All Questions
984 questions
3
votes
3
answers
2k
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Is there a simple criterion to determine if two parallelograms intersect?
Assume we are given two parallelograms in the plane. How can I check if their intersection is nonempty?
Note that I do not need to actually find the intersection.
4
votes
0
answers
458
views
Generating random polygons from a given triangulation of points
Given a triangulation $T$ of a planar set point $S$, we would like to randomly generate a polygon (hamiltonian cycle) $P$.
However, it has been proved that Hamiltonian Circuit Problem on maximal ...
2
votes
0
answers
281
views
Recovering a piecewise affine function
Lets say I have an piecewise affine convex function $f(x_1,x_2)$, on which the following operations are possible:
Computing $f(x_1,x_2)$.
Computing a subgradient to $f$ at $(x_1,x_2)$
Computing all ...
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Light rays bouncing around inside a sphere in d-dimensions
Suppose $S=\mathbb{S}^d$ is a unit sphere in $(d-1)$ dimensional space, with $d=3$ of special interest.
The surface of $S$ is a perfect (internal) mirror.
You stand at point $x$ (not the sphere center ...
5
votes
3
answers
478
views
What is the most general class of metric spaces for which the closest pair of points in a finite subset can be found in time O(n^(1+eps))?
What is the most general class of metric spaces for which the closest pair of points in any finite subset can be found in time O(n^(1+eps))? I have studied how to do this in O(n log(n)) in the plane, ...
2
votes
2
answers
640
views
Sorting a binary matrix diagonal in polynomial time while preserving rows
Is there a polynomial time solution to sort an arbitrary binary square matrix in polynomial time by rows so that the diagonal contains a 1 if any row contains a 1 in that column?
For example given ...
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
For Ax = b, x and b unknown vectors, how do I solve the x that maximizes min(b_i)?
Given a matrix $A$, each element $A_{i,j} \geq 0$, find the vector $\vec x$ that maximizes the minimum element in $\vec b$ ($\vec b = A \vec x$). Note that this is not a linear equation system as I ...
5
votes
1
answer
796
views
Minimizing variance of distances between points when mean distance is fixed
In Rd, I have n > d+1 points. The mean distance between pairs of points is 1. How can I minimize the variance of the distances (equivalently, the mean squared distance)? I'm mainly interested in d &...
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Continuous Linear Programming: Estimating a Solution
I have a "continuous" linear programming problem that involves maximizing a linear function over a curved convex space. In typical LP problems, the convex space is a polytope, but in this case the ...
4
votes
1
answer
275
views
Symmetry of the integer gap
Are there results that bound the asymmetry of the duality gap of an integer program? That is to say, if the difference between the LP solution and the IP (primal) solution is $a$, is there a function ...
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Algorithm for embedding a graph with metric constraints
Suppose I have a graph $G$ with vertex set $V$, edge set $E \subseteq {V \choose 2}$, a poistive integer $d$, and a weight function $w:E \to \mathbb{R}^{+}$. Is there a nice algorithmic way to decide ...
4
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Computational geometry, tetrahedron signed volume
Short version: I'm trying to compute the orientation of a triangle on a plane, formed by the intersection of 3 edges, without explicitly computing the intersection points.
Long version: I need to ...
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Applications of minmax theorem(s)
Intro We suppose $X$ and $Y$ are nonempty sets and f: $X\times Y \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. A minimax theorem is a theorem that asserts that, under certain conditions,
$$ \inf_Y \sup_X f = \sup_X \...
1
vote
3
answers
2k
views
How to solve Linear Programming problem with tighter Integer Programming constraints
I want to learn a bit about Linear Programming.
After some research, I decided to solve the Cutting Stock problem as an example to learn. After doing some more research, I feel like I finally ...
9
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Proving that a binary matrix is totally unimodular
I'm working on a set of problems for which I can formulate binary integer programs. When I solve the linear relaxations of these problems, I always get integer solutions. I would like to prove that ...
2
votes
0
answers
227
views
Finding equations for projective bundles associated to vector bundles over explicitly given varieties
Suppose I have a projective variety V over a field k. It is given explicitly in terms of homogeneous equations. Moreover, say I have an explicitly given vector bundle E (in terms of a module ...
10
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Solving a system of linear inequalities -- what is the dimension of the solution set?
It is well known how to solve a system of linear equations $A{\bf x} = {\bf b}$, but how do we solve a system of linear inequalities $A{\bf x} \leq {\bf b}$?
For the applications I have in mind the ...
