Deconstructing Approximate Offsets

We consider the offset-deconstruction problem: Given a polygonal shape Q with n vertices, can it be expressed, up to a tolerance \eps in Hausdorff distance, as the Minkowski sum of another polygonal shape P with a disk of fixed radius? If it does, we also seek a preferably simple-looking solution P; then, P's offset constitutes an accurate, vertex-reduced, and smoothened approximation of Q. We give an O(n log n)-time exact decision algorithm that handles any polygonal shape, assuming the real-RAM model of computation. A variant of the algorithm, which we have implemented using CGAL, is based on rational arithmetic and answers the same deconstruction problem up to an uncertainty parameter \delta; its running time additionally depends on \delta. If the input shape is found to be approximable, this algorithm also computes an approximate solution for the problem. It also allows us to solve parameter-optimization problems induced by the offset-deconstruction problem. For convex shapes, the complexity of the exact decision algorithm drops to O(n), which is also the time required to compute a solution P with at most one more vertex than a vertex-minimal one.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, previous version accepted at SoCG 2011, submitted to DC

Computing a Compact Spline Representation of the Medial Axis Transform of a 2D Shape

We present a full pipeline for computing the medial axis transform of an arbitrary 2D shape. The instability of the medial axis transform is overcome by a pruning algorithm guided by a user-defined Hausdorff distance threshold. The stable medial axis transform is then approximated by spline curves in 3D to produce a smooth and compact representation. These spline curves are computed by minimizing the approximation error between the input shape and the shape represented by the medial axis transform. Our results on various 2D shapes suggest that our method is practical and effective, and yields faithful and compact representations of medial axis transforms of 2D shapes.Comment: GMP14 (Geometric Modeling and Processing

Computability of Julia sets

In this paper we settle most of the open questions on algorithmic computability of Julia sets. In particular, we present an algorithm for constructing quadratics whose Julia sets are uncomputable. We also show that a filled Julia set of a polynomial is always computable.Comment: Revised. To appear in Moscow Math. Journa

Fine-grained complexity and algorithm engineering of geometric similarity measures

Point sets and sequences are fundamental geometric objects that arise in any application that considers movement data, geometric shapes, and many more. A crucial task on these objects is to measure their similarity. Therefore, this thesis presents results on algorithms, complexity lower bounds, and algorithm engineering of the most important point set and sequence similarity measures like the Fréchet distance, the Fréchet distance under translation, and the Hausdorff distance under translation. As an extension to the mere computation of similarity, also the approximate near neighbor problem for the continuous Fréchet distance on time series is considered and matching upper and lower bounds are shown.Punktmengen und Sequenzen sind fundamentale geometrische Objekte, welche in vielen Anwendungen auftauchen, insbesondere in solchen die Bewegungsdaten, geometrische Formen, und ähnliche Daten verarbeiten. Ein wichtiger Bestandteil dieser Anwendungen ist die Berechnung der Ähnlichkeit von Objekten. Diese Dissertation präsentiert Resultate, genauer gesagt Algorithmen, untere Komplexitätsschranken und Algorithm Engineering der wichtigsten Ähnlichkeitsmaße für Punktmengen und Sequenzen, wie zum Beispiel Fréchetdistanz, Fréchetdistanz unter Translation und Hausdorffdistanz unter Translation. Als eine Erweiterung der bloßen Berechnung von Ähnlichkeit betrachten wir auch das Near Neighbor Problem für die kontinuierliche Fréchetdistanz auf Zeitfolgen und zeigen obere und untere Schranken dafür