title: Generalization of distance to higher dimensional objects.
abstract: The measurement of distance between two objects is generalized to the case where the objects are no longer points but are one-dimensional. Additional concepts such as nonextensibility, curvature constraints, and noncrossing become central to the notion of distance. Analytical and numerical results are given for some specific examples, and applications to biopolymers are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z1. steve@physics.ubc.ca
authors.forename: Steven S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Plotkin
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008962:Models, Theoretical
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers