Coloring translates and homothets of a convex body

We obtain improved upper bounds and new lower bounds on the chromatic number as a linear function of the clique number, for the intersection graphs (and their complements) of finite families of translates and homothets of a convex body in \RR^n.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Distinguishing Classes of Intersection Graphs of Homothets or Similarities of Two Convex Disks

For smooth convex disks A, i.e., convex compact subsets of the plane with non-empty interior, we classify the classes G^{hom}(A) and G^{sim}(A) of intersection graphs that can be obtained from homothets and similarities of A, respectively. Namely, we prove that G^{hom}(A) = G^{hom}(B) if and only if A and B are affine equivalent, and G^{sim}(A) = G^{sim}(B) if and only if A and B are similar

Stabbing Pairwise Intersecting Disks by Five Points

Suppose we are given a set D of n pairwise intersecting disks in the plane. A planar point set P stabs D if and only if each disk in D contains at least one point from P. We present a deterministic algorithm that takes O(n) time to find five points that stab D. Furthermore, we give a simple example of 13 pairwise intersecting disks that cannot be stabbed by three points. This provides a simple - albeit slightly weaker - algorithmic version of a classical result by Danzer that such a set D can always be stabbed by four points

From a (p,2)-Theorem to a Tight (p,q)-Theorem

A family F of sets is said to satisfy the (p,q)-property if among any p sets of F some q have a non-empty intersection. The celebrated (p,q)-theorem of Alon and Kleitman asserts that any family of compact convex sets in R^d that satisfies the (p,q)-property for some q >= d+1, can be pierced by a fixed number (independent on the size of the family) f_d(p,q) of points. The minimum such piercing number is denoted by {HD}_d(p,q). Already in 1957, Hadwiger and Debrunner showed that whenever q > (d-1)/d p+1 the piercing number is {HD}_d(p,q)=p-q+1; no exact values of {HD}_d(p,q) were found ever since. While for an arbitrary family of compact convex sets in R^d, d >= 2, a (p,2)-property does not imply a bounded piercing number, such bounds were proved for numerous specific families. The best-studied among them is axis-parallel boxes in R^d, and specifically, axis-parallel rectangles in the plane. Wegner (1965) and (independently) Dol\u27nikov (1972) used a (p,2)-theorem for axis-parallel rectangles to show that {HD}_{rect}(p,q)=p-q+1 holds for all q>sqrt{2p}. These are the only values of q for which {HD}_{rect}(p,q) is known exactly. In this paper we present a general method which allows using a (p,2)-theorem as a bootstrapping to obtain a tight (p,q)-theorem, for families with Helly number 2, even without assuming that the sets in the family are convex or compact. To demonstrate the strength of this method, we show that {HD}_{d-box}(p,q)=p-q+1 holds for all q > c\u27 log^{d-1} p, and in particular, {HD}_{rect}(p,q)=p-q+1 holds for all q >= 7 log_2 p (compared to q >= sqrt{2p}, obtained by Wegner and Dol\u27nikov more than 40 years ago). In addition, for several classes of families, we present improved (p,2)-theorems, some of which can be used as a bootstrapping to obtain tight (p,q)-theorems. In particular, we show that any family F of compact convex sets in R^d with Helly number 2 admits a (p,2)-theorem with piercing number O(p^{2d-1}), and thus, satisfies {HD}_{F}(p,q)=p-q+1 for all q>cp^{1-1/(2d-1)}, for a universal constant c

Algorithmic and Combinatorial Results in Selection and Computational Geometry

This dissertation investigates two sets of algorithmic and combinatorial problems. Thefirst part focuses on the selection problem under the pairwise comparison model. For the classic “median of medians” scheme, contrary to the popular belief that smaller group sizes cause superlinear behavior, several new linear time algorithms that utilize small groups are introduced. Then the exact number of comparisons needed for an optimal selection algorithm is studied. In particular, the implications of a long standing conjecture known as Yao’s hypothesis are explored. For the multiparty model, we designed low communication complexity protocols for selecting an exact or an approximate median of data that is distributed among multiple players. In the second part, three computational geometry problems are studied. For the longestspanning tree with neighborhoods, approximation algorithms are provided. For the stretch factor of polygonal chains, upper bounds are proved and almost matching lower bound constructions in \mathbb{R}^2 and higher dimensions are developed. For the piercing number τ and independence number ν of a family of axis-parallel rectangles in the plane, a lower bound construction for ν = 4 that matches Wegner’s conjecture is analyzed. The previous matching construction for ν = 3, due to Wegner himself, dates back to 1968