A Framework for Algorithm Stability

We say that an algorithm is stable if small changes in the input result in small changes in the output. This kind of algorithm stability is particularly relevant when analyzing and visualizing time-varying data. Stability in general plays an important role in a wide variety of areas, such as numerical analysis, machine learning, and topology, but is poorly understood in the context of (combinatorial) algorithms. In this paper we present a framework for analyzing the stability of algorithms. We focus in particular on the tradeoff between the stability of an algorithm and the quality of the solution it computes. Our framework allows for three types of stability analysis with increasing degrees of complexity: event stability, topological stability, and Lipschitz stability. We demonstrate the use of our stability framework by applying it to kinetic Euclidean minimum spanning trees

Disjoint compatibility graph of non-crossing matchings of points in convex position

Let $X_{2k}$ be a set of $2k$ labeled points in convex position in the plane. We consider geometric non-intersecting straight-line perfect matchings of $X_{2k}$. Two such matchings, $M$ and $M'$, are disjoint compatible if they do not have common edges, and no edge of $M$ crosses an edge of $M'$. Denote by $\mathrm{DCM}_k$ the graph whose vertices correspond to such matchings, and two vertices are adjacent if and only if the corresponding matchings are disjoint compatible. We show that for each $k \geq 9$, the connected components of $\mathrm{DCM}_k$ form exactly three isomorphism classes -- namely, there is a certain number of isomorphic small components, a certain number of isomorphic medium components, and one big component. The number and the structure of small and medium components is determined precisely.Comment: 46 pages, 30 figure

Bichromatic compatible matchings

ABSTRACT For a set R of n red points and a set B of n blue points, a BR-matching is a non-crossing geometric perfect matching where each segment has one endpoint in B and one in R. Two BR-matchings are compatible if their union is also noncrossing. We prove that, for any two distinct BR-matchings M and M , there exists a sequence of BR-matchings M = M1, . . . , M k = M such that Mi−1 is compatible with Mi. This implies the connectivity of the compatible bichromatic matching graph containing one node for each BR-matching and an edge joining each pair of compatible BR-matchings, thereby answering the open problem posed by Aichholzer et al. in [5]

Bichromatic compatible matchings

Abstract For a set R of n red points and a set B of n blue points, a BR-matching is a non-crossing geometric perfect matching where each segment has one endpoint in B and one in R. Two BRmatchings are compatible if their union is also non-crossing. We prove that, for any two distinct BRmatchings M and M , there exists a sequence of BR-matchings M = M 1 , . . . , M k = M such that M i−1 is compatible with M i . This implies the connectivity of the compatible bichromatic matching graph containing one node for each BR-matching and an edge joining each pair of compatible BR-matchings, thereby answering the open problem posed by Aichholzer et al. in [6]

