Star-Shaped Cross Order
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In
geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
, a
set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
S in the
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 ...
\R^n is called a star domain (or star-convex set, star-shaped set or radially convex set) if there exists an s_0 \in S such that for all s \in S, the
line segment In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line (mathematics), straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every Point (geometry), point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special c ...
from s_0 to s lies in S. This definition is immediately generalizable to any
real Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rathe ...
, or
complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
,
vector space In mathematics and physics, a vector space (also called a linear space) is a set (mathematics), set whose elements, often called vector (mathematics and physics), ''vectors'', can be added together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers called sc ...
. Intuitively, if one thinks of S as a region surrounded by a wall, S is a star domain if one can find a vantage point s_0 in S from which any point s in S is within line-of-sight. A similar, but distinct, concept is that of a
radial set In mathematics, a subset A \subseteq X of a linear space X is radial at a given point a_0 \in A if for every x \in X there exists a real t_x > 0 such that for every t \in , t_x a_0 + t x \in A. Geometrically, this means A is radial at a_0 if for ...
.


Definition

Given two points x and y in a vector space X (such as
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 ...
\R^n), the
convex hull In geometry, the convex hull, convex envelope or convex closure of a shape is the smallest convex set that contains it. The convex hull may be defined either as the intersection of all convex sets containing a given subset of a Euclidean space, ...
of \ is called the and it is denoted by \left , y\right~:=~ \left\ ~=~ x + (y - x)
, 1 The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...
where z
, 1 The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...
:= \ for every vector z. A subset S of a vector space X is said to be s_0 \in S if for every s \in S, the closed interval \left _0, s\right\subseteq S. A set S is and is called a if there exists some point s_0 \in S such that S is star-shaped at s_0. A set that is star-shaped at the origin is sometimes called a . Such sets are closely related to
Minkowski functional In mathematics, in the field of functional analysis, a Minkowski functional (after Hermann Minkowski) or gauge function is a function that recovers a notion of distance on a linear space. If K is a subset of a real or complex vector space X, ...
s.


Examples

* Any line or plane in \R^n is a star domain. * A line or a plane with a single point removed is not a star domain. * If A is a set in \R^n, the set B = \ obtained by connecting all points in A to the origin is a star domain. * A
cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
-shaped figure is a star domain but is not convex. * A
star-shaped polygon In geometry, a star-shaped polygon is a polygonal region in the plane that is a star domain, that is, a polygon that contains a point from which the entire polygon boundary is visible. Formally, a polygon is star-shaped if there exists a po ...
is a star domain whose boundary is a sequence of connected line segments.


Properties

* Convexity: any
non-empty In mathematics, the empty set or void set is the unique set having no elements; its size or cardinality (count of elements in a set) is zero. Some axiomatic set theories ensure that the empty set exists by including an axiom of empty set, whil ...
convex set In geometry, a set of points is convex if it contains every line segment between two points in the set. For example, a solid cube (geometry), cube is a convex set, but anything that is hollow or has an indent, for example, a crescent shape, is n ...
is a star domain. A set is convex if and only if it is a star domain with respect to each point in that set. * Closure and interior: The closure of a star domain is a star domain, but the
interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...
of a star domain is not necessarily a star domain. * Contraction: Every star domain is a
contractible In mathematics, a topological space ''X'' is contractible if the identity map on ''X'' is null-homotopic, i.e. if it is homotopic to some constant map. Intuitively, a contractible space is one that can be continuously shrunk to a point within t ...
set, via a straight-line homotopy. In particular, any star domain is a
simply connected In topology, a topological space is called simply connected (or 1-connected, or 1-simply connected) if it is path-connected and every Path (topology), path between two points can be continuously transformed into any other such path while preserving ...
set. * Shrinking: Every star domain, and only a star domain, can be "shrunken into itself"; that is, for every dilation ratio r < 1, the star domain can be dilated by a ratio r such that the dilated star domain is contained in the original star domain. * Union and intersection: The union or
intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
of two star domains is not necessarily a star domain. * Balance: Given W \subseteq X, the set \bigcap_ u W (where u ranges over all
unit length Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...
scalars) is a
balanced set In linear algebra and related areas of mathematics a balanced set, circled set or disk in a vector space (over a field \mathbb with an absolute value function , \cdot , ) is a set S such that a S \subseteq S for all scalars a satisfying , a, \ ...
whenever W is a star shaped at the origin (meaning that 0 \in W and r w \in W for all 0 \leq r \leq 1 and w \in W). * Diffeomorphism: A non-empty open star domain S in \R^n is
diffeomorphic In mathematics, a diffeomorphism is an isomorphism of differentiable manifolds. It is an invertible function that maps one differentiable manifold to another such that both the function and its inverse are continuously differentiable. Defini ...
to \R^n. * Binary operators: If A and B are star domains, then so is the Cartesian product A\times B, and the sum A + B. * Linear transformations: If A is a star domain, then so is every linear transformation of A.


See also

* * * * * * * * * * *
Star-shaped preferences In social choice theory, star-shaped preferences are a class of preferences over points in a Euclidean space. An agent with star-shaped preferences has a unique ideal point (optimum), where he is maximally satisfied. Moreover, he becomes less and le ...


References

* Ian Stewart, David Tall, ''Complex Analysis''. Cambridge University Press, 1983, , * C.R. Smith, ''A characterization of star-shaped sets'',
American Mathematical Monthly ''The American Mathematical Monthly'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics. It was established by Benjamin Finkel in 1894 and is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Mathematical Association of America. It is an exposi ...
, Vol. 75, No. 4 (April 1968). p. 386, , * * *


External links

* {{Convex analysis and variational analysis Convex analysis Euclidean geometry Functional analysis Linear algebra