On Levels in Arrangements of Curves

   Abstract. Analyzing the worst-case complexity of the k -level in a planar arrangement of n curves is a fundamental problem in combinatorial geometry. We give the first subquadratic upper bound (roughly O( nk^ 1-1/(9· 2 ^s-3 ) ) ) for curves that are graphs of polynomial functions of an arbitrary fixed degree s . Previously, nontrivial results were known only for the case s=1 and s=2 . We also improve the earlier bound for pseudo-parabolas (curves that pairwise intersect at most twice) to O( nk ^7/9 log ^2/3 k) . The proofs are simple and rely on a theorem of Tamaki and Tokuyama on cutting pseudo-parabolas into pseudo-segments, as well as a new observation for cutting pseudo-segments into pieces that can be extended to pseudo-lines. We mention applications to parametric and kinetic minimum spanning trees.     

On Levels in Arrangements of Curves

Abstract. Analyzing the worst-case complexity of the k -level in a planar arrangement of n curves is a fundamental problem in combinatorial geometry. We give the first subquadratic upper bound (roughly O( nk^ 1-1/(9· 2 ^s-3 ) ) ) for curves that are graphs of polynomial functions of an arbitrary fixed degree s . Previously, nontrivial results were known only for the case s=1 and s=2 . We also improve the earlier bound for pseudo-parabolas (curves that pairwise intersect at most twice) to O( nk ^7/9 log ^2/3 k) . The proofs are simple and rely on a theorem of Tamaki and Tokuyama on cutting pseudo-parabolas into pseudo-segments, as well as a new observation for cutting pseudo-segments into pieces that can be extended to pseudo-lines. We mention applications to parametric and kinetic minimum spanning trees.     

Spectral method for solving the system of equations of Schrödinger—Klein—Gordon field

In this paper, we construct the conservative spectral scheme for the periodic initial-value problem for a system of equations of the complex Schrödinger field, interacting with the real Klein—Gordon field and estimate the error which is \xV;\GF;(nk) − Φ^n_N\xV; + \xV;χ(nk) − iXⁿ_n\xV;₁ = O(k² + N^−(γ−1)).     

Computing homotopic shortest paths in the plane

We address the problem of computing homotopic shortest paths in the presence of obstacles in the plane. Problems on homotopy of paths received attention very recently [Cabello et al., in: Proc. 18th Annu. ACM Sympos. Comput. Geom., 2002, pp. 160–169; Efrat et al., in: Proc. 10th Annu. European Sympos. Algorithms, 2002, pp. 411–423]. We present two output-sensitive algorithms, for simple paths and non-simple paths. The algorithm for simple paths improves the previous algorithm [Efrat et al., in: Proc. 10th Annu. European Sympos. Algorithms, 2002, pp. 411–423]. The algorithm for non-simple paths achieves O(log²n) time per output vertex which is an improvement by a factor of O(n/log²n) of the previous algorithm [Hershberger, Snoeyink, Comput. Geom. Theory Appl. 4 (1994) 63–98], where n is the number of obstacles. The running time has an overhead O(n²⁺) for any positive constant . In the case k<n²⁺, where k is the total size of the input and output, we improve the running to O((n+k+(nk)^2/3)log^O(1)n).     

