View source for Geodesic distance

The length of the shortest [[geodesic line]] connecting two points (or two sets). In [[variational calculus]] the geodesic distance is the extremal value of the functional under study concerning extremals connecting the two points.

====References====
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<TR><TD valign="top">[a1]</TD> <TD valign="top">  H. Busemann,   "The geometry of geodesics" , Acad. Press  (1955)</TD></TR>
<TR><TD valign="top">[a2]</TD> <TD valign="top">  W. Klingenberg,   "Riemannian geometry" , de Gruyter  (1982)  (Translated from German)</TD></TR>
</table>