose vertex (geometry), vertices all lie on a single circle, making the sides Chord (geometry), chords of the circle. This circle is called the ''circumcircle'' or ''circumscribed circle'', and the vertices are said to be ''concyclic''. The center of the circle and its radius are called the ''circumcenter'' and the ''circumradius'' respectively. Usually the quadrilateral is assumed to be convex polygon, convex, but there are also Crossed quadrilateral, crossed cyclic quadrilaterals. The formulas and properties given below are valid in the convex case. The word cyclic is from the Ancient Greek (''kuklos''), which means "circle" or "wheel". All triangles have a circumcircle, but not all quadrilaterals do. An example of a quadrilateral that cannot be cyclic is a non-square rhombus. The section Cyclic quadrilateral#Characterizations, characterizations below states what necessar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmagupta's Formula
In Euclidean geometry, Brahmagupta's formula, named after the 7th century Indian mathematician, is used to find the area of any convex cyclic quadrilateral (one that can be inscribed in a circle) given the lengths of the sides. Its generalized version, ''Bretschneider's formula'', can be used with non-cyclic quadrilateral. ''Heron's formula'' can be thought as a special case of the Brahmagupta's formula for triangles. Formulation Brahmagupta's formula gives the area of a convex cyclic quadrilateral whose sides have lengths , , , as : K=\sqrt where , the semiperimeter, is defined to be : s=\frac. This formula generalizes Heron's formula for the area of a triangle. A triangle may be regarded as a quadrilateral with one side of length zero. From this perspective, as (or any one side) approaches zero, a cyclic quadrilateral converges into a cyclic triangle (all triangles are cyclic), and Brahmagupta's formula simplifies to Heron's formula. If the semiperimeter is not used, Bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degeneracy (mathematics)
In mathematics, a degenerate case is a limiting case of a class of objects which appears to be qualitatively different from (and usually simpler than) the rest of the class; "degeneracy" is the condition of being a degenerate case. The definitions of many classes of composite or structured objects often implicitly include inequalities. For example, the angles and the side lengths of a triangle are supposed to be positive. The limiting cases, where one or several of these inequalities become equalities, are degeneracies. In the case of triangles, one has a ''degenerate triangle'' if at least one side length or angle is zero. Equivalently, it becomes a "line segment". Often, the degenerate cases are the exceptional cases where changes to the usual dimension or the cardinality of the object (or of some part of it) occur. For example, a triangle is an object of dimension two, and a degenerate triangle is contained in a line, which makes its dimension one. This is similar to the cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generic Property
In mathematics, properties that hold for "typical" examples are called generic properties. For instance, a generic property of a class of functions is one that is true of "almost all" of those functions, as in the statements, "A generic polynomial does not have a root at zero," or "A generic square matrix is invertible." As another example, a generic property of a space is a property that holds at "almost all" points of the space, as in the statement, "If is a smooth function between smooth manifolds, then a generic point of is not a critical value of ." (This is by Sard's theorem.) There are many different notions of "generic" (what is meant by "almost all") in mathematics, with corresponding dual notions of "almost none" (negligible set); the two main classes are: * In measure theory, a generic property is one that holds almost everywhere, with the dual concept being null set, meaning "with probability 0". * In topology and algebraic geometry, a generic property is one t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simplex
In geometry, a simplex (plural: simplexes or simplices) is a generalization of the notion of a triangle or tetrahedron to arbitrary dimensions. The simplex is so-named because it represents the simplest possible polytope in any given dimension. For example, * a 0-dimensional simplex is a point, * a 1-dimensional simplex is a line segment, * a 2-dimensional simplex is a triangle, * a 3-dimensional simplex is a tetrahedron, and * a 4-dimensional simplex is a 5-cell. Specifically, a -simplex is a -dimensional polytope that is the convex hull of its vertices. More formally, suppose the points u_0, \dots, u_k are affinely independent, which means that the vectors u_1 - u_0,\dots, u_k-u_0 are linearly independent. Then, the simplex determined by them is the set of points C = \left\. A regular simplex is a simplex that is also a regular polytope. A regular -simplex may be constructed from a regular -simplex by connecting a new vertex to all original vertices by the common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affine Independence
