On Distance and Area

We seek for an alternative to the metric tensor $g_{\mu \nu }$ as a fundamental geometrical object in four-dimensional Riemannian manifolds. We suggest that the metric tensor $g_{\mu \nu }(P)$ at a given point $P$ of a manifold may be replaced by a four-dimensional geometrical simplex \sigma^^4(P) embedded to the tangent space $T_P$ of the point $P$. The number of two-faces, or triangles, of ${\sigma }^4(P)$ is the same as is the number of independent components of $g_{\mu \nu }(P)$, and hence we may replace the components of $g_{\mu \nu }$ by the two-face areas of ${\sigma }^4(P)$. In this sense the concept of distance may, in four-dimensional Riemannian manifolds, be reduced to the concept of area. This result may find some applications in the thermodynamical approaches to quantum gravity.