In mathematics, the ε-covering number of a metric space (X, d), for some ε > 0, is the minimum number of balls of radius that are needed to cover X.
A related concept is the ε-packing number which is defined as the maximum number of disjoint balls of radius ε that fit into X.
Famous quotes containing the words covering and/or number:
“Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended
lying,
Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket,
Gray and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the world’s total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)