In mathematics, an affine space is a geometric structure that generalizes some of the properties of Euclidean spaces in such a way that these are independent of the concepts of distance and measure of angles, keeping only the properties related to parallelism and ratio of lengths for parallel line segments. Affine space is the setting for affine geometry. As in Euclidean space, the fundamental objects in an affine space are called ''points'', which can be thought of as locations in the space without any size or shape: zero-dimensional. Through any pair of points an infinite straight line can be drawn, a one-dimensional set of points; through any three points that are not collinear, a two-dimensional plane can be drawn; and, in general, through points in general position, a -dimensional flat or affine subspace can be drawn. Affine space is characterized by a notion of pairs of parallel lines that lie within the same plane but never meet each-other (non-parallel lines within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canonical Form
In mathematics and computer science, a canonical, normal, or standard form of a mathematical object is a standard way of presenting that object as a mathematical expression. Often, it is one which provides the simplest representation of an object and allows it to be identified in a unique way. The distinction between "canonical" and "normal" forms varies from subfield to subfield. In most fields, a canonical form specifies a ''unique'' representation for every object, while a normal form simply specifies its form, without the requirement of uniqueness. The canonical form of a positive integer in decimal representation is a finite sequence of digits that does not begin with zero. More generally, for a class of objects on which an equivalence relation is defined, a canonical form consists in the choice of a specific object in each class. For example: *Jordan normal form is a canonical form for matrix similarity. *The row echelon form is a canonical form, when one considers as equ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euclidean Space
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of geometry, intended to represent physical space. Originally, in Euclid's ''Elements'', it was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, but in modern mathematics there are ''Euclidean spaces'' of any positive integer dimension ''n'', which are called Euclidean ''n''-spaces when one wants to specify their dimension. For ''n'' equal to one or two, they are commonly called respectively Euclidean lines and Euclidean planes. The qualifier "Euclidean" is used to distinguish Euclidean spaces from other spaces that were later considered in physics and modern mathematics. Ancient Greek geometers introduced Euclidean space for modeling the physical space. Their work was collected by the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid in his ''Elements'', with the great innovation of '' proving'' all properties of the space as theorems, by starting from a few fundamental properties, called '' postulates'', which either were considered as evid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argumentum A Fortiori
''Argumentum a fortiori'' (literally "argument from the stronger eason) (, ) is a form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in, and even more certain than, the first. Usage American usage In ''Garner's Modern American Usage'', Garner says writers sometimes use ''a fortiori'' as an adjective as in "a usage to be resisted". He provides this example: "Clearly, if laws depend so heavily on public acquiescence, the case of conventions is an ''a fortiori'' ead ''even more compelling''one." Jewish usage ''A fortiori'' arguments are regularly used in Jewish law under the name kal va-chomer, literally "mild and severe", the mild case being the one we know about, while trying to infer about the more severe case. Relation to ancient Indian logic In ancient Indian logic (nyaya), the instrument of argumentation known as ''kaimutika'' or ''kaimutya nyaya'' is found to have a resem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triangle Inequality
In mathematics, the triangle inequality states that for any triangle, the sum of the lengths of any two sides must be greater than or equal to the length of the remaining side. This statement permits the inclusion of Degeneracy (mathematics)#Triangle, degenerate triangles, but some authors, especially those writing about elementary geometry, will exclude this possibility, thus leaving out the possibility of equality. If , , and are the lengths of the sides of a triangle then the triangle inequality states that :c \leq a + b , with equality only in the degenerate case of a triangle with zero area. In Euclidean geometry and some other geometries, the triangle inequality is a theorem about vectors and vector lengths (Norm (mathematics), norms): :\, \mathbf u + \mathbf v\, \leq \, \mathbf u\, + \, \mathbf v\, , where the length of the third side has been replaced by the length of the vector sum . When and are real numbers, they can be viewed as vectors in \R^1, and the triang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
