Optimal Algorithm for Geodesic Farthest-Point Voronoi Diagrams

Let P be a simple polygon with n vertices. For any two points in P, the geodesic distance between them is the length of the shortest path that connects them among all paths contained in P. Given a set S of m sites being a subset of the vertices of P, we present the first randomized algorithm to compute the geodesic farthest-point Voronoi diagram of S in P running in expected O(n + m) time. That is, a partition of P into cells, at most one cell per site, such that every point in a cell has the same farthest site with respect to the geodesic distance. This algorithm can be extended to run in expected O(n + m log m) time when S is an arbitrary set of m sites contained in P

The Visibility Center of a Simple Polygon

We introduce the visibility center of a set of points inside a polygon - a point c_V such that the maximum geodesic distance from c_V to see any point in the set is minimized. For a simple polygon of n vertices and a set of m points inside it, we give an O((n+m) log (n+m)) time algorithm to find the visibility center. We find the visibility center of all points in a simple polygon in O(n log n) time. Our algorithm reduces the visibility center problem to the problem of finding the geodesic center of a set of half-polygons inside a polygon, which is of independent interest. We give an O((n+k) log (n+k)) time algorithm for this problem, where k is the number of half-polygons

Kinetic Geodesic Voronoi Diagrams in a Simple Polygon

We study the geodesic Voronoi diagram of a set S of n linearly moving sites inside a static simple polygon P with m vertices. We identify all events where the structure of the Voronoi diagram changes, bound the number of such events, and then develop a kinetic data structure (KDS) that maintains the geodesic Voronoi diagram as the sites move. To this end, we first analyze how often a single bisector, defined by two sites, or a single Voronoi center, defined by three sites, can change. For both these structures we prove that the number of such changes is at most O(m³), and that this is tight in the worst case. Moreover, we develop compact, responsive, local, and efficient kinetic data structures for both structures. Our data structures use linear space and process a worst-case optimal number of events. Our bisector KDS handles each event in O(log m) time, and our Voronoi center handles each event in O(log² m) time. Both structures can be extended to efficiently support updating the movement of the sites as well. Using these data structures as building blocks we obtain a compact KDS for maintaining the full geodesic Voronoi diagram

Improved Dynamic Geodesic Nearest Neighbor Searching in a Simple Polygon

We present an efficient dynamic data structure that supports geodesic nearest neighbor queries for a set S of point sites in a static simple polygon P. Our data structure allows us to insert a new site in S, delete a site from S, and ask for the site in S closest to an arbitrary query point q in P. All distances are measured using the geodesic distance, that is, the length of the shortest path that is completely contained in P. Our data structure achieves polylogarithmic update and query times, and uses O(n log^3n log m + m) space, where n is the number of sites in S and m is the number of vertices in P. The crucial ingredient in our data structure is an implicit representation of a vertical shallow cutting of the geodesic distance functions. We show that such an implicit representation exists, and that we can compute it efficiently

An Optimal Deterministic Algorithm for Geodesic Farthest-Point Voronoi Diagrams in Simple Polygons

Given a set S of m point sites in a simple polygon P of n vertices, we consider the problem of computing the geodesic farthest-point Voronoi diagram for S in P. It is known that the problem has an Ω(n + m log m) time lower bound. Previously, a randomized algorithm was proposed [Barba, SoCG 2019] that can solve the problem in O(n + m log m) expected time. The previous best deterministic algorithms solve the problem in O(n log log n + m log m) time [Oh, Barba, and Ahn, SoCG 2016] or in O(n + m log m + m log2 n) time [Oh and Ahn, SoCG 2017]. In this paper, we present a deterministic algorithm of O(n + m log m) time, which is optimal. This answers an open question posed by Mitchell in the Handbook of Computational Geometry two decades ago

A Nearly Optimal Algorithm for the Geodesic Voronoi Diagram of Points in a Simple Polygon

The geodesic Voronoi diagram of m point sites inside a simple polygon of n vertices is a subdivision of the polygon into m cells, one to each site, such that all points in a cell share the same nearest site under the geodesic distance. The best known lower bound for the construction time is Omega(n+m log m), and a matching upper bound is a long-standing open question. The state-of-the-art construction algorithms achieve O((n+m)log (n+m)) and O(n+m log m log^2n) time, which are optimal for m=Omega(n) and m=O(n/(log^3n)), respectively. In this paper, we give a construction algorithm with O(n+m(log m+log^2 n)) time, and it is nearly optimal in the sense that if a single Voronoi vertex can be computed in O(log n) time, then the construction time will become the optimal O(n+m log m). In other words, we reduce the problem of constructing the diagram in the optimal time to the problem of computing a single Voronoi vertex in O(log n) time

The Geodesic Edge Center of a Simple Polygon

The geodesic edge center of a polygon is a point c inside the polygon that minimizes the maximum geodesic distance from c to any edge of the polygon, where geodesic distance is the shortest path distance inside the polygon. We give a linear-time algorithm to find a geodesic edge center of a simple polygon. This improves on the previous O(n log n) time algorithm by Lubiw and Naredla [European Symposium on Algorithms, 2021]. The algorithm builds on an algorithm to find the geodesic vertex center of a simple polygon due to Pollack, Sharir, and Rote [Discrete & Computational Geometry, 1989] and an improvement to linear time by Ahn, Barba, Bose, De Carufel, Korman, and Oh [Discrete & Computational Geometry, 2016]. The geodesic edge center can easily be found from the geodesic farthest-edge Voronoi diagram of the polygon. Finding that Voronoi diagram in linear time is an open question, although the geodesic nearest edge Voronoi diagram (the medial axis) can be found in linear time. As a first step of our geodesic edge center algorithm, we give a linear-time algorithm to find the geodesic farthest-edge Voronoi diagram restricted to the polygon boundary