On periodic solutions of 2-periodic Lyness difference equations

We study the existence of periodic solutions of the non--autonomous periodic Lyness' recurrence u_{n+2}=(a_n+u_{n+1})/u_n, where {a_n} is a cycle with positive values a,b and with positive initial conditions. It is known that for a=b=1 all the sequences generated by this recurrence are 5-periodic. We prove that for each pair (a,b) different from (1,1) there are infinitely many initial conditions giving rise to periodic sequences, and that the family of recurrences have almost all the even periods. If a is not equal to b, then any odd period, except 1, appears.Comment: 27 pages; 1 figur

Geometric and photometric affine invariant image registration

This thesis aims to present a solution to the correspondence problem for the registration of wide-baseline images taken from uncalibrated cameras. We propose an affine invariant descriptor that combines the geometry and photometry of the scene to find correspondences between both views. The geometric affine invariant component of the descriptor is based on the affine arc-length metric, whereas the photometry is analysed by invariant colour moments. A graph structure represents the spatial distribution of the primitive features; i.e. nodes correspond to detected high-curvature points, whereas arcs represent connectivities by extracted contours. After matching, we refine the search for correspondences by using a maximum likelihood robust algorithm. We have evaluated the system over synthetic and real data. The method is endemic to propagation of errors introduced by approximations in the system.BAE SystemsSelex Sensors and Airborne System

From receptive profiles to a metric model of V1

In this work we show how to construct connectivity kernels induced by the receptive profiles of simple cells of the primary visual cortex (V1). These kernels are directly defined by the shape of such profiles: this provides a metric model for the functional architecture of V1, whose global geometry is determined by the reciprocal interactions between local elements. Our construction adapts to any bank of filters chosen to represent a set of receptive profiles, since it does not require any structure on the parameterization of the family. The connectivity kernel that we define carries a geometrical structure consistent with the well-known properties of long-range horizontal connections in V1, and it is compatible with the perceptual rules synthesized by the concept of association field. These characteristics are still present when the kernel is constructed from a bank of filters arising from an unsupervised learning algorithm.Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures. Added acknowledgement

Near NP-Completeness for Detecting p-adic Rational Roots in One Variable

We show that deciding whether a sparse univariate polynomial has a p-adic rational root can be done in NP for most inputs. We also prove a polynomial-time upper bound for trinomials with suitably generic p-adic Newton polygon. We thus improve the best previous complexity upper bound of EXPTIME. We also prove an unconditional complexity lower bound of NP-hardness with respect to randomized reductions for general univariate polynomials. The best previous lower bound assumed an unproved hypothesis on the distribution of primes in arithmetic progression. We also discuss how our results complement analogous results over the real numbers.Comment: 8 pages in 2 column format, 1 illustration. Submitted to a conferenc

A mathematical framework for contact detection between quadric and superquadric surfaces

The calculation of the minimum distance between surfaces plays an important role in computational mechanics, namely, in the study of constrained multibody systems where contact forces take part. In this paper, a general rigid contact detection methodology for non-conformal bodies, described by ellipsoidal and superellipsoidal surfaces, is presented. The mathematical framework relies on simple algebraic and differential geometry, vector calculus, and on the C2 continuous implicit representations of the surfaces. The proposed methodology establishes a set of collinear and orthogonal constraints between vectors defining the contacting surfaces that, allied with loci constraints, which are specific to the type of surface being used, formulate the contact problem. This set of non-linear equations is solved numerically with the Newton-Raphson method with Jacobian matrices calculated analytically. The method outputs the coordinates of the pair of points with common normal vector directions and, consequently, the minimum distance between both surfaces. Contrary to other contact detection methodologies, the proposed mathematical framework does not rely on polygonal-based geometries neither on complex non-linear optimization formulations. Furthermore, the methodology is extendable to other surfaces that are (strictly) convex, interact in a non-conformal fashion, present an implicit representation, and that are at least C2 continuous. Two distinct methods for calculating the tangent and binormal vectors to the implicit surfaces are introduced: (i) a method based on the Householder reflection matrix; and (ii) a method based on a square plate rotation mechanism. The first provides a base of three orthogonal vectors, in which one of them is collinear to the surface normal. For the latter, it is shown that, by means of an analogy to the referred mechanism, at least two non-collinear vectors to the normal vector can be determined. Complementarily, several mathematical and computational aspects, regarding the rigid contact detection methodology, are described. The proposed methodology is applied to several case tests involving the contact between different (super)ellipsoidal contact pairs. Numerical results show that the implemented methodology is highly efficient and accurate for ellipsoids and superellipsoids.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Polygonal Chains Cannot Lock in 4D

We prove that, in all dimensions d>=4, every simple open polygonal chain and every tree may be straightened, and every simple closed polygonal chain may be convexified. These reconfigurations can be achieved by algorithms that use polynomial time in the number of vertices, and result in a polynomial number of ``moves.'' These results contrast to those known for d=2, where trees can ``lock,'' and for d=3, where open and closed chains can lock.Comment: Major revision of the Aug. 1999 version, including: Proof extended to show trees cannot lock in 4D; new example of the implementation straightening a chain of n=100 vertices; improved time complexity for chain to O(n^2); fixed several minor technical errors. (Thanks to three referees.) 29 pages; 15 figures. v3: Reference update

