arXiv subjects

Katharina Klost

Publications and source records attributed to Katharina Klost.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Geometric Give and Take

We consider a special, geometric case of a balancing game introduced by Spencer in 1977. Consider any arrangement $\mathcal{L}$ of $n$ lines in the plane, and assume that each cell of the arrangement contains a box. Alice initially places pebbles in each box. In each subsequent step, Bob picks a line, and Alice must choose a side of that line, remove one pebble from each box on that side, and add one pebble to each box on the other side. Bob wins if any box ever becomes empty. We determine the minimum number $f(\mathcal L)$ of pebbles, computable in polynomial time, for which Alice can prevent Bob from ever winning, and we show that $f(\mathcal L)=Θ(n^3)$ for any arrangement $\mathcal{L}$ of $n$ lines in general position.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2026

Compatible Triangulations of Simple Polygons

Let $P$ and $Q$ be simple polygons with $n$ vertices each. We wish to compute triangulations of $P$ and $Q$ that are combinatorially equivalent, if they exist. We consider two versions of the problem: if a triangulation of $P$ is given, we can decide in $O(n\log n + nr)$ time if $Q$ has a compatible triangulation, where $r$ is the number of reflex vertices of $Q$. If we are already given the correspondence between vertices of $P$ and $Q$ (but no triangulation), we can find compatible triangulations of $P$ and $Q$ in time $O(M(n))$, where $M(n)$ is the running time for multiplying two $n\times n$ matrices.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2025

A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles II: Vertex and Edge Deletion Numbers

We consider the problem of finding a Hamiltonian path or cycle with precedence constraints in the form of a partial order on the vertex set. We study the complexity for graph width parameters for which the ordinary problems $\mathsf{Hamiltonian\ Path}$ and $\mathsf{Hamiltonian\ Cycle}$ are in $\mathsf{FPT}$. In particular, we focus on parameters that describe how many vertices and edges have to be deleted to become a member of a certain graph class. We show that the problems are $\mathsf{W[1]}$-hard for such restricted cases as vertex distance to path and vertex distance to clique. We complement these results by showing that the problems can be solved in $\mathsf{XP}$ time for vertex distance to outerplanar and vertex distance to block. Furthermore, we present some $\mathsf{FPT}$ algorithms, e.g., for edge distance to block. Additionally, we prove para-$\mathsf{NP}$-hardness when considered with the edge clique cover number.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2025

A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles I: Treewidth, Pathwidth, and Grid Graphs

We consider the problem of finding a Hamiltonian path or a Hamiltonian cycle with precedence constraints in the form of a partial order on the vertex set. We show that the path problem is $\mathsf{NP}$-complete for graphs of pathwidth 4 while the cycle problem is $\mathsf{NP}$-complete on graphs of pathwidth 5. We complement these results by giving polynomial-time algorithms for graphs of pathwidth 3 and treewidth 2 for Hamiltonian paths as well as pathwidth 4 and treewidth 3 for Hamiltonian cycles. Furthermore, we study the complexity of the path and cycle problems on rectangular grid graphs of bounded height. For these, we show that the path and cycle problems are $\mathsf{NP}$-complete when the height of the grid is greater or equal to 7 and 9, respectively. In the variant where we look for minimum edge-weighted Hamiltonian paths and cycles, the problems are $\mathsf{NP}$-hard for heights 5 and 6, respectively.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2025

A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths

We consider the problem of finding a Hamiltonian path with precedence constraints in the form of a partial order on the vertex set. This problem is known as Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Path Problem (POHPP). Here, we study the complexity for graph width parameters for which the ordinary Hamiltonian Path problem is in $\mathsf{FPT}$. We show that POHPP is $\mathsf{NP}$-complete for graphs of pathwidth 4. We complement this result by giving polynomial-time algorithms for graphs of pathwidth 3 and treewidth 2. Furthermore, we show that POHPP is $\mathsf{NP}$-hard for graphs of clique cover number 2 and $\mathsf{W[1]}$-hard for some distance-to-$\mathcal{G}$ parameters, including distance to path and distance to clique. In addition, we present $\mathsf{XP}$ and $\mathsf{FPT}$ algorithms for parameters such as distance to block and feedback edge set number.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2025

