Projection on a convex set

986 Views Asked by At

If I have a convex set $ S$ and if I project an $ x$ onto $S$. Is it true that $x $ would project onto a unique element of $S$. Why? What would be considered different if the set $S$ was non-convex?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

First of all, you need $S$ to be closed. For example, $S=(0,1)$ is convex but $2$ has no closest point in $S$.

The most general type of space where the closest point property (i.e. the projection uniquely exists) holds is a Hilbert space - look in any functional analysis text for the proof. It doesn't hold generally for any normed space even if $S$ is convex - see here.

To see why convexity is essential, take $S=[0,1]\cup[3,4]$ and think about $x=2$.