Questions tagged [metric-spaces]
A metric space is a pair $(X,d)$, where $X$ is a set and $d:X \times X \to \mathbb{R}$ satisfies the following conditions for all $x,y,z \in X$. (Symmetry) $d(x,y)=d(y,x)$. (Identity of Indiscernibles) $d(x,y)=0$ if and only if $x=y$. (Triangle Inequality) $d(x,y)+d(y,z) \geq d(x,z)$.
442 questions
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Given a metric space $X$, is there a natural way to view the quasi-isometry group $QI(X)$ as a topological group?
Given a metric space $(X,d)$, we define $QI(X)$ as the set of quasi-isometries $f : X \to X$, modulo the equivalence relation
$$
f \sim g \ \ \ \ \text{ if and only if } \ \ \ \sup_{x \in X} \ d(f(x)...
14
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1
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Is there an 'unnatural' topological construction of an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic?
It's well known that while there is a natural topological construction of a nearly algebraically closed field of characteristic $0$, algebraically closed fields of positive characteristic seemingly ...
3
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For $\mathbb R^n \times Q \cong \mathbb R^m \times Q $ must $n = m$? ($Q$ is the Hilbert cube)
There are several theorems describing the topology on hyperspaces of convex subsets of $\mathbb R^n$ under the Hausdorff metric. For example Antonyan and Jonard-Pérez prove the space of compact convex ...
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1
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Is every subgroup closed in this complete, nondiscrete topological group?
Another question on Mathoverflow (here: Complete topological groups in which all subgroups are closed) asks if there exists a complete, nondiscrete topological group $G$ such that all subgroups of $G$...
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Metric for measuring linearity of finite set of points in $R^2$
Suppose one has $n > 2$ points in $R^2$, and one wants to measure "how linear" they are.
I want a metric such that (a) if all the points are in fact on the same line, the metric gives 1, (...
4
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1
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97
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Inner regularity property of covering number of metric spaces
Let $(X,d)$ be a complete metric space and $n\in\mathbb N$. Suppose that every finite subset $F\subset X$ can be covered by $n$ closed balls of $X$ (that is, $N(Y,d,1)\le n$, in terms of covering ...
3
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1
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Does complete and separable Wasserstein space imply a complete base space?
Also asked on math.SE.
Let $(Z,d)$ be a metric space, and for $p\geq 1$, consider a metric space $(W_p,d_{W_p})$ defined by
The Wasserstein Space $\begin{align}W_p = \{\mu|\mu\textrm{ is a Borel ...
1
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1
answer
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$d(x,y) = \min\{|x_1−y_1|+|x_2−y_2|, 1−|x_1−y_1|+|x_2−(1−y_2)|\}$ defines a metric on $[0,1)\times[0,1]$? [closed]
For $x,y \in [0,1)\times[0,1]$, let $d(x,y)$ be the minimum of $|x_1−y_1|+|x_2−y_2|$ and $1−|x_1−y_1|+|x_2−(1−y_2)|$. Prove or disprove that $d$ is a metric.
I was unable to find a counterexample to ...
49
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3
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What happens if you strip everything but the “between” relation in metric spaces
Given a metric space $(X,d)$ and three points $x,y,z$ in $X$, say that $y$ is between $x$ and $z$ if $d(x,z) = d(x,y) + d(y,z)$, and write $[x,z]$ for the set of points between $x$ and $z$.
Obviously,...
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1
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Embeddings of pseudo metric spaces into seminormed Spaces
There is a theorem stating that every metric space embeds isometrically into $\ell _{\infty}$.
My question: is there a generalized result for pseudo metric spaces embedding isometrically into semi-...
0
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1
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410
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Properties of doubling metric spaces
At present I work with tools that involves doubling metric space, my definition of DME is:
A metric space $X$ is called doubling with constant $N$, where $N \geq 1$ is an integer, if, for each ball $...
3
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Loop space, parametrization equivalence and the issue of giving a topology
This question has been motivated by p.165 of this book.
As in the cited link above, we consider the following space of paraemtrized piecewise $C^1$ loops
\begin{equation}
X:= \Bigl\{ x : [0,1] \to \...
