Clustered Integer 3SUM via Additive Combinatorics

We present a collection of new results on problems related to 3SUM, including: 1. The first truly subquadratic algorithm for $\ \ \ \ \$ 1a. computing the (min,+) convolution for monotone increasing sequences with integer values bounded by $O(n)$, $\ \ \ \ \$1b. solving 3SUM for monotone sets in 2D with integer coordinates bounded by $O(n)$, and $\ \ \ \ \$1c. preprocessing a binary string for histogram indexing (also called jumbled indexing). The running time is: $O(n^{(9+\sqrt{177})/12}\,\textrm{polylog}\,n)=O(n^{1.859})$ with randomization, or $O(n^{1.864})$ deterministically. This greatly improves the previous $n^2/2^{\Omega(\sqrt{\log n})}$ time bound obtained from Williams' recent result on all-pairs shortest paths [STOC'14], and answers an open question raised by several researchers studying the histogram indexing problem. 2. The first algorithm for histogram indexing for any constant alphabet size that achieves truly subquadratic preprocessing time and truly sublinear query time. 3. A truly subquadratic algorithm for integer 3SUM in the case when the given set can be partitioned into $n^{1-\delta}$ clusters each covered by an interval of length $n$, for any constant $\delta>0$. 4. An algorithm to preprocess any set of $n$ integers so that subsequently 3SUM on any given subset can be solved in $O(n^{13/7}\,\textrm{polylog}\,n)$ time. All these results are obtained by a surprising new technique, based on the Balog--Szemer\'edi--Gowers Theorem from additive combinatorics

Orthogonal Range Searching in Moderate Dimensions: k-d Trees and Range Trees Strike Back

We revisit the orthogonal range searching problem and the exact l_infinity nearest neighbor searching problem for a static set of n points when the dimension d is moderately large. We give the first data structure with near linear space that achieves truly sublinear query time when the dimension is any constant multiple of log n. Specifically, the preprocessing time and space are O(n^{1+delta}) for any constant delta>0, and the expected query time is n^{1-1/O(c log c)} for d = c log n. The data structure is simple and is based on a new "augmented, randomized, lopsided" variant of k-d trees. It matches (in fact, slightly improves) the performance of previous combinatorial algorithms that work only in the case of offline queries [Impagliazzo, Lovett, Paturi, and Schneider (2014) and Chan (SODA\u2715)]. It leads to slightly faster combinatorial algorithms for all-pairs shortest paths in general real-weighted graphs and rectangular Boolean matrix multiplication. In the offline case, we show that the problem can be reduced to the Boolean orthogonal vectors problem and thus admits an n^{2-1/O(log c)}-time non-combinatorial algorithm [Abboud, Williams, and Yu (SODA\u2715)]. This reduction is also simple and is based on range trees. Finally, we use a similar approach to obtain a small improvement to Indyk\u27s data structure [FOCS\u2798] for approximate l_infinity nearest neighbor search when d = c log n

A Simpler Linear-Time Algorithm for Intersecting Two Convex Polyhedra in Three Dimensions

Chazelle [FOCS\u2789] gave a linear-time algorithm to compute the intersection of two convex polyhedra in three dimensions. We present a simpler algorithm to do the same

Applications of Chebyshev Polynomials to Low-Dimensional Computational Geometry

We apply the polynomial method - specifically, Chebyshev polynomials - to obtain a number of new results on geometric approximation algorithms in low constant dimensions. For example, we give an algorithm for constructing epsilon-kernels (coresets for approximate width and approximate convex hull) in close to optimal time O(n + (1/epsilon)^{(d-1)/2}), up to a small near-(1/epsilon)^{3/2} factor, for any d-dimensional n-point set. We obtain an improved data structure for Euclidean *approximate nearest neighbor search* with close to O(n log n + (1/epsilon)^{d/4} n) preprocessing time and O((1/epsilon)^{d/4} log n) query time. We obtain improved approximation algorithms for discrete Voronoi diagrams, diameter, and bichromatic closest pair in the L_s-metric for any even integer constant s >= 2. The techniques are general and may have further applications

Approximation Schemes for 0-1 Knapsack

We revisit the standard 0-1 knapsack problem. The latest polynomial-time approximation scheme by Rhee (2015) with approximation factor 1+eps has running time near O(n+(1/eps)^{5/2}) (ignoring polylogarithmic factors), and is randomized. We present a simpler algorithm which achieves the same result and is deterministic. With more effort, our ideas can actually lead to an improved time bound near O(n + (1/eps)^{12/5}), and still further improvements for small n

Faster Algorithms for Largest Empty Rectangles and Boxes

We revisit a classical problem in computational geometry: finding the largest-volume axis-aligned empty box (inside a given bounding box) amidst $n$ given points in $d$ dimensions. Previously, the best algorithms known have running time $O(n\log^2n)$ for $d=2$ (by Aggarwal and Suri [SoCG'87]) and near $n^d$ for $d\ge 3$. We describe faster algorithms with running time (i) $O(n2^{O(\log^*n)}\log n)$ for $d=2$, (ii) $O(n^{2.5+o(1)})$ time for $d=3$, and (iii) $\widetilde{O}(n^{(5d+2)/6})$ time for any constant $d\ge 4$. To obtain the higher-dimensional result, we adapt and extend previous techniques for Klee's measure problem to optimize certain objective functions over the complement of a union of orthants.Comment: full version of a SoCG 2021 pape