The multivariate L1-median and associated data depth

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Feb 15;97(4):1423-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.4.1423.

Abstract

This paper gives three related results: (i) a new, simple, fast, monotonically converging algorithm for deriving the L1-median of a data cloud in Rd, a problem that can be traced to Fermat and has fascinated applied mathematicians for over three centuries; (ii) a new general definition for depth functions, as functions of multivariate medians, so that different definitions of medians will, correspondingly, give rise to different dept functions; and (iii) a simple closed-form formula of the L1-depth function for a given data cloud in Rd.