Trees, tight-spans and point configurations (Q442355)

The authors develop a theory of tight-spans (also called hyperconvex hulls by others in certain contexts) for point configurations. Among other things, for tight-spans arising from finite sets this approach can unify and systematize the work of several authors who have considered maps that generalise metrics, compare e.g. \textit{S. Willerton} [Theory Appl. Categ. 28, 696--732 (2013; Zbl 1283.54023)], or \textit{D. Bryant} and \textit{P. F. Tupper} [Adv. Math. 231, No. 6, 3172--3198 (2012; Zbl 1256.54055)]. It also leads to many interesting open questions about how the various theories are extactly related to each other, some of which are discussed at the end of the present paper. In particular the method of the authors to use (splits of) point configurations allow them to recover and extend various theorems from the literature that connect tight-spans and trees in the various settings.