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Micha Sharir

Publications and source records attributed to Micha Sharir.

102 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2010

Incidences in Three Dimensions and Distinct Distances in the Plane

We first describe a reduction from the problem of lower-bounding the number of distinct distances determined by a set $S$ of $s$ points in the plane to an incidence problem between points and a certain class of helices (or parabolas) in three dimensions. We offer conjectures involving the new setup, but are still unable to fully resolve them. Instead, we adapt the recent new algebraic analysis technique of Guth and Katz \cite{GK}, as further developed by Elekes et al. \cite{EKS}, to obtain sharp bounds on the number of incidences between these helices or parabolas and points in $\reals^3$. Applying these bounds, we obtain, among several other results, the upper bound $O(s^3)$ on the number of rotations (rigid motions) which map (at least) three points of $S$ to three other points of $S$. In fact, we show that the number of such rotations which map at least $k\ge 3$ points of $S$ to $k$ other points of $S$ is close to $O(s^3/k^{12/7})$. One of our unresolved conjectures is that this number is $O(s^3/k^2)$, for $k\ge 2$. If true, it would imply the lower bound $Ω(s/\log s)$ on the number of distinct distances in the plane.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2010

Relative $(p,ε)$-Approximations in Geometry

We re-examine the notion of relative $(p,\eps)$-approximations, recently introduced in [CKMS06], and establish upper bounds on their size, in general range spaces of finite VC-dimension, using the sampling theory developed in [LLS01] and in several earlier studies [Pol86, Hau92, Tal94]. We also survey the different notions of sampling, used in computational geometry, learning, and other areas, and show how they relate to each other. We then give constructions of smaller-size relative $(p,\eps)$-approximations for range spaces that involve points and halfspaces in two and higher dimensions. The planar construction is based on a new structure--spanning trees with small relative crossing number, which we believe to be of independent interest. Relative $(p,\eps)$-approximations arise in several geometric problems, such as approximate range counting, and we apply our new structures to obtain efficient solutions for approximate range counting in three dimensions. We also present a simple solution for the planar case.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2010

Counting Triangulations of Planar Point Sets

We study the maximal number of triangulations that a planar set of $n$ points can have, and show that it is at most $30^n$. This new bound is achieved by a careful optimization of the charging scheme of Sharir and Welzl (2006), which has led to the previous best upper bound of $43^n$ for the problem. Moreover, this new bound is useful for bounding the number of other types of planar (i.e., crossing-free) straight-line graphs on a given point set. Specifically, we derive new upper bounds for the number of planar graphs ($o(239.4^n)$), spanning cycles ($O(70.21^n)$), and spanning trees ($160^n$).

cs.DM↗
arXiv2009

Semi-algebraic Range Reporting and Emptiness Searching with Applications

In a typical range emptiness searching (resp., reporting) problem, we are given a set $P$ of $n$ points in $\reals^d$, and wish to preprocess it into a data structure that supports efficient range emptiness (resp., reporting) queries, in which we specify a range $σ$, which, in general, is a semi-algebraic set in $\reals^d$ of constant description complexity, and wish to determine whether $P\capσ=\emptyset$, or to report all the points in $P\capσ$. Range emptiness searching and reporting arise in many applications, and have been treated by Matoušek \cite{Ma:rph} in the special case where the ranges are halfspaces bounded by hyperplanes. As shown in \cite{Ma:rph}, the two problems are closely related, and have solutions (for the case of halfspaces) with similar performance bounds. In this paper we extend the analysis to general semi-algebraic ranges, and show how to adapt Matoušek's technique, without the need to {\em linearize} the ranges into a higher-dimensional space. This yields more efficient solutions to several useful problems, and we demonstrate the new technique in four applications.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2009

On lines and Joints

Let $L$ be a set of $n$ lines in $\reals^d$, for $d\ge 3$. A {\em joint} of $L$ is a point incident to at least $d$ lines of $L$, not all in a common hyperplane. Using a very simple algebraic proof technique, we show that the maximum possible number of joints of $L$ is $Θ(n^{d/(d-1)})$. For $d=3$, this is a considerable simplification of the orignal algebraic proof of Guth and Katz~\cite{GK}, and of the follow-up simpler proof of Elekes et al. \cite{EKS}.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2009

