Affine set

1 Line

Suppose x_1, x_2 are two points in \mathbb{R^n}. Then the line passing through them is defined as follows:

x = \theta x_1 + (1 - \theta)x_2, \theta \in \mathbb{R}

Figure 1: Illustration of a line between two vectors x_1 and x_2

2 Affine set

The set A is called affine if for any x_1, x_2 from A the line passing through them also lies in A, i.e. 

\forall \theta \in \mathbb{R}, \forall x_1, x_2 \in A: \theta x_1 + (1- \theta) x_2 \in A

Example
  • \mathbb{R}^n is an affine set.
  • The set of solutions \left\{x \mid \mathbf{A}x = \mathbf{b} \right\} is also an affine set.