Minimum spanning blob-trees

We investigate blob-trees, a new way of connecting a set of points, by a mixture of enclosing them by cycles (as in the convex hull) and connecting them by edges (as in a spanning tree). We show that a minimum-cost blob-tree for $n$ points can be computed in $O(n^3)$ time.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2024

Robust Algorithms for Finding Triangles and Computing the Girth in Unit Disk and Transmission Graphs

We describe optimal robust algorithms for finding a triangle and the unweighted girth in a unit disk graph, as well as finding a triangle in a transmission graph.In the robust setting, the input is not given as a set of sites in the plane, but rather as an abstract graph. The input may or may not be realizable as a unit disk graph or a transmission graph. If the graph is realizable, the algorithm is guaranteed to give the correct answer. If not, the algorithm will either give a correct answer or correctly state that the input is not of the required type.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2024

Dynamic Connectivity in Disk Graphs

Let $S$ be a set of $n$ sites in the plane, so that every site $s \in S$ has an associated radius $r_s > 0$. Let $\mathcal{D}(S)$ be the disk intersection graph defined by $S$, i.e., the graph with vertex set $S$ and an edge between two distinct sites $s, t \in S$ if and only if the disks with centers $s$, $t$ and radii $r_s$, $r_t$ intersect.Our goal is to design data structures that maintain the connectivity structure of $\mathcal{D}(S)$ as sites are inserted and/or deleted in $S$.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2024

Long Plane Trees

In the longest plane spanning tree problem, we are given a finite planar point set $\mathcal{P}$, and our task is to find a plane (i.e., noncrossing) spanning tree for $\mathcal{P}$ with maximum total Euclidean edge length. Despite more than two decades of research, it remains open whether this problem is NP-hard. Thus, previous efforts have focused on olynomial-time algorithms that produce plane trees whose total edge length approximates $\text{OPT}$, the maximum possible length. The approximate trees in these algorithms all have small unweighted diameter, typically three or four. It is natural to ask whether this is a common feature of longest plane spanning trees, or an artifact of the specific approximation algorithms. We provide three results to elucidate the interplay between the approximation guarantee and the unweighted diameter of the approximate trees. First, we describe a polynomial-time algorithm to construct a plane tree with diameter at most four and total edge length at least $0.546 \cdot \text{OPT}$. This constitutes a substantial improvement over the state of the art. Second, we show that a longest plane tree among those with diameter at most three can be found in polynomial time. Third, for any candidate diameter $d \geq 3$, we provide upper bounds on the approximation factor that can be achieved by a longest plane tree with diameter at most $d$ (compared to a longest plane tree without constraints).

cs.CG↗

arXiv2023

Insertion-Only Dynamic Connectivity in General Disk Graphs

Let $S \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2$ be a set of $n$ \emph{sites} in the plane, so that every site $s \in S$ has an \emph{associated radius} $r_s > 0$. Let $D(S)$ be the \emph{disk intersection graph} defined by $S$, i.e., the graph with vertex set $S$ and an edge between two distinct sites $s, t \in S$ if and only if the disks with centers $s$, $t$ and radii $r_s$, $r_t$ intersect. Our goal is to design data structures that maintain the connectivity structure of $D(S)$ as $S$ changes dynamically over time. We consider the incremental case, where new sites can be inserted into $S$. While previous work focuses on data structures whose running time depends on the ratio between the smallest and the largest site in $S$, we present a data structure with $O(α(n))$ amortized query time and $O(\log^6 n)$ expected amortized insertion time.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2019