Onk-sets in arrangements of curves and surfaces

We extend the notion ofk-sets and (≤k)-sets (see [3], [12], and [19]) to arrangements of curves and surfaces. In the case of curves in the plane, we assume that each curve is simple and separates the plane. Ak-point is an intersection point of a pair of the curves which is covered by exactlyk interiors of (or half-planes bounded by) other curves; thek-set is the set of allk-points in such an arrangement, and the (≤k)-set is the union of allj-sets, forj≤k. Adapting the probabilistic analysis technique of Clarkson and Shor [13], we obtain bounds that relate the maximum size of the (≤k)-set to the maximum size of a 0-set of a sample of the curves. Using known bounds on the size of such 0-sets we obtain asympotically tight bounds for the maximum size of the (≤k)-set in the following special cases: (i) If each pair of curves intersect at most twice, the maximum size is Θ(nkα(nk)). (ii) If the curves are unbounded arcs and each pair of them intersect at most three times, then the maximum size is Θ(nkα(n/k)). (iii) If the curves arex-monotone arcs and each pair of them intersect in at most some fixed numbers of points, then the maximum size of the (≤k)-set is Θ(k ²λ _s (nk)), where λ _s (m) is the maximum length of (m,s)-Davenport-Schinzel sequences. We also obtain generalizations of these results to certain classes of surfaces in three and higher dimensions. Finally, we present various applications of these results to arrangements of segments and curves, high-order Voronoi diagrams, partial stabbing of disjoint convex sets in the plane, and more. An interesting application yields andO(n logn) bound on the expected number of vertically visible features in an arrangement ofn horizontal discs when they are stacked on top of each other in random order. This in turn leads to an efficient randomized preprocessing ofn discs in the plane so as to allow fast stabbing queries, in which we want to report all discs containing a query point. Work on this paper has been supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-87-K-0129, by National Science Foundation Grants DCR-83-20085 and CCR-89-01484, and by grants from the U.S.-Israeli Binational Science Foundation, the NCRD—the Israeli National Council for Research and Development-and the Fund for Basic Research in Electronics, Computers and Communication, administered by the Israeli Academy of Sciences.     

Sur l'approximation de fonctions intégrables sur [0, 1] par des polynômes de Bernstein modifies

We study here a new kind of modified Bernstein polynomial operators on L¹(0, 1) introduced by J. L. Durrmeyer in [4]. We define for f integrable on [0, 1] the modified Bernstein polynomial M_n f: M_nf(x) = (n + 1) ∑ⁿ_{k = o}P_nk(x)∝¹₀ P_nk(t) f(t) dt. If the derivative d^r f/dx^r with r 0 is continuous on [0, 1], d^r/dx^rM_n f converge uniformly on [0,1] and sup_xε[0,1] ¦M_n f(x) − f(x)¦ 2ω_f(1/trn) if ω_f is the modulus of continuity of f. If f is in Sobolev space W_l,p(0, 1) with l 0, p 1, M_n f converge to f in w^l,p(0, 1).     

Superconvergence analysis of approximate boundary-flux calculations

Summary Certain projection post-processing techniques have been proposed for computing the boundary flux for two-dimensional problems (e.g., see Carey, et al. [5]). In a series of numerical experiments on elliptic problems they observed that these post-processing formulas for approximate fluxes were almost (O(h ²)-accurate for linear triangular elements. In this paper we prove that the computed boundary flux isO(h ² ln 1/h)-accurate in the maximum norm for the partial method of [5]. If the solutionuH ³() then the boundary flux error isO(h ^3/2) in theL ²-norm.     

Faster algorithms for string matching with k mismatches

The string matching with mismatches problem is that of finding the number of mismatches between a pattern P of length m and every length m substring of the text T. Currently, the fastest algorithms for this problem are the following. The Galil–Giancarlo algorithm finds all locations where the pattern has at most k errors (where k is part of the input) in time O(nk). The Abrahamson algorithm finds the number of mismatches at every location in time . We present an algorithm that is faster than both. Our algorithm finds all locations where the pattern has at most k errors in time . We also show an algorithm that solves the above problem in time O((n+(nk³)/m)logk).     

Stochastic convergence of weighted sums in normed linear spaces

Let X be a (real) separable Banach space, let {V_k} be a sequence of random elements in X, and let {a_nk} be a double array of real numbers such that lim_n→∞ a_nk = 0 for all k and Σ^∞_k=1 |a_nk| ≤ 1 for all n. Define S_n = Σⁿ_k=1 a_nk(V_k − EV_k). The convergence of {S_n} to zero in probability is proved under conditions on the coordinates of a Schauder basis or on the dual space of X and conditions on the distributions of {V_k}. Convergence with probability one for {S_n} is proved for separable normed linear spaces which satisfy Beck's convexity condition with additional restrictions on {a_nk} but without distribution conditions for the random elements {V_k}. Finally, examples of arrays {a_nk}, spaces, and applications of these results are considered.     