Pose Estimation Revisited

The presented thesis deals with the 2D-3D pose estimation problem. Pose estimation means to estimate the relative position and orientation of a 3D object with respect to a reference camera system. The main focus concentrates on the geometric modeling and application of the pose problem. To deal with the different geometric spaces (Euclidean, affine and projective ones), a homogeneous model for conformal geometry is applied in the geometric algebra framework. It allows for a compact and linear modeling of the pose scenario. In the chosen embedding of the pose problem, a rigid body motion is represented as an orthogonal transformation whose parameters can be estimated efficiently in the corresponding Lie algebra. In addition, the chosen algebraic embedding allows the modeling of extended features derived from sphere concepts in contrast to point concepts used in classical vector calculus. For pose estimation, 3D object models are further treated two-fold, feature based and free-form based: While the feature based pose scenarios provide constraint equations to link different image and object entities, the free-form approach for pose estimation is achieved by applying extracted image silhouettes from objects on 3D free-form contours modeled by 3D Fourier descriptors. In conformal geometric algebra an extended scenario is derived, which deals beside point features with higher-order features such as lines, planes, circles, spheres, kinematic chains or cycloidal curves. This scenario is extended to general free-form contours by interpreting contours generated with 3D Fourier descriptors as n-times nested cycloidal curves. The introduced method for shape modeling links signal theory, geometry and kinematics and is applied advantageously for 2D-3D silhouette based free-form pose estimation. The experiments show the real-time capability and noise stability of the algorithms. Experiments of a running navigation system with visual self-localization are also presented

Two problems in computational geometry

En aquesta tesi s'estudien dos problemes del camp de la geometria computacional. El primer problema és: donat un set S de n punts en el pla en posició general, com de prop són quatre punts de S de ser cocirculars. Definim tres mesures per estudiar aquesta qüestió, la mesura de Tales, la mesura de Voronoi, i la mesura del Determinant. Presentem cotes per la mesura de Tales, i algoritmes per computar aquestes mesures de cocircularitat. També reduïm el problema de computar la cocircularitat emprant la mesura del Determinant al problema de 4SUM. El segon problema és: donat dos sets R i B de punts rojos i blaus respectivament, com computar la discrepància bicromàtica amb caixes i cercles. La discrepància bicromàtica és definida com la diferència entre el nombre de punts vermells i blaus que són a l'interior de la figura examinada. Presentem una comparativa entre algoritmes ja existents per les dues figures. També comparem la discrepància bicromàtica de caixes orientades en els eixos vs. d'orientació general. A més a més, també presentem un nou algoritme per la discrepància en esferes/discs per a altes dimensions, basat en literatura ja existent. També relacionem altres problemes en el tema de separabilitat amb algoritmes sensitius a l'output per la discrepància amb caixes.En esta tesis se estudian dos problemas del campo de la geometría computacional. El primer problema es: dado un set S de n puntos en el plan en posición general, como de cerca son cuatro puntos de S de ser cocirculares. Definimos tres medidas para estudiar esta cuestión, la medida de Tales, la medida de Voronoi, y la medida del Determinante. Presentamos cotas por la medida de Tales, y algoritmos para computar estas medidas de cocircularidad. También reducimos el problema de computar la cocircularidad usando la medida del Determinante al problema de 4SUM. El segundo problema es: dado dos sets R y B de puntos rojos y azules respectivamente, como computar la discrepancia bicromática con cajas y círculos. La discrepancia bicromática es definida como la diferencia entre el número de puntos rojos y azules que están en el interior de la figura examinada. Presentamos una comparativa entre algoritmos ya existentes por las dos figuras. También comparamos la discrepancia bicromática de cajas orientadas en los ejes vs. de orientación general. Además, también presentamos un nuevo algoritmo por la discrepancia en esferas/discos para altas dimensiones, basado en literatura ya existente. También relacionamos otros problemas en el tema de separabilidad con algoritmos sensitivos al output por la discrepancia con cajas.Two different problems belonging to computational geometry are studied in this thesis. The first problem studies: given a set S of n points in the plane in general position, how close are four points of S to being cocircular. We define three measures to study this question, the Thales, Voronoi and Determinant measures. We present bounds on the Thales almost-cocircularity measure over a point set. Algorithms for computing these measures of cocircularity are presented as well. We give a reduction from computing cocircularity using the Determinant measure to the 4SUM problem. The second problem studies: given two sets R and B of red and blue points respectively, how to compute the bichromatic discrepancy using boxes and circles. The bichromatic discrepancy is defined as the difference between the number of red points and blue points inside the shape. We present a comparison of algorithms in the existing literature for the two shapes. Bichromatic discrepancy in axis-parallel boxes .vs non-axis-parallel boxes is also compared. Furthermore, we also present a new algorithm for disk discrepancy in higher dimensions, based on existing literature. We also relate existing problems in separability with existing output sensitive algorithms for bichromatic discrepancy using boxes

Pose Estimation of Free-form Objects: Theory and Experiments

In this report we present geometric foundations and an algorithmic approach to deal with the 2D-3D pose estimation problem for free-form surface models. This work is an extension to earlier studies presented in [29]. The discussion of 1D contour models in [29] is extended to 2D free-form surface models. We use a parametric representation of surfaces and apply Fourier transformations to gain low-pass descriptions of objects. We present an algorithm for pose estimation, which uses the silhouette of the object as pictorial information and recovers the 3D pose of the object even for changing aspects of the object during image sequences. We further present extensions to couple surface and contour information on objects and show the potential of our chosen approach for complex objects and scenes