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Concept
Convex set
Summary
In geometry, a subset of a Euclidean space, or more generally an affine space over the reals, is convex if, given any two points in the subset, the subset contains the whole line segment that joins them. Equivalently, a convex set or a convex region is a subset that intersects every line into a single line segment (possibly empty).
For example, a solid cube is a convex set, but anything that is hollow or has an indent, for example, a crescent shape, is not convex.
The boundary of a convex set is always a convex curve. The intersection of all the convex sets that contain a given subset A of Euclidean space is called the convex hull of A. It is the smallest convex set containing A.
A convex function is a real-valued function defined on an interval with the property that its epigraph (the set of points on or above the graph of the function) is a convex set. Convex minimization is a subfield of optimization that studies the problem of minimizing convex functions over convex sets. The branch of mathematics devoted to the study of properties of convex sets and convex functions is called convex analysis.
The notion of a convex set can be generalized as described below.
Let S be a vector space or an affine space over the real numbers, or, more generally, over some ordered field (this includes Euclidean spaces, which are affine spaces). A subset C of S is convex if, for all x and y in C, the line segment connecting x and y is included in C.
This means that the affine combination (1 − t)x + ty belongs to C for all x,y in C and t in the interval [0, 1]. This implies that convexity is invariant under affine transformations. Further, it implies that a convex set in a real or complex topological vector space is path-connected (and therefore also connected).
A set C is if every point on the line segment connecting x and y other than the endpoints is inside the topological interior of C. A closed convex subset is strictly convex if and only if every one of its boundary points is an extreme point.
A set C is absolutely convex if it is convex and balanced.
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