The Apollonian metric of a domain in \(\mathbb{R}^ n\) (Q4379874)

In this paper the author introduces a pseudo-metric (the Apollonian metric) defined with respect to subsets of the \(n\)-sphere (considered as \(\mathbb{R}^n \cup \{\infty\})\). The definition of this metric is based on the fact that hyperbolic spheres and euclidean spheres are, essentially, the same and this leads to a Möbius invariant definition. This pseudo-metric is, under very weak conditions, in fact a metric. The author compares this metric with others of similar provenance and shows that it is the weakest (i.e. to be close in one of the other metrics implies closeness in this one). He also compares the Apollonian metric with the hyperbolic one in the case of planar domains; it is again weaker than the hyperbolic metric but in this case for a convex domain the Apollonian metric is equivalent to the hyperbolic metric. The author also gives a criterion that the isometry group should be made up of Möbius transformations and clearly expects that this is so in a wider context. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0883.00018].