Free complete Wasserstein algebras
Abstract
We present an algebraic account of the Wasserstein distances $W_p$ on complete metric spaces, for $p \geq 1$. This is part of a program of a quantitative algebraic theory of effects in programming languages. In particular, we give axioms, parametric in $p$, for algebras over metric spaces equipped with probabilistic choice operations. The axioms say that the operations form a barycentric algebra and that the metric satisfies a property typical of the Wasserstein distance $W_p$. We show that the free complete such algebra over a complete metric space is that of the Radon probability measures with finite moments of order $p$, equipped with the Wasserstein distance as metric and with the usual binary convex sums as operations.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- February 2018
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.1802.07366
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1802.07366
- Bibcode:
- 2018arXiv180207366M
- Keywords:
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- Computer Science - Logic in Computer Science
- E-Print:
- Logical Methods in Computer Science, Volume 14, Issue 3 (September 14, 2018) lmcs:4312