An Optimal Deterministic Algorithm for Computing the Diameter of a Three-Dimensional Point Set

We describe a deterministic algorithm for computing the diameter of a finite set of points in R ³ , that is, the maximum distance between any pair of points in the set. The algorithm runs in optimal time O(nlog n) for a set of n points. The first optimal, but randomized, algorithm for this problem was proposed more than 10 years ago by Clarkson and Shor [11] in their ground-breaking paper on geometric applications of random sampling. Our algorithm is relatively simple except for a procedure by Matoušek [25] for the efficient deterministic construction of epsilon-nets. This work improves previous deterministic algorithms by Ramos [31] and Bespamyatnikh [7], both with running time O(nlog ² n) . The diameter algorithm appears to be the last one in Clarkson and Shor's paper that up to now had no deterministic counterpart with a matching running time. Received May 10, 2000, and in revised form November 3, 2000. Online publication June 22, 2001.     

A communication-less parallel algorithm for tridiagonal Toeplitz systems

Diagonally dominant tridiagonal Toeplitz systems of linear equations arise in many application areas and have been well studied in the past. Modern interest in numerical linear algebra is often focusing on solving classic problems in parallel. In McNally [Fast parallel algorithms for tri-diagonal symmetric Toeplitz systems, MCS Thesis, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, 1999], an m processor Split & Correct algorithm was presented for approximating the solution to a symmetric tridiagonal Toeplitz linear system of equations. Nemani [Perturbation methods for circulant-banded systems and their parallel implementation, Ph.D. Thesis, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, 2001] and McNally (2003) adapted the works of Rojo [A new method for solving symmetric circulant tri-diagonal system of linear equations, Comput. Math. Appl. 20 (1990) 61–67], Yan and Chung [A fast algorithm for solving special tri-diagonal systems, Computing 52 (1994) 203–211] and McNally et al. [A split-correct parallel algorithm for solving tri-diagonal symmetric Toeplitz systems, Internat. J. Comput. Math. 75 (2000) 303–313] to the non-symmetric case. In this paper we present relevant background from these methods and then introduce an m processor scalable communication-less approximation algorithm for solving a diagonally dominant tridiagonal Toeplitz system of linear equations.     

一个结构简单的约束变尺度算法

本文我们考虑具有线性约束凹函数的最优化问题，利用我们的算法和变尺度修正公式，提出了一个结构简单的组合算法，并在「２」，「３」和「４」同样的假设条件下，证明了该算法的收敛性和超线性收敛速度，从而使该算法比原有各算法更具实用性。     

Edge guards for the fortress problem

The fortress problem is one of determining a set of guards to cover the exterior of a simple polygon. O'Rourke and Wood [cited in 7] showed that vertex guards are sometimes necessary and always sufficient for an -vertex polygon. In this paper, we solve the same problem for edge guards. Tight bounds of and edge guards are obtained for general and rectilinear polygons, respectively. Received 19 June 1999; in revised form 23 March 2000.     

Randomized algorithms for the separation of point sets and for solving quadratic programs

A randomized algorithm for finding a hyperplane separating two finite point sets in the Euclidean space ^d and a randomized algorithm for solving linearly constrained general convex quadratic problems are proposed. The expected running time of the separating algorithm isO(dd! (m + n)), wherem andn are cardinalities of sets to be separated. The expected running time of the algorithm for solving quadratic problems isO(dd! s) wheres is the number of inequality constraints. These algorithms are based on the ideas of Seidel's linear programming algorithm [6]. They are closely related to algorithms of [8], [2], and [9] and belong to an abstract class of algorithms investigated in [1]. The algorithm for solving quadratic problems has some features of the one proposed in [7].This research was done when the author was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany.On leave from the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ural Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 620219 Ekaterinburg, S. Kovalevskaya str. 16, Russia.     

Homology of proof-nets

This work defines homology groups for proof-structures in multiplicative linear logic (see [Gir1], [Gir2], [Dan]). We will show that these groups characterize proof-nets among arbitrary proof-structures, thus obtaining a new correctness criterion and of course a new polynomial algorithm for testing correctness. This homology also bears information on sequentialization. An unexpected geometrical interpretation of the linear connectives is given in the last section. This paper exclusively focuses onabstract proof-structures, i.e. paired-graphs. The relation with actual proofs is investigated in [Gir1], [Gir2], [Dan], [Ret] and [Tro].     

