isomorphism classes of line arrangements).It can be decided in polynomial time whether an allowable sequence is realizable by an arrangement of approaching pseudo-lines. Furthermore, arrangements of approaching pseudo-lines can be transformed into each other by flipping triangular cells, i.e., they have a connected flip graph, and every bichromatic arrangement of this type contains a bichromatic triangular cell.

We consider the following problem: Let L be an arrangement of n lines in R3 in general position colored red, green, and blue. Does there exist a vertical plane P such that a line in P simultaneously bisects all three classes of points induced by the intersection of lines in L with P? Recently, Schnider used topological methods to prove that such a cross-section always exists. In this work, we give an alternative proof of this fact, using only methods from discrete geometry. With this combinatorial proof at hand, we devise an O(n2log2⁡(n)) time algorithm to find such a plane and a bisector of the induced cross-section. We do this by providing a general framework, from which we expect that it can be applied to solve similar problems on cross-sections and kinetic points.

The centerpoint theorem is a well-known and widely used result in discrete geometry. It states that for any point set P of n points in R^d, there is a point c, not necessarily from P, such that each halfspace containing c contains at least n/(d+1) points of P. Such a point c is called a centerpoint, and it can be viewed as a generalization of a median to higher dimensions. In other words, a centerpoint can be interpreted as a good representative for the point set P. But what if we allow more than one representative? For example in one-dimensional data sets, often certain quantiles are chosen as representatives instead of the median. We present a possible extension of the concept of quantiles to higher dimensions. The idea is to find a set Q of (few) points such that every halfspace that contains one point of Q contains a large fraction of the points of P and every halfspace that contains more of Q contains an even larger fraction of P. This setting is comparable to the well-studied concepts of weak epsilon-nets and weak epsilon-approximations, where it is stronger than the former but weaker than the latter. We show that for any point set of size n in R^d and for any positive alpha_1,...,alpha_k where alpha_1 <= alpha_2 <= ... <= alpha_k and for every i,j with i+j <= k+1 we have that (d-1)alpha_k+alpha_i+alpha_j <= 1, we can find Q of size k such that each halfspace containing j points of Q contains least alpha_j n points of P. For two-dimensional point sets we further show that for every alpha and beta with alpha <= beta and alpha+beta <= 2/3 we can find Q with |Q|=3 such that each halfplane containing one point of Q contains at least alpha n of the points of P and each halfplane containing all of Q contains at least beta n points of P. All these results generalize to the setting where P is any mass distribution. For the case where P is a point set in R^2 and |Q|=2, we provide algorithms to find such points in time O(n log^3 n).

A set P = H cup {w} of n+1 points in the plane is called a wheel set if all points but w are extreme. We show that for the purpose of counting crossing-free geometric graphs on P, it suffices to know the so-called frequency vector of P. While there are roughly 2^n distinct order types that correspond to wheel sets, the number of frequency vectors is only about 2^{n/2}. We give simple formulas in terms of the frequency vector for the number of crossing-free spanning cycles, matchings, w-embracing triangles, and many more. Based on these formulas, the corresponding numbers of graphs can be computed efficiently. Also in higher dimensions, wheel sets turn out to be a suitable model to approach the problem of computing the simplicial depth of a point w in a set H, i.e., the number of simplices spanned by H that contain w. While the concept of frequency vectors does not generalize easily, we show how to apply similar methods in higher dimensions. The result is an O(n^{d-1}) time algorithm for computing the simplicial depth of a point w in a set H of n d-dimensional points, improving on the previously best bound of O(n^d log n). Configurations equivalent to wheel sets have already been used by Perles for counting the faces of high-dimensional polytopes with few vertices via the Gale dual. Based on that we can compute the number of facets of the convex hull of n=d+k points in general position in R^d in time O(n^max(omega,k-2)) where omega = 2.373, even though the asymptotic number of facets may be as large as n^k.

Upper and lower bounds for the number of geometric graphs of specific types on a given set of points in the plane have been intensively studied in recent years. For most classes of geometric graphs it is now known that point sets in convex position minimize their number. However, it is still unclear which point sets minimize the number of geometric triangulations; the so-called double circles are conjectured to be the minimizing sets. In this paper we prove that any set of n points in general position in the plane has at least Omega(2.631^n) geometric triangulations. Our result improves the previously best general lower bound of Omega(2.43^n) and also covers the previously best lower bound of Omega(2.63^n) for a fixed number of extreme points. We achieve our bound by showing and combining several new results, which are of independent interest: (1) Adding a point on the second convex layer of a given point set (of 7 or more points) at least doubles the number of triangulations. (2) Generalized configurations of points that minimize the number of triangulations have at most n/2 points on their convex hull. (3) We provide tight lower bounds for the number of triangulations of point sets with up to 15 points. These bounds further support the double circle conjecture.

Given P and P', equally sized planar point sets in general position, we call a bijection from P to P' crossing-preserving if crossings of connecting segments in P are preserved in P' (extra crossings may occur in P'). If such a mapping exists, we say that P' crossing-dominates P, and if such a mapping exists in both directions, P and P' are called crossing-equivalent. The relation is transitive, and we have a partial order on the obtained equivalence classes (called crossing types or x-types). Point sets of equal order type are clearly crossing-equivalent, but not vice versa. Thus, x-types are a coarser classification than order types. (We will see, though, that a collapse of different order types to one x-type occurs for sets with triangular convex hull only.) We argue that either the maximal or the minimal x-types are sufficient for answering many combinatorial (existential or extremal) questions on planar point sets. Motivated by this we consider basic properties of the relation. We characterize order types crossing-dominated by points in convex position. Further, we give a full characterization of minimal and maximal abstract order types. Based on that, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm to check whether a point set crossing-dominates another. Moreover, we generate all maximal and minimal x-types for small numbers of points.

Let P = B ∪ R be a set of 2n points in general position, where B is a set of n blue points and R a set of n red points. A BR-matching is a plane geometric perfect matching on P such that each edge has one red endpoint and one blue endpoint. Two BR-matchings are compatible if their union is also plane.

Given a set B of n black points in general position, we say that a set of white points W blocks B if in the Delaunay triangulation of B ∪ W there is no edge connecting two black points. We give the following bounds for the size of the smallest set W blocking B : (i) 3 n / 2 white points are always sufficient to block a set of n black points, (ii) if B is in convex position, 5 n / 4 white points are always sufficient to block it, and (iii) at least n − 1 white points are always necessary to block a set of n black points.

Many properties of finite point sets only depend on the relative position of the points, e.g., on the order type of the set. However, many fundamental algorithms in computational geometry rely on coordinate representations. This includes the straightforward algorithms for finding a halving line for a given planar point set, as well as finding a point on the convex hull, both in linear time. In his monograph Axioms and Hulls, Knuth asks whether these problems can be solved in linear time in a more abstract setting, given only the orientation of each point triple, i.e., the setʼs chirotope, as a source of information. We answer this question in the affirmative. More precisely, we can find a halving line through any given point, as well as the vertices of the convex hull edges that are intersected by the supporting line of any two given points of the set in linear time. We first give a proof for sets realizable in the Euclidean plane and then extend the result to non-realizable abstract order types.