On Levels in Arrangements of Lines, Segments, Planes, and Triangles%

We consider the problem of bounding the complexity of the k th level in an arrangement of n curves or surfaces, a problem dual to, and an extension of, the well-known k-set problem. Among other results, we prove a new bound, O(nk ^5/3 ) , on the complexity of the k th level in an arrangement of n planes in R ³ , or on the number of k -sets in a set of n points in three dimensions, and we show that the complexity of the k th level in an arrangement of n line segments in the plane is , and that the complexity of the k th level in an arrangement of n triangles in 3-space is O(n ² k ^5/6 α(n/k)) . <lsiheader> <onlinepub>26 June, 1998 <editor>Editors-in-Chief: &lsilt;a href=../edboard.html#chiefs&lsigt;Jacob E. Goodman, Richard Pollack&lsilt;/a&lsigt; <pdfname>19n3p315.pdf <pdfexist>yes <htmlexist>no <htmlfexist>no <texexist>yes <sectionname> </lsiheader> Received February 7, 1997, and in revised form May 15, 1997, and August 30, 1997.     

Combinatorial 5/6-approximation of Max Cut in graphs of maximum degree 3

The best approximation algorithm for Max Cut in graphs of maximum degree 3 uses semidefinite programming, has approximation ratio 0.9326, and its running time is Θ(n^3.5logn); but the best combinatorial algorithms have approximation ratio 4/5 only, achieved in O(n²) time [J.A. Bondy, S.C. Locke, J. Graph Theory 10 (1986) 477–504; E. Halperin, et al., J. Algorithms 53 (2004) 169–185]. Here we present an improved combinatorial approximation, which is a 5/6-approximation algorithm that runs in O(n²) time, perhaps improvable even to O(n). Our main tool is a new type of vertex decomposition for graphs of maximum degree 3.     

On-line coloringk-colorable graphs

We show that for anyk, there exists an on-line algorithm that will color anyk-colorable graph onn vertices withO(n ^1−1/k! ) colors. This improves the previous best upper bound ofO(nlog^(2k−3) n/log^(2k−4) n) due to Lovász, Saks, and Trotter. In the special casesk=3 andk=4 we obtain on-line algorithms that useO(n ^2/3log^1/3 n) andO(n ^5/6log^1/6 n) colors, respectively.     

An O(n 3 L) adaptive path following algorithm for a linear complementarity problem

In this paper we propose an O(n ³ L) algorithm which is a modification of the path following algorithm [8] for a linear complementarity problem. The path following algorithm has to take a short step size in each iteration in order to bound the number of overall arithmetic operations by O(n ³ L). In practical computation, we can determine the step size adaptively. Mizuno, Yoshise, and Kikuchi [11] reported that such an adaptive algorithm required about O(L) iterations for some test problems. Here we show that we can use a rank one update technique in the adaptive algorithm so that the number of overall arithmetic operations is theoretically bounded by O(n ³ L).Research supported in part by the U.S. Army Research Office through the Mathematical Sciences Institute of Cornell University.Research supported in part by NSF grants ECS-8602534 and DMS-8904406 and ONR contract N-00014-87-K0212.     

Unitäre Transformationen großer Matrizen

Summary Strassen [2] has described a method for the multiplication of (N, N)-matrices which needs O (N ^2.8...) basic operations. Here algorithms are given forQR-decomposition and unitary transformation of arbitrary complex matrices to upper Hessenberg form and for unitary triangularization of hermitean matrices, which by use of a fast matrix multiplication with time bound O (N ) have nearly the same speed.     

Halfspace range search: An algorithmic application ofk-sets

Given a fixed setS ofn points inE ³ and a query plane, the halfspace range search problem asks for the retrieval of all points ofS on a chosen side of. We prove that withO(n(logn)⁸ (loglogn)⁴) storage it is possible to solve this problem inO(k+logn) time, wherek is the number of points to be reported. This result rests crucially on a new combinatorial derivation. We show that the total number ofj-sets (j=1, ...,k) realized by a set ofn points inE ³ isO(nk ⁵); ak-set is any subset ofS of sizek which can be separated from the rest ofS by a plane.Supported in part by NSF grants MCS 83-03925 and the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under contract N00014-83-K-0146 and ARPA Order No. 4786.Supported in part by Joint Services Electronics Program under Contract N00014-79-C-0424.     

