More context for formula wanted

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter birulami
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Formula
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 1K views
birulami
Messages
153
Reaction score
0
For a set of values [itex]v_1,\dots,v_n[/itex] I recently stumbled over the formula

[tex]\frac{1}{N^2} \sum_{i<j} (v_i-v_j)^2[/tex]

where the sum is meant to be a double sum over j between 1 and N and i between 1 and j. First I thougth it should have something to do with variance. But this is obviously not the case. In my case, the [itex]v_i[/itex] are vectors, but this may or may not be important for the question:

Does this formula ring any bells? Is it something with a name? Does it have an interesting simplification?

Any hints appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org