In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, two
non-empty subset
In mathematics, a Set (mathematics), set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all Element (mathematics), elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they a ...
s ''A'' and ''B'' of a given
metric space
In mathematics, a metric space is a Set (mathematics), set together with a notion of ''distance'' between its Element (mathematics), elements, usually called point (geometry), points. The distance is measured by a function (mathematics), functi ...
(''X'', ''d'') are said to be positively separated if the
infimum
In mathematics, the infimum (abbreviated inf; : infima) of a subset S of a partially ordered set P is the greatest element in P that is less than or equal to each element of S, if such an element exists. If the infimum of S exists, it is unique ...
:
(Some authors also specify that ''A'' and ''B'' should be
disjoint sets
In set theory in mathematics and Logic#Formal logic, formal logic, two Set (mathematics), sets are said to be disjoint sets if they have no element (mathematics), element in common. Equivalently, two disjoint sets are sets whose intersection (se ...
; however, this adds nothing to the definition, since if ''A'' and ''B'' have some common point ''p'', then ''d''(''p'', ''p'') = 0, and so the infimum above is clearly 0 in that case.)
For example, on the real line with the usual distance, the
open interval
In mathematics, a real interval is the set (mathematics), set of all real numbers lying between two fixed endpoints with no "gaps". Each endpoint is either a real number or positive or negative infinity, indicating the interval extends without ...
s (0, 2) and (3, 4) are positively separated, while (3, 4) and (4, 5) are not. In two dimensions, the graph of ''y'' = 1/''x'' for ''x'' > 0 and the ''x''-axis are not positively separated.
References
*
{{metric-geometry-stub
Metric geometry