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Equivalently, a function is convex if its epigraph (the set of points on or above the graph of the function) is a convex set. In simple terms, a convex function graph is shaped like a cup (or a straight line like a linear function), while a concave function's graph is shaped like a cap .
A function f is concave over a convex set if and only if the function −f is a convex function over the set. The sum of two concave functions is itself concave and so is the pointwise minimum of two concave functions, i.e. the set of concave functions on a given domain form a semifield.
is a convex set. [2] The epigraphs of extended real-valued functions play a role in convex analysis that is analogous to the role played by graphs of real-valued function in real analysis. Specifically, the epigraph of an extended real-valued function provides geometric intuition that can be used to help formula or prove conjectures.
The second derivative of a function f can be used to determine the concavity of the graph of f. [2] A function whose second derivative is positive is said to be concave up (also referred to as convex), meaning that the tangent line near the point where it touches the function will lie below the graph of the function.
Every concave function that is nonnegative on its domain is log-concave. However, the reverse does not necessarily hold. An example is the Gaussian function f(x) = exp(−x 2 /2) which is log-concave since log f(x) = −x 2 /2 is a concave function of x. But f is not concave since the second derivative is positive for | x | > 1:
In this graph, triangle 1-2-5 is convex, but path 2-3-4 is not, because it does not include one of the two shortest paths from 2 to 4. In metric graph theory, a convex subgraph of an undirected graph G is a subgraph that includes every shortest path in G between two of its vertices. Thus, it is analogous to the definition of a convex set in ...
Convex geometry is a relatively young mathematical discipline. Although the first known contributions to convex geometry date back to antiquity and can be traced in the works of Euclid and Archimedes, it became an independent branch of mathematics at the turn of the 20th century, mainly due to the works of Hermann Brunn and Hermann Minkowski in dimensions two and three.
A convex curve (black) forms a connected subset of the boundary of a convex set (blue), and has a supporting line (red) through each of its points. A parabola, a convex curve that is the graph of the convex function () = In geometry, a convex curve is a plane curve that has a supporting line through each of its points.