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Metric (analysis)

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A metric d on a set S is a function d: S \times S \to \mathbb{R} which obeys the following three properties:

  • Symmetry: d(x, y) = d(y, x) for all points x, y \in S.
  • Positivity: d(x, y) \geq 0 for all x, y \in S and d(x, y) = 0 if and only if x = y.
  • The triangle inequality: d(x, y) + d(y, z) \geq d(x, z) for all x, y, z \in S.

Together, the set S and the metric d form a metric space.

Common metrics


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