Moment curve

In geometry, the moment curve is an algebraic curve in d-dimensional Euclidean space given by the set of points with Cartesian coordinates of the form

${\displaystyle \left(x,x^{2},x^{3},\dots ,x^{d}\right).}$^[1]

In the Euclidean plane, the moment curve is a parabola, and in three-dimensional space it is a twisted cubic. Its closure in projective space is the rational normal curve.

Moment curves have been used for several applications in discrete geometry including cyclic polytopes, the no-three-in-line problem, and a geometric proof of the chromatic number of Kneser graphs.