On the asymptotic magnitude of subsets of Euclidean space (Q1953069)

The magnitude is a characteristic of metric spaces. It has various definitions. Let \(X\) be a finite metric space with distance \(d(\cdot,\cdot)\). Define the matrix \(Z\) of exponential distances, indexed by the points of \(X\), as \(Z_{x,x'}:= e^{-d(x,x')}\). If the matrix \(Z\) is invertible, then the magnitude of \(X\) exists and equals to \[ |X| = \sum_{x,x'}(Z^{-1})_{x,x'}. \] An infinite metric space \(X\) is said to be positive-definite if, for every of its finite subspaces, the matrix of exponential distances is positive-definite. If \((X_k)_{k\in{\mathbb N}}\) is a sequence of finite subsets of a compact positive definite space \(X\) such that \(X_k \to X\) in the Hausdorff metric, then the magnitude \(|X|\) is the limit of the magnitudes \(|X_k|\). The authors describe properties of these characteristics. Particularly, they evaluate magnitudes of a straight line segment, of a ternary Cantor set and of a circle.