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0
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33
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Obtaining the geodesic extension property by embedding in a larger space
Suppose $(X,d)$ is a Hadamard space. By considering basic examples like a compact interval in $\mathbb{R}$ or a closed unit ball in Hilbert space, $X$ need not have the geodesic extension property (...
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2
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142
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Is completion of measures equivalent to completion of sigma algebras as metric spaces with respect to measures?
An alternative way to get the Lebesgue $\sigma $-algebra $\mathcal{L} $ from the Borel algebra $B$ is to set $E\sim J$ iff $d(E,J):=\lambda(E\mathbin\Delta J)=0$ for $E,J\in B$. Then the completion of ...
2
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89
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Upper bound on the Levy-Prokhorov distance between the distributions of continuous Gaussian processes in terms of their covariances
Denote by $d$ the supremum metric on the space $C[0,T]$ of continuous real-valued functions on $[0,T]$:
$$
d(f,g) = \sup_{t \in [0,T]} |f(t)-g(t)|.
$$
Let $\rho$ be the Levy-Prokhorov metric on the ...
9
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1
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557
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Is it possible to prove that any two points of a convex complete metric space are connected by some metric segment without the axiom of choice?
We say that a point $m$ is between points $p$ and $q$ of a metric space $(M, d)$ if $d(p, q) = d(p, m) + d(m, q)$ and $p ≠ m ≠ q$.
A metric space $M$ is said to be metrically convex if given any two ...
2
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1
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49
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Is any submetrizable linear topology linearly submetrizable?
Let $E$ be a vector space. A topology $\tau$ on $E$ is called (linearly) submetrizable if there is a (linear) metrizable topology $\pi$ on $E$ which is weaker than $\tau$, i.e. $\pi\subset\tau$.
Is ...
6
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1
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Is the statement that every convex complete metric space has midpoints equivalent to the axiom of dependent choice (DC)?
We say that a point $m$ is between points $p$ and $q$ of a metric space $(M, d)$ if $d(p, q) = d(p, m) + d(m, q)$ and $p ≠ m ≠ q$. Furthermore, if the equality $d(p, m) = d(m, q)$ holds for $m$, we ...
4
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1
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143
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radius-diameter relationship of balls in metric spaces
What necessary and sufficient conditions must a metric $d$ of a metric space $(X,d)$
fulfill so that the open balls of radius $r$ have diameter $2r$?
5
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1
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Points of differentiability of squared distance from a point in metric spaces
I posted this same question on MSE with no answer.
Let $I:=(0, + \infty)$ and let $(X,d)$ be a complete and separable metric space. In this setting we say that $u : I \to X$ is absolutely continuous ...
0
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0
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37
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Does smallness of Gromov-Hausdorff distance on scale 2 imply smallness on GH distance on scale 1?
Let $(M,g)$ be a Riemannian manifold and $C(Y)$ be a metric cone over $Y$. Let $B_r$ denote the geodesic ball of radius $r$ centered at a fixed point $x$ in $M$ and $C_r$ denote the metric ball of ...
8
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0
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149
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Do the $\ell^{\infty}$ and $\ell^1$ norms yield minimal doubling constants amongst all norms on $\mathbb{R}^n$?
Setting:
Let $X:=\mathbb{R}^n$ for some positive integer $n$. For each $1\le p\le \infty$ let $d_p$ denote the metric induced by the $\ell^p_n$ norm thereon.
Note that, the doubling constant of a ...
0
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0
answers
65
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Random covering on rectangles
Let $\mathrm{Rect}$ denote the class of axis-parallel rectangles $r: \mathbb{R}^2 \to \{0,1\}$, assigning $1$ if the point is inside the rectangle and $0$ otherwise. Let $\mathcal{D}$ be a ...
2
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1
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236
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A sensible topology on the space of continuous linear maps between Fréchet spaces
Let $V_1$ and $V_2$ be Fréchet spaces. Let $\{ \lVert \cdot \rVert_{1,n} \}_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ be a family of seminorms for $V_1$ and similarly $\{ \lVert \cdot \rVert_{2,n} \}_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ ...