Corrections to Lee's visibility polygon algorithm

We present a modification and extension of the (linear time) visibility polygon algorithm of Lee. The algorithm computes the visibility polygon of a simple polygon from a viewpoint that is either interior to the polygon, or in its blocked exterior (the cases of viewpoints on the boundary or in the free exterior being simple extensions of the interior case). We show by example that the original algorithm by Lee, and a more complex algorithm by El Gindy and Avis, can fail for polygons that wind sufficiently. We present a second version of the algorithm, which does not extend to the blocked exterior case.This work was partially supported by grants from the Central Research Fund of the University of Alberta and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.     

An algorithm for constructing star-shaped drawings of plane graphs

A straight-line planar drawing of a plane graph is called a convex drawing if every facial cycle is drawn as a convex polygon. Convex drawings of graphs is a well-established aesthetic in graph drawing, however not all planar graphs admit a convex drawing. Tutte [W.T. Tutte, Convex representations of graphs, Proc. of London Math. Soc. 10 (3) (1960) 304–320] showed that every triconnected plane graph admits a convex drawing for any given boundary drawn as a convex polygon. Thomassen [C. Thomassen, Plane representations of graphs, in: Progress in Graph Theory, Academic Press, 1984, pp. 43–69] gave a necessary and sufficient condition for a biconnected plane graph with a prescribed convex boundary to have a convex drawing.In this paper, we initiate a new notion of star-shaped drawing of a plane graph as a straight-line planar drawing such that each inner facial cycle is drawn as a star-shaped polygon, and the outer facial cycle is drawn as a convex polygon. A star-shaped drawing is a natural extension of a convex drawing, and a new aesthetic criteria for drawing planar graphs in a convex way as much as possible. We give a sufficient condition for a given set A of corners of a plane graph to admit a star-shaped drawing whose concave corners are given by the corners in A, and present a linear time algorithm for constructing such a star-shaped drawing.     

A new necessary condition for the vertex visibility graphs of simple polygons

A new necessary condition conjectured by Everett [2], which is essentially a stronger version of a necessary condition by Ghosh [3], for a graph to be the vertex visibility graph of a simple polygon is established. This work was carried out while G. Srinivasaraghavan was at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.     

Euclideaness and final polynomials in oriented matroid theory

This paper deals with a geometric construction of algebraic non-realizability proofs for certain oriented matroids. As main result we obtain an algorithm which generates a (bi-quadratic) final polynomial [3], [5] for any non-euclidean oriented matroid. Here we apply the results of Edmonds, Fukuda and Mandel [6], [7] concerning non-degenerate cycling of linear programs in non-euclidean oriented matroids.     

A New Approach to a Multicriteria Optimization Problem

We present a new approach to a multicriteria optimization problem, where the objective and the constraints are linear functions. From an equivalent equilibrium problem, first suggested in [5,6,8], we show new characterizations of weakly efficient points based on the partial order induced by a nonempty closed convex cone in a finite-dimensional linear space, as in [7]. Thus, we are able to apply the analytic center cutting plane algorithm that finds equilibrium points approximately, by Raupp and Sosa [10], in order to find approximate weakly efficient solutions of MOP.     

A new method for solving singular fourth-order boundary value problems with mixed boundary conditions

In [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] and [8], it is very difficult to get reproducing kernel space of problem (1). This paper is concerned with a new algorithm for giving the analytical and approximate solutions of a class of fourth-order in the new reproducing kernel space. The numerical results are compared with both the exact solution and its n-order derived functions in the example. It is demonstrated that the new method is quite accurate and efficient for fourth-order problems.     