Triangles and Girth in Disk Graphs and Transmission Graphs

Let $S \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be a set of $n$ sites, where each $s \in S$ has an associated radius $r_s > 0$. The disk graph $D(S)$ is the undirected graph with vertex set $S$ and an undirected edge between two sites $s, t \in S$ if and only if $|st| \leq r_s + r_t$, i.e., if the disks with centers $s$ and $t$ and respective radii $r_s$ and $r_t$ intersect. Disk graphs are used to model sensor networks. Similarly, the transmission graph $T(S)$ is the directed graph with vertex set $S$ and a directed edge from a site $s$ to a site $t$ if and only if $|st| \leq r_s$, i.e., if $t$ lies in the disk with center $s$ and radius $r_s$. We provide algorithms for detecting (directed) triangles and, more generally, computing the length of a shortest cycle (the girth) in $D(S)$ and in $T(S)$. These problems are notoriously hard in general, but better solutions exist for special graph classes such as planar graphs. We obtain similarly efficient results for disk graphs and for transmission graphs. More precisely, we show that a shortest (Euclidean) triangle in $D(S)$ and in $T(S)$ can be found in $O(n \log n)$ expected time, and that the (weighted) girth of $D(S)$ can be found in $O(n \log n)$ expected time. For this, we develop new tools for batched range searching that may be of independent interest.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2019

Routing in Histograms

Let $P$ be an $x$-monotone orthogonal polygon with $n$ vertices. We call $P$ a simple histogram if its upper boundary is a single edge; and a double histogram if it has a horizontal chord from the left boundary to the right boundary. Two points $p$ and $q$ in $P$ are co-visible if and only if the (axis-parallel) rectangle spanned by $p$ and $q$ completely lies in $P$. In the $r$-visibility graph $G(P)$ of $P$, we connect two vertices of $P$ with an edge if and only if they are co-visible. We consider routing with preprocessing in $G(P)$. We may preprocess $P$ to obtain a label and a routing table for each vertex of $P$. Then, we must be able to route a packet between any two vertices $s$ and $t$ of $P$, where each step may use only the label of the target node $t$, the routing table and neighborhood of the current node, and the packet header. We present a routing scheme for double histograms that sends any data packet along a path whose length is at most twice the (unweighted) shortest path distance between the endpoints. In our scheme, the labels, routing tables, and headers need $O(\log n)$ bits. For the case of simple histograms, we obtain a routing scheme with optimal routing paths, $O(\log n)$-bit labels, one-bit routing tables, and no headers.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2017

Recognizing Generalized Transmission Graphs of Line Segments and Circular Sectors

Suppose we have an arrangement $\mathcal{A}$ of $n$ geometric objects $x_1, \dots, x_n \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2$ in the plane, with a distinguished point $p_i$ in each object $x_i$. The generalized transmission graph of $\mathcal{A}$ has vertex set $\{x_1, \dots, x_n\}$ and a directed edge $x_ix_j$ if and only if $p_j \in x_i$. Generalized transmission graphs provide a generalized model of the connectivity in networks of directional antennas. The complexity class $\exists \mathbb{R}$ contains all problems that can be reduced in polynomial time to an existential sentence of the form $\exists x_1, \dots, x_n: ϕ(x_1,\dots, x_n)$, where $x_1,\dots, x_n$ range over $\mathbb{R}$ and $ϕ$ is a propositional formula with signature $(+, -, \cdot, 0, 1)$. The class $\exists \mathbb{R}$ aims to capture the complexity of the existential theory of the reals. It lies between $\mathbf{NP}$ and $\mathbf{PSPACE}$. Many geometric decision problems, such as recognition of disk graphs and of intersection graphs of lines, are complete for $\exists \mathbb{R}$. Continuing this line of research, we show that the recognition problem of generalized transmission graphs of line segments and of circular sectors is hard for $\exists \mathbb{R}$. As far as we know, this constitutes the first such result for a class of directed graphs.

cs.CG↗