2
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1
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92
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Skorokhod-like construction for sequences of random probability measures
Let $(X_i)$ be a sequence of i.i.d. random vectors with distribution $P$ on $[0,1]^d$.
Let $D \equiv D([0,1]^d)$ be the multivariate Skorokhod space, equiped with a metric $d$ that makes it Polish. ...
13
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1
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329
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Is there a metric compactification that doesn't create new paths?
Every separable metric space $A$ has a metrizable compactification, i.e. a compact metrizable space $X$ for which $A$ embeds topologically as a dense subspace of $X$. There are many approaches to ...
5
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1
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483
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Can you always extend an isometry of a subset of a Hilbert Space to the whole space?
I remember that I read somewhere that the following theorem is true:
Let $A\subseteq H$ be a subset of a real Hilbert space $H$ and let $f : A \to A$ be a distance-preserving bijection, i.e. a ...
3
votes
1
answer
100
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Which posets arise from closed, transitive relations?
This a follow up question of Chain components and posets.
Let $X$ be a compact metric space and $R\subset X^2$ a closed, transitive relation. Denote by $|R|=\{x\in X: xR x\}$ the diagonal of $R$.
The ...
4
votes
1
answer
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Length spaces with continuous length functional: is this set Gromov-Hausdorff closed?
As far as I can tell, a major motivation for the study of length spaces is that they arise as Gromov-Hausdorff limits of Riemannian manifolds. Specifically,
A complete connected Riemannian manifold ...
4
votes
1
answer
224
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More than one recurrence point (Birkhoff)
Birkhoff's recurrence theorem states that for a compact metric space $X$ and a continuous function $T: X\rightarrow X$, there is a recurrence point $x\in X$; the latter means that for any ...
1
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1
answer
170
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Billingsley convergence of probability measures - inequality used in Theorem 2
On Page 8, Billingsley defines $f(x)=(1-\rho(x,F)/\epsilon)^{+}$ where $\rho(x,F)$ is the metric distance from the set $F$. He then states $|f(x)-f(y)|\leq \rho(x,y)/\epsilon$ and goes on to use this ...
12
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1
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879
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Partition of unity without AC
Several existence theorems for partition of unity are known. For example (source),
Proposition 3.1. If $(X,\tau)$ is a paracompact topological space,
then for every open cover $\{U_i \subset X\}_{i \...
2
votes
1
answer
162
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A topological characterization of trees?
Motivated by this complex dynamics question:
Let $X$ be a compact, path-connected metric space. Suppose there exist an integer $N\geq 2$ and distinct points $p_1,\dots,p_N\in X$ such that no proper ...
2
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2
answers
293
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Optimal transport: the existence of an optimal pair of $c$-conjugate functions
$\newcommand{\diff}{ \, \mathrm d}$
Let
$X,Y$ be Polish spaces,
$\mathcal C_b(X)$ the space of all real-valued bounded continuous functions on $X$,
$\mathcal P(X)$ the space of Borel probability ...
1
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0
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42
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Genaralizing the metric expression present in the quadrilateral inequality
Let $(X, d)$ be a metric space. In Sato - An alternative proof of Berg and Nikolaev’s characterization of CAT(0)-spaces via quadrilateral inequality it is stated that if $X$ is a geodesic space, then ...
0
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0
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Definition of semi-metric for empirical process theory
In the following lecture notes on empirical processes (https://www.stat.columbia.edu/~bodhi/Talks/Emp-Proc-Lecture-Notes.pdf) a semi-metric space $(\Theta, d)$ is defined in the following way: for any ...
0
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0
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55
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Any useful bases for the topology induced by the $t$-Wasserstein distance?
I am working on $\mathbb R ^d$ equipped with the usual Euclidean metric. I know of one nice base for $\mathcal W _t$, namely: $$\left\{ B_p (r) : r>0, p=\sum_{i=1} ^n \alpha_i \delta_{x_i},\text{ ...
0
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0
answers
77
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Wasserstein space isomorphic to original space?
