Abstract:
We introduce two general methods of lifting a metric on a space to the simplex of probability measures on the metric space. The first one is the method of transportation plans, or the coupling method; the second one is the method of considering norms dual to the restrictions of the Lipschitz norm to subspaces. The intersection of these two classes of metrics consists of the Kantorovich metric.
Key words and phrases:Kantoroivch metric, admissible metrics, translational invariance, transportation problems.