On Lines, Joints, and Incidences in Three Dimensions

We extend (and somewhat simplify) the algebraic proof technique of Guth and Katz \cite{GK}, to obtain several sharp bounds on the number of incidences between lines and points in three dimensions. Specifically, we show: (i) The maximum possible number of incidences between $n$ lines in $\reals^3$ and $m$ of their joints (points incident to at least three non-coplanar lines) is $Θ(m^{1/3}n)$ for $m\ge n$, and $Θ(m^{2/3}n^{2/3}+m+n)$ for $m\le n$. (ii) In particular, the number of such incidences cannot exceed $O(n^{3/2})$. (iii) The bound in (i) also holds for incidences between $n$ lines and $m$ arbitrary points (not necessarily joints), provided that no plane contains more than O(n) points and each point is incident to at least three lines. As a preliminary step, we give a simpler proof of (an extension of) the bound $O(n^{3/2})$, established by Guth and Katz, on the number of joints in a set of $n$ lines in $\reals^3$. We also present some further extensions of these bounds, and give a proof of Bourgain's conjecture on incidences between points and lines in 3-space, which constitutes a simpler alternative to the proof of \cite{GK}.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2008

Eppstein's bound on intersecting triangles revisited

Let S be a set of n points in the plane, and let T be a set of m triangles with vertices in S. Then there exists a point in the plane contained in Omega(m^3 / (n^6 log^2 n)) triangles of T. Eppstein (1993) gave a proof of this claim, but there is a problem with his proof. Here we provide a correct proof by slightly modifying Eppstein's argument.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2008

Line Transversals of Convex Polyhedra in $\reals^3$

We establish a bound of $O(n^2k^{1+\eps})$, for any $\eps>0$, on the combinatorial complexity of the set $\T$ of line transversals of a collection $¶$ of $k$ convex polyhedra in $\reals^3$ with a total of $n$ facets, and present a randomized algorithm which computes the boundary of $\T$ in comparable expected time. Thus, when $k\ll n$, the new bounds on the complexity (and construction cost) of $\T$ improve upon the previously best known bounds, which are nearly cubic in $n$. To obtain the above result, we study the set $\TL$ of line transversals which emanate from a fixed line $\ell_0$, establish an almost tight bound of $O(nk^{1+\eps})$ on the complexity of $\TL$, and provide a randomized algorithm which computes $\TL$ in comparable expected time. Slightly improved combinatorial bounds for the complexity of $\TL$, and comparable improvements in the cost of constructing this set, are established for two special cases, both assuming that the polyhedra of $¶$ are pairwise disjoint: the case where $\ell_0$ is disjoint from the polyhedra of $¶$, and the case where the polyhedra of $¶$ are unbounded in a direction parallel to $\ell_0$.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2007

Extremal problems on triangle areas in two and three dimensions

The study of extremal problems on triangle areas was initiated in a series of papers by Erdős and Purdy in the early 1970s. In this paper we present new results on such problems, concerning the number of triangles of the same area that are spanned by finite point sets in the plane and in 3-space, and the number of distinct areas determined by the triangles. In the plane, our main result is an $O(n^{44/19}) =O(n^{2.3158})$ upper bound on the number of unit-area triangles spanned by $n$ points, which is the first breakthrough improving the classical bound of $O(n^{7/3})$ from 1992. We also make progress in a number of important special cases: We show that (i) For points in convex position, there exist $n$-element point sets that span $Ω(n\log n)$ triangles of unit area. (ii) The number of triangles of minimum (nonzero) area determined by $n$ points is at most ${2/3}(n^2-n)$; there exist $n$-element point sets (for arbitrarily large $n$) that span $(6/π^2-o(1))n^2$ minimum-area triangles. (iii) The number of acute triangles of minimum area determined by $n$ points is O(n); this is asymptotically tight. (iv) For $n$ points in convex position, the number of triangles of minimum area is O(n); this is asymptotically tight. (v) If no three points are allowed to be collinear, there are $n$-element point sets that span $Ω(n\log n)$ minimum-area triangles (in contrast to (ii), where collinearities are allowed and a quadratic lower bound holds). In 3-space we prove an $O(n^{17/7}β(n))= O(n^{2.4286})$ upper bound on the number of unit-area triangles spanned by $n$ points, where $β(n)$ is an extremely slowly growing function related to the inverse Ackermann function. The best previous bound, $O(n^{8/3})$, is an old result from 1971.

math.CO↗
arXiv2004

The Simplex Algorithm in Dimension Three

We investigate the worst-case behavior of the simplex algorithm on linear programs with three variables, that is, on 3-dimensional simple polytopes. Among the pivot rules that we consider, the ``random edge'' rule yields the best asymptotic behavior as well as the most complicated analysis. All other rules turn out to be much easier to study, but also produce worse results: Most of them show essentially worst-possible behavior; this includes both Kalai's ``random-facet'' rule, which without dimension restriction is known to be subexponential, as well as Zadeh's deterministic history dependent rule, for which no non-polynomial instances in general dimensions have been found so far.

math.CO↗
arXiv2003

The Random Edge Rule on Three-Dimensional Linear Programs

The worst-case expected length f(n) of the path taken by the simplex algorithm with the Random Edge pivot rule on a 3-dimensional linear program with n constraints is shown to be bounded by 1.3445 n <= f(n) <= 1.4943 n for large enough n.

math.CO↗