An Approach to Study the Structural Consistency of Triangle Badness Functions and Distance Metrics

Abstract

Triangle-based measures, commonly referred to as badness functions, are widely employed to quantify the extent to which a distance matrix deviates from an ideal geometric configuration. Different formulations of these functions may capture distinct facets of local non-uniformity, and their behavior is often influenced by the underlying distance metric chosen for evaluation. In practical settings, although a canonical badness function may be conceptually preferred, factors such as computational cost, algorithmic constraints, or data-specific characteristics frequently necessitate the adoption of modified versions-for instance, approximate forms or alternatives defined under different distance metrics. This gives rise to a central question: to what degree do these variants retain the structural consistency properties of their original counterparts? To address this issue, we develop a systematic correlation-based framework for evaluating structural consistency. As an illustrative instantiation of this framework, we compute badness sequences from a set of representative distance matrices alongside randomly generated triangle configurations, which are designed to cover variants that may arise under diverse practical scenarios. We then assess pairwise similarities among these sequences using four correlation coefficients. The experimental outcomes indicate that certain badness variants exhibit a notably high degree of structural consistency, whereas others reveal complementary behavioral patterns; moreover, the choice of distance metric exerts a considerable influence on the observed trends. These findings offer practical insights for the informed selection of distance metrics and triangle badness function variants in tasks including geometric reconstruction, triangulation, and structural analysis of pairwise distance data.