Generalized Delaunay triangulations : graph-theoretic properties and algorithms

This thesis studies different generalizations of Delaunay triangulations, both from a combinatorial and algorithmic point of view. The Delaunay triangulation of a point set S, denoted DT(S), has vertex set S. An edge uv is in DT(S) if it satisfies the empty circle property: there exists a circle with u and v on its boundary that does not enclose points of S. Due to different optimization criteria, many generalizations of the DT(S) have been proposed. Several properties are known for DT(S), yet, few are known for its generalizations. The main question we explore is: to what extent can properties of DT(S) be extended for generalized Delaunay graphs? First, we explore the connectivity of the flip graph of higher order Delaunay triangulations of a point set S in the plane. The order-k flip graph might be disconnected for k = 3, yet, we give upper and lower bounds on the flip distance from one order-k triangulation to another in certain settings. Later, we show that there exists a length-decreasing sequence of plane spanning trees of S that converges to the minimum spanning tree of S with respect to an arbitrary convex distance function. Each pair of consecutive trees in the sequence is contained in a constrained convex shape Delaunay graph. In addition, we give a linear upper bound and specific bounds when the convex shape is a square. With focus still on convex distance functions, we study Hamiltonicity in k-order convex shape Delaunay graphs. Depending on the convex shape, we provide several upper bounds for the minimum k for which the k-order convex shape Delaunay graph is always Hamiltonian. In addition, we provide lower bounds when the convex shape is in a set of certain regular polygons. Finally, we revisit an affine invariant triangulation, which is a special type of convex shape Delaunay triangulation. We show that many properties of the standard Delaunay triangulations carry over to these triangulations. Also, motivated by this affine invariant triangulation, we study different triangulation methods for producing other affine invariant geometric objects.Esta tesis estudia diferentes generalizaciones de la triangulación de Delaunay, tanto desde un punto de vista combinatorio como algorítmico. La triangulación de Delaunay de un conjunto de puntos S, denotada DT(S), tiene como conjunto de vértices a S. Una arista uv está en DT(S) si satisface la propiedad del círculo vacío: existe un círculo con u y v en su frontera que no contiene ningún punto de S en su interior. Debido a distintos criterios de optimización, se han propuesto varias generalizaciones de la DT (S). Hoy en día, se conocen bastantes propiedades de la DT(S), sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre sus generalizaciones. La pregunta principal que exploramos es: ¿Hasta qué punto las propiedades de la DT(S) se pueden extender para generalizaciones de gráficas de Delaunay? Primero, exploramos la conectividad de la gráfica de flips de las triangulaciones de Delaunay de orden alto de un conjunto de puntos S en el plano. La gráfica de flips de triangulaciones de orden k = 3 podría ser disconexa, sin embargo, nosotros damos una cota superior e inferior para la distancia en flips de una triangulación de orden k a alguna otra cuando S cumple con ciertas características. Luego, probamos que existe una secuencia de árboles generadores sin cruces tal que la suma total de la longitud de las aristas con respecto a una distancia convexa arbitraria es decreciente y converge al árbol generador mínimo con respecto a la distancia correspondiente. Cada par de árboles consecutivos en la secuencia se encuentran en una triangulación de Delaunay con restricciones. Adicionalmente, damos una cota superior lineal para la longitud de la secuencia y cotas específicas cuando el conjunto convexo es un cuadrado. Aún concentrados en distancias convexas, estudiamos hamiltonicidad en las gráficas de Delaunay de distancia convexa de k-orden. Dependiendo en la distancia convexa, exhibimos diversas cotas superiores para el mínimo valor de k que satisface que la gráfica de Delaunay de distancia convexa de orden-k es hamiltoniana. También damos cotas inferiores para k cuando el conjunto convexo pertenece a un conjunto de ciertos polígonos regulares. Finalmente, re-visitamos una triangulación afín invariante, la cual es un caso especial de triangulación de Delaunay de distancia convexa. Probamos que muchas propiedades de la triangulación de Delaunay estándar se preservan en estas triangulaciones. Además, motivados por esta triangulación afín invariante, estudiamos diferentes algoritmos que producen otros objetos geométricos afín invariantes

IST Austria Thesis

This thesis considers two examples of reconfiguration problems: flipping edges in edge-labelled triangulations of planar point sets and swapping labelled tokens placed on vertices of a graph. In both cases the studied structures – all the triangulations of a given point set or all token placements on a given graph – can be thought of as vertices of the so-called reconfiguration graph, in which two vertices are adjacent if the corresponding structures differ by a single elementary operation – by a flip of a diagonal in a triangulation or by a swap of tokens on adjacent vertices, respectively. We study the reconfiguration of one instance of a structure into another via (shortest) paths in the reconfiguration graph. For triangulations of point sets in which each edge has a unique label and a flip transfers the label from the removed edge to the new edge, we prove a polynomial-time testable condition, called the Orbit Theorem, that characterizes when two triangulations of the same point set lie in the same connected component of the reconfiguration graph. The condition was first conjectured by Bose, Lubiw, Pathak and Verdonschot. We additionally provide a polynomial time algorithm that computes a reconfiguring flip sequence, if it exists. Our proof of the Orbit Theorem uses topological properties of a certain high-dimensional cell complex that has the usual reconfiguration graph as its 1-skeleton. In the context of token swapping on a tree graph, we make partial progress on the problem of finding shortest reconfiguration sequences. We disprove the so-called Happy Leaf Conjecture and demonstrate the importance of swapping tokens that are already placed at the correct vertices. We also prove that a generalization of the problem to weighted coloured token swapping is NP-hard on trees but solvable in polynomial time on paths and stars