4
votes
1
answer
414
views
Computing places over x in F/K(x)
Let $F$ be a function field of "transcendental degree one" over its full constant field $K$. Let $x \in F \backslash K$. We know the divisor of $(x) = (x) - (1/x)$ in $K(x)$. Could you please give me ...
6
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Existence/Uniqueness of Nonnegative Solutions of Linear Systems of Equations
Suppose we have an $m$x$n$ matrix $A$, with $m\lt n$, and an $m$x$1$ vector $b$. Are there existence and uniqueness conditions characterizing nonnegative solutions of the system of linear equations $...
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How can I efficiently determine which side of a line segment is internal to the polygon?
As part of a larger analysis I have a need to break a polygon into it's individual line segments and mark which side is "inside" of the polygon. If your curious this is going to be fed into a big ...
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Finding integer points on an N-d convex hull
Suppose we have a convex hull computed as the solution to a linear programming problem (via whatever method you want). Given this convex hull (and the inequalities that formed the convex hull) is ...
3
votes
1
answer
10k
views
split polygon into minimum amount of rectangles and triangles
Hi
is there an algorithm which cuts a polygon into a minimum amount of preferably rectangles and where not possible (e.g. edges) into triangles?
4
votes
1
answer
866
views
When is a triangular matrix totally unimodular?
I have a {0,1}, invertible, triangular matrix, that I would like to show is totally unimodular. Are there any known results on the total unimodularity of classes of triangular matrices?
5
votes
1
answer
271
views
Feasibility of linear programs
It's known that finding the intersection of n halfplanes in 2-d takes $\Omega(n\log n)$ time. Does the lower bound apply if we change the question to deciding whether the intersection is non-empty?
2
votes
0
answers
5k
views
A system of linear equations with linear constraints
Mathematical problem.
Suppose we have $2n$ indeterminates $x_1,\dots,x_n$ and $y_1,\dots,y_n$ (which are denoted by $q$ with indices and called abundances below) and $m$ subsets $P_1,\dots,P_m$ of $\...
4
votes
0
answers
790
views
Is it possible to use linear programming to solve this problem?
I am trying to write software to minimize pricing for cell phone subscription services, ie: choose the optimum plan for each customer in a large group.
Could someone comment on whether this is ...
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
A simple infinite dimensional optimization problem
I'd be grateful for a reference for the following result, which I believe to be true, and
should be well-known.
Let the continuous functions $f_0,f_1,\cdots,f_n: [0,1]\rightarrow [0,\infty)$ be ...
29
votes
6
answers
8k
views
How to find a closest integer point to the intersection of two lines?
Here's a question that originates from StackOverflow.
Given are two lines on a plane, specified by equations ($a x + b y = c$) with integer coefficients. The lines aren't parallel and they don't ...
1
vote
0
answers
1k
views
Covariance matrix formula interpretation - what am I missing?
I'm reading a paper that outlines the calculation of a covariance matrix like the following:
$C=\displaystyle\sum^{N_b}_{i=1}\vec{x}_i\vec{x}_i^T$
What is the order of this matrix? My interpretation ...
0
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Linear programming piecewise linear objective
I am fairly new at linear programming/optimization and am currently working on implementing a linear program that is stated like this:
max $\sum_{i=1}^{k}{p(\vec \alpha \cdot \vec c_i)}$
$s.t. $
$|\...
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Sum of difference moduli vs. sum of modulus differences
This is a failed attempt of mine at creating a contest problem; the failure is in the fact that I wasn't able to solve it myself.
Let $x_1$, $x_2$, ..., $x_n$ be $n$ reals. For any integer $k$, ...
2
votes
3
answers
489
views
find the collision of a particle with a swept triangle.
Given there is triangle: V in 3D space that transforms over time t -> t1 to V1, and a static point P is somewhere in 3d space, how can I determine if P ever collides with V, and if so at what value of ...
18
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Deciding membership in a convex hull
Given points $u, v_1, \dots,v_n \in \mathbb{R}^m$, decide if $u$ is contained in the convex hull of $v_1, \dots, v_n$.
This can be done efficiently by linear programming (time polynomial in $n,m$) in ...
7
votes
5
answers
1k
views
How to compute the average distance till intersection within a triangle in $\mathbb{R}^2$?
You are given 3 points in $\mathbb{R}^2$; $A$, $B$, $C$ forming a triangle with area > 0. You pick an arbitrary point inside $ABC$ and an arbitrary direction. After some distance $d$, you will ...