Collinearities in Kinetic Point Sets

Abstract

Let $P$ be a set of $n$ points in the plane, each point moving along a given trajectory. A {\em $k$-collinearity} is a pair $(L,t)$ of a line $L$ and a time $t$ such that $L$ contains at least $k$ points at time $t$, the points along $L$ do not all coincide, and not all of them are collinear at all times. We show that, if the points move with constant velocity, then the number of 3-collinearities is at most $2\binom{n}{3}$, and this bound is tight. There are $n$ points having $\Omega(n^3/k^4 + n^2/k^2)$ distinct $k$-collinearities. Thus, the number of $k$-collinearities among $n$ points, for constant $k$, is $O(n^3)$, and this bound is asymptotically tight. In addition, there are $n$ points, moving in pairwise distinct directions with different speeds, such that no three points are ever collinear.