Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications 

About: Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications is an academic journal published by Elsevier BV. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Polygon & Planar graph. It has an ISSN identifier of 0925-7721. Over the lifetime, 1336 publications have been published receiving 35442 citations.

Delaunay refinement algorithms for triangular mesh generation

Abstract: Delaunay refinement is a technique for generating unstructured meshes of triangles for use in interpolation, the finite element method, and the finite volume method In theory and practice, meshes produced by Delaunay refinement satisfy guaranteed bounds on angles, edge lengths, the number of triangles, and the grading of triangles from small to large sizes This article presents an intuitive framework for analyzing Delaunay refinement algorithms that unifies the pioneering mesh generation algorithms of L Paul Chew and Jim Ruppert, improves the algorithms in several minor ways, and most importantly, helps to solve the difficult problem of meshing nonmanifold domains with small angles Although small angles inherent in the input geometry cannot be removed, one would like to triangulate a domain without creating any new small angles Unfortunately, this problem is not always soluble A compromise is necessary A Delaunay refinement algorithm is presented that can create a mesh in which most angles are 30^o or greater and no angle is smaller than arcsin[(3/2)sin(@f/2)]~(3/4)@f, where @f=<60^ois the smallest angle separating two segments of the input domain New angles smaller than 30^o appear only near input angles smaller than 60^o In practice, the algorithm's performance is better than these bounds suggest Another new result is that Ruppert's analysis technique can be used to reanalyze one of Chew's algorithms Chew proved that his algorithm produces no angle smaller than 30^o (barring small input angles), but without any guarantees on grading or number of triangles He conjectures that his algorithm offers such guarantees His conjecture is conditionally confirmed here: if the angle bound is relaxed to less than 265^o, Chew's algorithm produces meshes (of domains without small input angles) that are nicely graded and size-optimal

Algorithms for drawing graphs: an annotated bibliography

Abstract: Several data presentation problems involve drawing graphs so that they are easy to read and understand. Examples include circuit schematics and diagrams for information systems analysis and design. In this paper we present a bibliographic survey on algorithms whose goal is to produce aesthetically pleasing drawings of graphs. Research on this topic is spread over the broad spectrum of computer science. This bibliography constitutes a first attempt to encompass both theoretical and application-oriented papers from disparate areas.

The power crust, unions of balls, and the medial axis transform

Abstract: The medial axis transform (or MAT) is a representation of an object as an infinite union of balls. We consider approximating the MAT of a three-dimensional object, and its complement, with a finite union of balls. Using this approximate MAT we define a new piecewise-linear approximation to the object surface, which we call the power crust. We assume that we are given as input a sufficiently dense sample of points from the object surface. We select a subset of the Voronoi balls of the sample, the polar balls, as the union of balls representation. We bound the geometric error of the union, and of the corresponding power crust, and show that both representations are topologically correct as well. Thus, our results provide a new algorithm for surface reconstruction from sample points. By construction, the power crust is always the boundary of a polyhedral solid, so we avoid the polygonization, hole-filling or manifold extraction steps used in previous algorithms. The union of balls representation and the power crust have corresponding piecewise-linear dual representations, which in some sense approximate the medial axis. We show a geometric relationship between these duals and the medial axis by proving that, as the sampling density goes to infinity, the set of poles, the centers of the polar balls, converges to the medial axis.

On a class of O(n2) problems in computational geometry

Abstract: There are many problems in computational geometry for which the best know algorithms take time @Q(n^2) (or more) in the worst case while only very low lower bounds are known. In this paper we describe a large class of problems for which we prove that they are all at least as difficult as the following base problem 3sum: Given a set S of n integers, are there three elements of S that sum up to 0. We call such problems 3sum-hard. The best known algorithm for the base problem takes @Q(n^2) time. The class of 3sum-hard problems includes problems like: Given a set of lines in the plane, are there three that meet in a point?; or: Given a set of triangles in the plane, does their union have a hole? Also certain visibility and motion planning problems are shown to be in the class. Although this does not prove a lower bound for these problems, there is no hope of obtaining o(n^2) solutions for them unless we can improve the solution for the base problem.

Computing contour trees in all dimensions

Abstract: We show that contour trees can be computed in all dimensions by a simple algorithm that merges two trees. Our algorithm extends, simplifies, and improves work of Tarasov and Vyalyi and of van Kreveld et al.