Is there a complete measurable metric space $(X,d)$ for which its $p$-Wasserstein space $W(X)$ is isometrically isomorphic to $(X,d)$ for some $p \in [1,\infty]$?
Note that there is a canonical non-...
2
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1
answer
79
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Hausdorff-Lipschitz continuity of cone correspondence
Let $\mathbb{R}_+$ denote the strictly positive real numbers, let $\mathcal{X} \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ and $\mathcal{P} \subset \mathbb{R}^m$ be compact and convex subsets, let
\begin{equation}
f: \...
-3
votes
1
answer
211
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Can a Polish space have two different topologies?
Let $X$ be a Polish space with the compatible metric being $d_1$. So $(X,d_1)$ is a separable complete metric space, and the topology is generated by $d_1$.
Can there be a metric $d_2$ such that $(X,...
2
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0
answers
116
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For Polish $X,Y$, $L^p(X,Y)$ is separable
Let $X$ and $Y$ be Polish spaces. Equip $X$ with a Borel probability measure $\mu_X$ and $Y$ with a metric $d_Y$. We can define the $L^p$ space as follows:
Definition. Define
$\begin{align}L^p(X,Y) = \...
1
vote
1
answer
82
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Lipschitz approximation of a probability measure with finite $1$-st moment by the ones with finite $p$-th moment
For $p \in [1, \infty)$, let $\mathcal P_p (\mathbb{R^d})$ be the space of Borel probability measures on $\mathbb R^d$ with finite $p$-th moment. We endow $\mathcal P_p (\mathbb{R^d})$ with the ...
1
vote
1
answer
132
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Variants of Dirichlet-type function as a pointwise limit of continuous functions
Problem
Suppose $f$ is a function from a complete metric space $X$ to a metric space $Y$, and suppose $Y$ has points $y_{0}$, $y_{1}$ such that the subsets $f^{-1}(y_{0})$ and $f^{-1}(y_{1})$ are both ...
3
votes
0
answers
132
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Is the Schwartz space a tame Frechet space?
I ran into the following definition of tame Frechet spaces and Nash-Moser therem.
It says that the space of smooth functions on a compact manifold is tame Frechet.
However, I wonder if
The Schwartz ...
-2
votes
1
answer
141
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Interpretation and validity of modified Heisenberg uncertainty principle in a metric context? [closed]
Considering the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which states $\Delta x \cdot \Delta p \geq h$, I've explored a modified version by computing $(\Delta x + 1)(\Delta p + 1) \geq \Delta x \cdot \Delta ...
6
votes
0
answers
184
views
When is a distance space dominated by a metric space?
A distance space is a pair $(X,d)$ where $X$ is a set and $d:X \times X \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ is a symmetric, non-negative map such that $d(x,x)=0$ for all $x \in X$. These are sometimes called semi-...
0
votes
0
answers
618
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The set of continuous bounded functions $f:X\to Y$ is dense in $L^p(X,Y)$ where $X,Y$ are Polish
It is well known that the set of real-valued continuous functions with compact support is dense in $L^p(\mu)$ where $\mu$ is a Radon measure (see e.g. [Folland, Proposition 7.9]) Clearly, the set of ...
1
vote
2
answers
484
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Is there good evidence that topological spaces are the correct way to study the general theory of continuity? [closed]
My reason for asking is that the theory of metric spaces is so clean and so many significant theorems can be proved for an arbitrary metric space (which makes it plausible to me that metric spaces are ...
2
votes
0
answers
187
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Statistical invariants of Riemannian manifolds
$\DeclareMathOperator\diam{diam}\DeclareMathOperator\rad{rad}\DeclareMathOperator\iso{iso}\DeclareMathOperator\com{com}\DeclareMathOperator\con{con}$A cheap way of defining invariants of Riemannian ...
2
votes
0
answers
95
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Can we control the Wasserstein metric between $\mu$ and $\nu$ by their moment difference?
Fix $p \in [1, \infty)$. Let $(\mathcal P_p(\mathbb R^d), W_p)$ be the Wasserstein space of all Borel probability measures on $\mathbb R^d$ with finite $p$-th moment. Let $D_p$ be the collection of ...