Minkowski Sum Construction and other Applications of Arrangements of Geodesic Arcs on the Sphere

We present two exact implementations of efficient output-sensitive algorithms that compute Minkowski sums of two convex polyhedra in 3D. We do not assume general position. Namely, we handle degenerate input, and produce exact results. We provide a tight bound on the exact maximum complexity of Minkowski sums of polytopes in 3D in terms of the number of facets of the summand polytopes. The algorithms employ variants of a data structure that represents arrangements embedded on two-dimensional parametric surfaces in 3D, and they make use of many operations applied to arrangements in these representations. We have developed software components that support the arrangement data-structure variants and the operations applied to them. These software components are generic, as they can be instantiated with any number type. However, our algorithms require only (exact) rational arithmetic. These software components together with exact rational-arithmetic enable a robust, efficient, and elegant implementation of the Minkowski-sum constructions and the related applications. These software components are provided through a package of the Computational Geometry Algorithm Library (CGAL) called Arrangement_on_surface_2. We also present exact implementations of other applications that exploit arrangements of arcs of great circles embedded on the sphere. We use them as basic blocks in an exact implementation of an efficient algorithm that partitions an assembly of polyhedra in 3D with two hands using infinite translations. This application distinctly shows the importance of exact computation, as imprecise computation might result with dismissal of valid partitioning-motions.Comment: A Ph.D. thesis carried out at the Tel-Aviv university. 134 pages long. The advisor was Prof. Dan Halperi

Basic Understanding of Condensed Phases of Matter via Packing Models

Packing problems have been a source of fascination for millenia and their study has produced a rich literature that spans numerous disciplines. Investigations of hard-particle packing models have provided basic insights into the structure and bulk properties of condensed phases of matter, including low-temperature states (e.g., molecular and colloidal liquids, crystals and glasses), multiphase heterogeneous media, granular media, and biological systems. The densest packings are of great interest in pure mathematics, including discrete geometry and number theory. This perspective reviews pertinent theoretical and computational literature concerning the equilibrium, metastable and nonequilibrium packings of hard-particle packings in various Euclidean space dimensions. In the case of jammed packings, emphasis will be placed on the "geometric-structure" approach, which provides a powerful and unified means to quantitatively characterize individual packings via jamming categories and "order" maps. It incorporates extremal jammed states, including the densest packings, maximally random jammed states, and lowest-density jammed structures. Packings of identical spheres, spheres with a size distribution, and nonspherical particles are also surveyed. We close this review by identifying challenges and open questions for future research.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures, Invited "Perspective" submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1008.298

Discrete Geometry

A number of important recent developments in various branches of discrete geometry were presented at the workshop. The presentations illustrated both the diversity of the area and its strong connections to other fields of mathematics such as topology, combinatorics or algebraic geometry. The open questions abound and many of the results presented were obtained by young researchers, confirming the great vitality of discrete geometry

Discrete Geometry

The workshop on Discrete Geometry was attended by 53 participants, many of them young researchers. In 13 survey talks an overview of recent developments in Discrete Geometry was given. These talks were supplemented by 16 shorter talks in the afternoon, an open problem session and two special sessions. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 52Cxx. Abstract regular polytopes: recent developments. (Peter McMullen) Counting crossing-free configurations in the plane. (Micha Sharir) Geometry in additive combinatorics. (József Solymosi) Rigid components: geometric problems, combinatorial solutions. (Ileana Streinu) • Forbidden patterns. (János Pach) • Projected polytopes, Gale diagrams, and polyhedral surfaces. (Günter M. Ziegler) • What is known about unit cubes? (Chuanming Zong) There were 16 shorter talks in the afternoon, an open problem session chaired by Jesús De Loera, and two special sessions: on geometric transversal theory (organized by Eli Goodman) and on a new release of the geometric software Cinderella (Jürgen Richter-Gebert). On the one hand, the contributions witnessed the progress the field provided in recent years, on the other hand, they also showed how many basic (and seemingly simple) questions are still far from being resolved. The program left enough time to use the stimulating atmosphere of the Oberwolfach facilities for fruitful interaction between the participants

Triangulations

The earliest work in topology was often based on explicit combinatorial models – usually triangulations – for the spaces being studied. Although algebraic methods in topology gradually replaced combinatorial ones in the mid-1900s, the emergence of computers later revitalized the study of triangulations. By now there are several distinct mathematical communities actively doing work on different aspects of triangulations. The goal of this workshop was to bring the researchers from these various communities together to stimulate interaction and to benefit from the exchange of ideas and methods

Unbounded Regions of High-Order Voronoi Diagrams of Lines and Segments in Higher Dimensions

We study the behavior at infinity of the farthest and the higher-order Voronoi diagram of n line segments or lines in a d-dimensional Euclidean space. The unbounded parts of these diagrams can be encoded by a Gaussian map on the sphere of directions S^(d-1). We show that the combinatorial complexity of the Gaussian map for the order-k Voronoi diagram of n line segments or lines is O(min{k,n-k} n^(d-1)), which is tight for n-k = O(1). All the d-dimensional cells of the farthest Voronoi diagram are unbounded, its (d-1)-skeleton is connected, and it does not have tunnels. A d-cell of the Voronoi diagram is called a tunnel if the set of its unbounded directions, represented as points on its Gaussian map, is not connected. In a three-dimensional space, the farthest Voronoi diagram of lines has exactly n^2-n three-dimensional cells, when n >= 2. The Gaussian map of the farthest Voronoi diagram of line segments or lines can be constructed in O(n^(d-1) alpha(n)) time, while if d=3, the time drops to worst-case optimal O(n^2)

Discrete Geometry (hybrid meeting)

A number of important recent developments in various branches of discrete geometry were presented at the workshop, which took place in hybrid format due to a pandemic situation. The presentations illustrated both the diversity of the area and its strong connections to other fields of mathematics such as topology, combinatorics, algebraic geometry or functional analysis. The open questions abound and many of the results presented were obtained by young researchers, confirming the great vitality of discrete geometry