Further Developments in an Iterative Projection and Contraction Method for Linear Programming

A linear programming problem can be translated into an equivalent general linear complementarity problem, which can be solved by an iterative projection and contraction (PC) method [6]. The PC method requires only two matrix-vector multiplications at each iteration and the efficiency in practice usually depends on the sparsity of the constraint-matrix. The prime PC algorithm in [6] is globally convergent; however, no statement can be made about the rate of convergence. Although a variant of the PC algorithm with constant step-size for linear programming [7] has a linear speed of convergence, it converges much slower in practice than the prime method [6]. In this paper, we develop a new step-size rule for the PC algorithm for linear programming such that the resulting algorithm is globally linearly convergent. We present some numerical experiments to indicate that it also works better in practice than the prime algorithm.     

A pivoted LLL algorithm

Luk and Tracy (2008) [7] developed a matrix interpretation of the LLL algorithm. Building on their work [7], we propose to add pivoting to the algorithm. We prove that our new algorithm always terminates, and we construct a class of ill-conditioned reduced matrices to illustrate the advantages of pivoting.     

Retrieving random media

Benjamini asked whether the scenery reconstruction methods of Matzinger (see e.g. [21], [22], [20]) can be done in polynomial time. In this article, we give the following answer for a 2-color scenery and simple random walk with holding: We prove that a piece of the scenery of length of the order 3 ⁿ around the origin can be reconstructed – up to a reflection and a small translation – with high probability from the first 2 · 3^{10 αn} observations with a constant α > 0 independent of n. Thus, the number of observations needed is polynomial in the length of the piece of scenery which we reconstruct. The probability that the reconstruction fails tends to 0 as n→∞. In contrast to [21], [22], and [20], the proofs in this article are all constructive. Our reconstruction algorithm is an algorithm in the sense of computer science. This is the first article which shows that the scenery reconstruction is also possible in the 2-color case with holding. The case with holding is much more difficult than [22] and requires completely different methods.     

A fast las vegas algorithm for triangulating a simple polygon

We present a randomized algorithm that triangulates a simple polygon onn vertices inO(n log*n) expected time. The averaging in the analysis of running time is over the possible choices made by the algorithm; the bound holds for any input polygon.Research partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DCR-8605962.     

Existence of solution of the logarithmic diffusion equation with bounded above Gauss curvature

We give a simple proof of an extension of the existence results of Ricci flow of Giesen and Topping (2010, 2011) [15], [20], on incomplete surfaces with bounded above Gauss curvature without using the difficult Shi’s existence theorem of Ricci flow on complete non-compact surfaces and the pseudolocality theorem of Perelman [7] on Ricci flow. We will also give a simple proof of a special case of the existence theorem of Topping (2010) [16] without using the existence theorem of Shi (1989) [9].     

Efficient visibility queries in simple polygons

We present a method of decomposing a simple polygon that allows the preprocessing of the polygon to efficiently answer visibility queries of various forms in an output sensitive manner. Using O(n³logn) preprocessing time and O(n³) space, we can, given a query point q inside or outside an n vertex polygon, recover the visibility polygon of q in O(logn+k) time, where k is the size of the visibility polygon, and recover the number of vertices visible from q in O(logn) time.

The key notion behind the decomposition is the succinct representation of visibility regions, and tight bounds on the number of such regions. These techniques are extended to handle other types of queries, such as visibility of fixed points other than the polygon vertices, and for visibility from a line segment rather than a point. Some of these results have been obtained independently by Guibas, Motwani and Raghavan [18] .     

Handling forecasting problems using fuzzy time series

In [6–9], Song et al. proposed fuzzy time-series models to deal with forecasting problems. In [10], Sullivan and Woodall reviewed the first-order time-invariant fuzzy time series model and the first-order time-variant model proposed by Song and Chissom [6–8], where the models are compared with each other and with a time-invariant Markov model using linguistic labels with probability distributions. In this paper, we propose a new method to forecast university enrollments, where the historical enrollments of the University of Alabama shown in [7,8] are used to illustrate the forecasting process. The average forecasting errors and the time complexity of these methods are compared. The proposed method is more efficient than the ones presented in [7, 8, 10] due to the fact that the proposed method simplifies the arithmetic operation process. Furthermore, the average forecasting error of the proposed method is smaller than the ones presented in [2, 7, 8].