Let $(X, d)$ be a compact metric space and let $mathcal{M}(X)$ denote the space of all finite signed Borel measures on $X$. Define $I colon mathcal{M}(X) to R$ by [I(mu) = int_X int_X d(x,y) dmu(x) dmu(y),] and set $M(X) = sup I(mu)$, where $mu$ ranges over the collection of signed measures in $mathcal{M}(X)$ of total mass 1. The metric space $(X, d)$ is quasihypermetric if for all $n in N$, all $alpha_1, ..., alpha_n in R$ satisfying $sum_{i=1}^n alpha_i = 0$ and all $x_1, ..., x_n in X$, one has $sum_{i,j=1}^n alpha_i alpha_j d(x_i, x_j) leq 0$. Without the quasihypermetric property $M(X)$ is infinite, while with the property a natural semi-inner product structure becomes available on $mathcal{M}_0(X)$, the subspace of $mathcal{M}(X)$ of all measures of total mass 0. This paper explores: operators and functionals which provide natural links between the metric structure of $(X, d)$, the semi-inner product space structure of $mathcal{M}_0(X)$ and the Banach space $C(X)$ of continuous real-valued functions on $X$; conditions equivalent to the quasihypermetric property; the topological properties of $mathcal{M}_0(X)$ with the topology induced by the semi-inner product, and especially the relation of this topology to the weak-$*$ topology and the measure-norm topology on $mathcal{M}_0(X)$; and the functional-analytic properties of $mathcal{M}_0(X)$ as a semi-inner product space, including the question of its completeness. A later paper [Peter Nickolas and Reinhard Wolf, Distance Geometry in Quasihypermetric Spaces. II] will apply the work of this paper to a detailed analysis of the constant $M(X)$.
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