New results on binary space partitions in the plane

We prove the existence of linear size binary space partitions for sets of objects in the plane under certain conditions. In particular, we construct linear size binary space partitions for sets of fat objects, for sets of line segments where the ratio between the lengths of the longest and shortest segment is bounded by a constant, and for homothetic objects. For all cases we also show how to turn the existence proofs into efficient algorithms.     

On illumination in the plane by line segments

We show that S E ² contains a line segment illuminator if any two points of S are illuminated by a line segment of S in a given direction or if any eight points of S are illuminated by a connected set of line segments of S and a certain connectedness condition is fulfilled. We also show that if any three points of S E ² are illuminated by a translate in S of a line segment T, then S contains a line segment illuminator, which is also a translate of T. As a further result, we have that if any three points of a polygon P are illuminated by some line segment of P then the so-called link center of P illuminates P. Finally, we prove that if any three points of an o-symmetric polygon P are illuminated by a line segment of P through the point o then P contains an o-symmetric convex illuminator which is either a line segment or a parallelogram.Partially supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research grant number 1238.Partially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.     

Illumination in the presence of opaque line segments in the plane

What is the minimal number of light sources which is always sufficient to illuminate the plane in the presence of n disjoint opaque line segments? For n5, O'Rourke proved that 2n/3 light sources are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, if light sources can be placed on the line segments and thus they can illuminate both sides of a segment.

We prove that 2(n+1)/3 light sources are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, if light sources cannot be placed on the line segments. An O(nlogn) time algorithm is presented which allocates at most 2(n+1)/3 light sources collectively illuminating the plane.     

A result about the density of iterated line intersections in the plane

Let S be a finite set of points in the plane and let be the set of intersection points between pairs of lines passing through any two points in S. We characterize all configurations of points S such that iteration of the above operation produces a dense set. We also discuss partial results on the characterization of those finite point-sets with rational coordinates that generate all of through iteration of .     

Pointed binary encompassing trees: Simple and optimal

For n disjoint line segments in the plane we construct in optimal O(nlogn) time and linear space an encompassing tree of maximum degree three such that at every vertex v all edges of the tree that are incident to v lie in a halfplane bounded by the line through the input segment which v is an endpoint of. In particular, this tree is pointed since every vertex has an incident angle greater than π. Such a pointed binary tree can be augmented to a minimum pseudo-triangulation. It follows that every set of disjoint line segments in the plane has a constrained minimum pseudo-triangulation whose maximum vertex degree is bounded by a constant.     

Planarity of iterated line graphs

The line index of a graph G is the smallest k such that the kth iterated line graph of G is nonplanar. We show that the line index of a graph is either infinite or it is at most 4. Moreover, we give a full characterization of all graphs with respect to their line index.     

Storing line segments in partition trees

We design two variants of partition trees, calledsegment partition trees andinterval partition trees, that can be used for storing arbitrarily oriented line segments in the plane in an efficient way. The raw structures useO(n logn) andO(n) storage, respectively, and their construction time isO(n logn). In our applications we augment these structures by certain (simple) auxiliary structures, which may increase the storage and preprocessing time by a polylogarithmic factor. It is shown how to use these structures for solving line segment intersection queries, triangle stabbing queries and ray shooting queries in reasonably efficient ways. If we use the conjugation tree as the underlying partition tree, the query time for all problems isO(n ), where=log₂(1+5)–10.695. The techniques are fairly simple and easy to understand.Research of the first author was partially supported by the ESPRIT II Basic Research Action of the EC under contract No. 3075 (Project ALCOM).Work by the third author has been supported in part 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 Digital Equipment Corporation, the IBM Corporation, 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.     

A characterization of partial directed line graphs

Can a directed graph be completed to a directed line graph? If possible, how many arcs must be added? In this paper we address the above questions characterizing partial directed line (PDL) graphs, i.e., partial subgraph of directed line graphs. We show that for such class of graphs a forbidden configuration criterion and a Krausz's like theorem are equivalent characterizations. Furthermore, the latter leads to a recognition algorithm that requires O(m) worst case time, where m is the number of arcs in the graph. Given a partial line digraph, our characterization allows us to find a minimum completion to a directed line graph within the same time bound.The class of PDL graphs properly contains the class of directed line graphs, characterized in [J. Blazewicz, A. Hertz, D. Kobler, D. de Werra, On some properties of DNA graphs, Discrete Appl. Math. 98(1-2) (1999) 1-19], hence our results generalize those already known for directed line graphs. In the undirected case, we show that finding a minimum line graph edge completion is NP-hard, while the problem of deciding whether or not an undirected graph is a partial graph of a simple line graph is trivial.     

Isolating segments for Carathéodory systems and existence of periodic solutions

The method of isolating segments is introduced in the context of Carathéodory systems. We define isolating segments and extend the results of Srzednicki (1994) to Carathéodory systems.

     

Group-labeled light dual multinets in the projective plane

In this paper we investigate light dual multinets labeled by a finite group in the projective plane $PG(2,\mathbb{K})$ defined over a field $\mathbb{K}$. We present two classes of new examples. Moreover, under some conditions on the characteristic of $\mathbb{K}$, we classify group-labeled light dual multinets with lines of length at least 9.     

On s-hamiltonian line graphs of claw-free graphs

For an integer $s\ge 0$, a graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian, and $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian connected if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian connected. Thomassen in 1984 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian (see Thomassen, 1986), and Ku?zel and Xiong in 2004 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian connected (see Ryjá?ek and Vrána, 2011). In Broersma and Veldman (1987), Broersma and Veldman raised the characterization problem of $s$-hamiltonian line graphs. In Lai and Shao (2013), it is conjectured that for $s\ge 2$, a line graph $L\left(G\right)$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected. In this paper we prove the following.(i) For an integer $s\ge 2$, the line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected.(ii) The line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is 1-hamiltonian connected if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is 4-connected.     

Straight line arrangements in the real projective plane

Let A be an arrangement of n pseudolines in the real projective plane and let p ₃(A) be the number of triangles of A. Grünbaum has proposed the following question. Are there infinitely many simple arrangements of straight lines with p ₃(A)=1/3n(n?1)? In this paper we answer this question affirmatively.     

Hamilton cycles in line graphs of 3-hypergraphs

We prove that every 52-connected line graph of a rank 3 hypergraph is Hamiltonian. This is the first result of this type for hypergraphs of bounded rank other than ordinary graphs.