Rvachev function

In mathematics, an , or Rvachev function, is a real-valued function whose sign does not change if none of the signs of its arguments change; that is, its sign is determined solely by the signs of its arguments.
Interpreting positive values as "true" and negative values as "false", an R-function is transformed into a "companion" Boolean function (the two functions are called "friends"). For instance, the R-function "ƒ"("x", "y") = min("x", "y") is one possible friend of the logical conjunction (AND). R-functions are used in computer graphics and geometric modeling in the context of implicit surfaces and the function representation. They also appear in certain boundary-value problems, and are also popular in certain artificial intelligence applications, where they are used in pattern recognition.
R-functions were first proposed by () in 1963, though the name, "R-functions", was given later on by Ekaterina L. Rvacheva-Yushchenko, in memory of their father, Logvin Fedorovich Rvachev ().