16436050
Approximation algorithms for TSP with neighborhoods in the plane
In the Euclidean TSP with neighborhoods (TSPN), we are given a collection of n regions (neighborhoods) and we seek a shortest tour that visits each region. As a generalization of the classical Euclidean TSP, TSPN is also NP-hard. In this paper, we present new approximation results for the TSPN, including (1) a constant-factor approximation algorithm for the case of arbitrary connected neighborhoods having comparable diameters; and (2) a PTAS for the important special case of disjoint unit disk neighborhoods (or nearly disjoint, nearly-unit disks). Our methods also yield improved approximation ratios for various special classes of neighborhoods, which have previously been studied. Further, we give a linear-time &Ogr;(1)-approximation algorithm for the case of neighborhoods that are (infinite) straight lines.
207132060
Terrain Decomposition and Layered Manufacturing
We consider a problem that arises in generating three-dimensional models by methods of layered manufacturing: How does one decompose a given model P into a small number of sub-models each of which is a terrain polyhedron? Terrain polyhedra have a base facet such that, for each point of the polyhedron, the line segment joining the point to its orthogonal projection on the base facet lies within the polyhedron. Terrain polyhedra are exactly the class of polyhedral models for which it is possible to construct the model using layered manufacturing (with layers parallel to the base facet), without the need for constructing "supports" (which must later be removed). In order to maximize the integrity of a prototype, one wants to minimize the number of individual sub-models that are manufactured and then glued together. We show that it is NP-hard to decide if a three-dimensional model P of genus 0 can be decomposed into k terrain polyhedra. We also prove a two-dimensional version of this theorem, for the case in which P is a polygonal region with holes. Both results still hold if we are restricted to isothetic objects and/or axis-parallel layering directions.
7753820
Approximate Geometric Pattern Matching Under Rigid Motions
We present techniques for matching point-sets in two and three dimensions under rigid-body transformations. We prove bounds on the worst-case performance of these algorithms to be within a small constant factor of optimal and conduct experiments to show that the average performance of these matching algorithms is often better than that predicted by the worst-case bounds.
11557966
An algorithmic study of manufacturing paperclips and other folded structures
We study algorithmic aspects of bending wires and sheet metal into a specified structure. Problems of this type are closely related to the question of deciding whether a simple non-self-intersecting wire structure (a carpenter's ruler) can be straightened, a problem that was open for several years and has only recently been solved in the affirmative. If we impose some of the constraints that are imposed by the manufacturing process, we obtain quite different results. In particular, we study the variant of the carpenter's ruler problem in which there is a restriction that only one joint can be modified at a time. For a linkage that does not self-intersect or self-touch, the recent results of Connelly et al. and Streinu imply that it can always be straightened, modifying one joint at a time. However, we show that for a linkage with even a single vertex degeneracy, it becomes NP-hard to decide if it can be straightened while altering only one joint at a time. If we add the restriction that each joint can be altered at most once, we show that the problem is NP-complete even without vertex degeneracies. In the special case, arising in wire forming manufacturing, that each joint can be altered at most once, and must be done sequentially from one or both ends of the linkage, we give an efficient algorithm to determine if a linkage can be straightened.
16007270
Point Probe Decision Trees for Geometric Concept Classes
A fundamental problem in model-based computer vision is that of identifying to which of a given set of concept classes of geometric models an observed model belongs. Considering a “probe” to be an oracle that tells whether or not the observed model is present at a given point in an image, we study the problem of computing efficient strategies (“decision trees”) for probing an image, with the goal to minimize the number of probes necessary (in the worst case) to determine in which class the observed model belongs. We prove a hardness result and give strategies that obtain decision trees whose height is within a log factor of optimal.
57900050
Computational Geometry Column 42
A compendium of thirty previously published open problems in computational geometry is presented.
3038947
Beyond proof-of-compliance: safety and availability analysis in trust management
Trust management is a form of distributed access control using distributed policy. statements. Since one party may delegate partial control to another party, it is natural to ask what permissions may be granted as the result of policy changes by other parties. We study security properties such as safety, and availability for a family of trust management languages, devising algorithms for deciding the possible consequences of certain changes in policy. While trust management is more powerful in certain ways than mechanisms in the access matrix model, and the security properties considered are more than simple safety, we find that in contrast to the classical HRU undecidability of safety properties, our primary security properties are decidable. In particular, most properties we studied are decidable in polynomial time. Containment, the most complicated security property we studied, is decidable in polynomial time for the simplest TM language in the family. The problem becomes co-NP-hard when intersection or linked roles are added to the language.
18708753
Unification and ML-Type Reconstruction
We study the complexity of type reconstruction for a core fragment of ML with lambda abstraction, function application, and the polymorphic let declaration. We derive exponential upper and lower bounds on recognizing the typable core ML expressions. Our primary technical tool is uniication of succinctly represented type expressions. After observing that core ML expressions, of size n, can be typed in DTIME(2 n), we exhibit two diierent families of programs whose principal types grow exponentially. We show how to exploit the expressiveness of the let-polymorphism in these constructions to derive lower bounds on deciding typability: one leads naturally to NP-hardness and the other to DTIME(2 n k)-hardness for each integer k 1. Our generic simulation of any exponential time Turing Machine by ML type reconstruction may be viewed as a nonstandard way of computing with types. Our worst-case lower bounds stand in contrast to practical experience, which suggests that commonly used algorithms for type reconstruction do not slow compilation substantially.
15907814
Toward a typed foundation for method specialization and inheritance
This paper discusses the phenomenon of method specialization in object-oriented programming languages. A typed function calculus of objects and classes is presented, featuring method specialization when methods are added or redefined. The soundness of the typing rules (without subtyping) is suggested by a translation into a more traditional calculus with recursively-defined record types. However, semantic questions regarding the subtype relation on classes remain open.
6372262
Algorithmic aspects of type inference with subtypes
We study the complexity of type inference for programming languages with subtypes. There are three language variations that effect the problem: (i) basic functions may have polymorphic or more limited types, (ii) the subtype hierarchy may be fixed or vary as a result of subtype declarations within a program, and (iii) the subtype hierarchy may be an arbitrary partial order or may have a more restricted form, such as a tree or lattice. The naive algorithm for infering a most general polymorphic type, undervariable subtype hypotheses, requires deterministic exponential time. If we fix the subtype ordering, this upper bound grows to nondeterministic exponential time. We show that it is NP-hard to decide whether a lambda term has a type with respect to a fixed subtype hierarchy (involving only atomic type names). This lower bound applies to monomorphic or polymorphic languages. We give PSPACE upper bounds for deciding polymorphic typability if the subtype hierarchy has a lattice structure or the subtype hierarchy varies arbitrarily. We also give a polynomial time algorithm for the limited case where there are of no function constants and the type hierarchy is either variable or any fixed lattice.
2523975
Multiset rewriting and the complexity of bounded security protocols
We formalize the Dolev-Yao model of security protocols, using a notation based on multiset rewriting with existentials. The goals are to provide a simple formal notation for describing security protocols, to formalize the assumptions of the Dolev-Yao model using this notation, and to analyze the complexity of the secrecy problem under various restrictions. We prove that, even for the case where we restrict the size of messages and the depth of message encryption, the secrecy problem is undecidable for the case of an unrestricted number of protocol roles and an unbounded number of new nonces. We also identify several decidable classes, including a DEXP-complete class when the number of nonces is restricted, and an NP-complete class when both the number of nonces and the number of roles is restricted. We point out a remaining open complexity problem, and discuss the implications these results have on the general topic of protocol analysis.