The term minimum distance may refer to
- Minimum distance estimation, a statistical method for fitting a model to data
- Closest pair of points problem, the algorithmic problem of finding two points that have the minimum distance among a larger set of points
- Euclidean distance, the minimum length of any curve between two points in the plane
- Shortest path problem, the minimum length of a path between two points in a graph
- The minimum distance of a block code in coding theory, the smallest Hamming distance between any two of its code words
Famous quotes containing the words minimum and/or distance:
“There are ... two minimum conditions necessary and sufficient for the existence of a legal system. On the one hand those rules of behavior which are valid according to the system’s ultimate criteria of validity must be generally obeyed, and on the other hand, its rules of recognition specifying the criteria of legal validity and its rules of change and adjudication must be effectively accepted as common public standards of official behavior by its officials.”
—H.L.A. (Herbert Lionel Adolphus)
“A solitary traveler whom we saw perambulating in the distance loomed like a giant. He appeared to walk slouchingly, as if held up from above by straps under his shoulders, as much as supported by the plain below. Men and boys would have appeared alike at a little distance, there being no object by which to measure them. Indeed, to an inlander, the Cape landscape is a constant mirage.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)