Algorithms for ham-sandwich cuts

Given disjoint setsP ₁,P ₂, ...,P _d inR ^d withn points in total, ahamsandwich cut is a hyperplane that simultaneously bisects theP _i . We present algorithms for finding ham-sandwich cuts in every dimensiond>1. Whend=2, the algorithm is optimal, having complexityO(n). For dimensiond>2, the bound on the running time is proportional to the worst-case time needed for constructing a level in an arrangement ofn hyperplanes in dimensiond−1. This, in turn, is related to the number ofk-sets inR ^d−1 . With the current estimates, we get complexity close toO(n ^3/2 ) ford=3, roughlyO(n ^8/3 ) ford=4, andO(n ^d−1−a(d) ) for somea(d)>0 (going to zero asd increases) for largerd. We also give a linear-time algorithm for ham-sandwich cuts inR ³ when the three sets are suitably separated. A preliminary version of the results of this paper appeared in [16] and [17]. Part of this research by J. Matoušek was done while he was visiting the School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and part of his work on this paper was supported by a Humboldt Research Fellowship. W. Steiger expresses gratitude to the NSF DIMACS Center at Rutgers, and his research was supported in part by NSF Grants CCR-8902522 and CCR-9111491.     

On p-intersection representations

For a graph G = (V,E) and integer p, a p-intersection representation is a family F = {S_x: × E V} of subsets of a set S with the property that |S_u ∩ S_ν| ≥ p ∩ {u, ν} E E. It is conjectured in [1] that θ_p(G) ≤ θ (K_n/2,n/2) (1 + o(1)) holds for any graph with n vertices. This is known to be true for p = 1 by [4]. In [1], θ (K_n/2,n/2) ≥ (n² + (2p− 1n)n)/4p is proved for any n and p. Here, we show that this is asymptotically best possible. Further, we provide a bound on θp(G) for all graphs with bounded degree. In particular, we prove θp(G) ≤ O(n^1/p) for any graph Gwith the maximum degree bounded by a constant. Finally, we also investigate the value of θ_p for trees. Improving on an earlier result of M. Jacobson, A. Kézdy, and D. West, (The 2-intersection number of paths and bounded-degree trees, preprint), we show that θ₂(T) ≤ O(d√n) for any tree T with maximum-degree d and θ₂(T) ≤ O(n^3/4) for any tree on n vertices. We conjecture that our results can be further improved and that θ₂(T) ≤ O(d√n) as long as Δ(T) ≤ √n. If this conjecture is true, our method gives θ₂(T) ≤ O(n^3/4) for any tree T which would be the best possible. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fractional dimension of binary Knuth semifield planes

We prove that semifield planes π(??_2m) coordinatized by the commutative binary Knuth semifield ??_2m, m = nk ( m odd) are fractional dimensional with respect to a subplane isomorphic to PG ( 2 , 4 ) if either n = 9 or n ≡\ 0 ( mod 3 ) and one of the trinomials x ⁿ + x ^s + 1 , s ∈{ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 }, is irreducible over the Galois field ?? ₂ . © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Combin. Designs 20: 317–327, 2012     

Weak convergence of linear forms in D[0, 1]

Convergence in probability of the linear forms Σ_k=1^∞a_nkX_k is obtained in the space D[0, 1], where (X_k) are random elements in D[0, 1] and (a_nk) is an array of real numbers. These results are obtained under varying hypotheses of boundedness conditions on the moments and conditions on the mean oscillation of the random elements (X_n) on subintervals of a partition of [0, 1]. Since the hypotheses are in general much less restrictive than tightness (or convex tightness), these results represent significant improvements over existing weak laws of large numbers and convergence results for weighted sums of random elements in D[0, 1]. Finally, comparisons to classical hypotheses for Banach space and real-valued results are included.     

A Weak Convergence Theorem for Functionals of Sums of Martingale Differences

For each n, let (S_nk), 1 ≦ k ≦ k_n, be a mean zero square — integrable martingale adapted to increasing s?-fields (b_nk), 0 ≦ k ≦ k_n, and let (b_nk), 0 ≦ k ≦ k_n, be a system of random variables such that b_n0 = 0 < b_n1 <…< b = 1 and such that b_nk is b_{n, k?1} measurable for each k. We present sufficient conditions under which \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \sum\limits_{i = 0}^{k_n - 1} {f_n (b_{ni,\;} S_{ni})\;(S_{n,i + 1} \; - \;S_{ni})\; \to \int\limits_0^1 {f(t,\;W(t))\;d{\rm W(t)}} } $\end{document} as n → ∞, where {W(t) : 0 ≦ t ≦ 1} is a standard WIENER process.