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Radius of Gyration

A function quantifying the spatial extent of the structure of a curve. It is defined by

\begin{displaymath}
R_g={\sqrt{\int_0^\infty r^2p(r)\,dr}\over 2\int_0^\infty p(r)\,dr},
\end{displaymath}

where $p(r)$ is the Length Distribution Function. Small compact patterns have small $R_g$.


References

Pickover, C. A. Keys to Infinity. New York: Wiley, pp. 204-206, 1995.




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-25