Delaunay triangulation

About: Delaunay triangulation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5816 publications have been published within this topic receiving 126615 citations. The topic is also known as: Delone triangulation.

Sphere packings I

Abstract: We describe a program to prove the Kepler conjecture on sphere packings. We then carry out the first step of this program. Each packing determines a decomposition of space into Delaunay simplices, which are grouped together into finite configurations called Delaunay stars. A score, which is related to the density of packings, is assigned to each Delaunay star. We conjecture that the score of every Delaunay star is at most the score of the stars in the face-centered cubic and hexagonal close packings. This conjecture implies the Kepler conjecture. To complete the first step of the program, we show that every Delaunay star that satisfies a certain regularity condition satisfies the conjecture.

Primitives for the manipulation of general subdivisions and the computation of Voronoi

Abstract: The following problem is discussed: given n points in the plane (the sites) and an arbitrary query point q, find the site that is closest to q. This problem can be solved by constructing the Voronoi diagram of the griven sites and then locating the query point inone of its regions. Two algorithms are given, one that constructs the Voronoi diagram in O(n log n) time, and another that inserts a new sit on O(n) time. Both are based on the use of the Voronoi dual, or Delaunay triangulation, and are simple enough to be of practical value. the simplicity of both algorithms can be attributed to the separation of the geometrical and topological aspects of the problem and to the use of two simple but powerful primitives, a geometric predicate and an operator for manipulating the topology of the diagram. The topology is represented by a new data structure for generalized diagrams, that is, embeddings of graphs in two-dimensional manifolds. This structure represents simultaneously an embedding, its dual, and its mirror image. Furthermore, just two operators are sufficients for building and modifying arbitrary diagrams.

Three-dimensional alpha shapes

Abstract: Frequently, data in scientific computing is in its abstract form a finite point set in space, and it is sometimes useful or required to compute what one might call the “shape” of the set. For that purpose, this article introduces the formal notion of the family of a-shapes of a finite point set in R3. Each shape is a well-defined polytope, derived from the Delaunay triangulation of the point set, with a parameter a e R controlling the desired level of detail. An algorithm is presented that constructs the entire family of shapes for a given set of size n in time 0(n2), worst case. A robust implementation of the algorithm is discussed, and several applications in the area of scientific computing are mentioned.

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