AMS 345/CSE 355 (Fall, 2024) Joe Mitchell

COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY
Homework Set # 1

Due (upload to Brightspace) by Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

Relevant Lecture Modules: 1–8.
Required Reading: Devadoss-O’Rourke, Chapter 1 (1.1-1.3); O’Rourke, Chapter 1 (1.1-1.2).
Optional Reading (relevant to the optional problems): Devadoss-O’Rourke, Chapter 1 (sections
1.4-1.5)
Reminder: In all of the exercises, be sure to give at least a brief explanation or justification
for each claim that you make.

PROBLEMS TO TURN IN:

(1). [5 points] (Refer to Problem 1.16, Devadoss-O’Rourke.) (a). For the polygon below, find the
number of distinct triangulations. Show your work, explaining your answer.
15

14
0 13
12
16
9
8 11
1
10
6 7
5

2 4
3
(b). Draw two different simple polygons P and Q, each having exactly 4 different triangulations,
while having different numbers of vertices, convex vertices, and reflex vertices. (i.e., n(P ) ̸= n(Q),
c(P ) ̸= c(Q), and r(P ) ̸= r(Q), where n(P ), c(P ), and r(P ) denote the number of vertices, the
number of convex vertices, and the number of reflex vertices of polygon P ). State clearly what
the values of n, c, and r are for each example, and justify (briefly) why they each have exactly 4
different triangulations.
(2). [5 points] For the simple polygon P below, do the following:
(a). Show a set of diagonals that yield a triangulation of P .
(b). Apply the method of Fisk’s proof to obtain a set of at most ⌊n/3⌋ (vertex) guards. How
many guards do you obtain? (Use the triangulation of P in your answer to part (a).)
(c). Obtain the vertex guard number, gV (P ), for P ; i.e., find the minimum number of vertex
guards necessary to guard the polygon. Justify your answer! In particular, give an argument that
fewer guards cannot suffice.
(d). Obtain the point guard number, g(P ), for P , allowing guards to be placed at any point
(interior or boundary) of the polygon. Justify your answer! (Give an argument that fewer guards
cannot suffice.)
(e). Draw examples of a simple polygon P for which: (i) g(P ) = w(P )+2; (ii) gV (P ) = g(P )+2.
Justify your examples.
4

10 11
5
13 2
7 12 3

6 9
1
0
8
4

10 11
5
13 2
7 12 3

6 9
1
0
8
ADDITIONAL PRACTICE PROBLEMS: TRY THEM, UNDERSTAND THEM, YOU
ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM

(3). (Refer to Problem 1.16, Devadoss-O’Rourke.) For each polygon below, find the number of
distinct triangulations. Make sure to describe how you obtain your answer.

7 6 9
6 4 10
5 8 5
5 4
7 3 7 6
0 1
1 0 1
2 3 0 2
(a) (b) (c) 2 3 4
(4). (a). Problem 1.21, Devadoss-O’Rourke: For each n > 3, find a polygon with n vertices with
exactly two triangulations.
In other words, find a generic family of examples of n-gons, each having exactly two triangula-
tions, such that it is clear that your family includes arbitrarily large n-gons – e.g., we have seen the
family of convex n-gons, Chvatal combs (which were defined for multiples of 3, n = 3k, but extend
to values of n not divisible by 3), etc.
(b). Can you do the same for finding a polygon with n vertices (for each n > 4) with exactly
three different triangulations?
(c). [Optional] Find a simple polygon P with n vertices, with n as small as possible such
that P has exactly 4 different triangulations. Justify your answer (why P has exactly 4 different
triangulations, and why there is no simple polygon with this property that has fewer vertices than
the one you found).
(5). Give an example of a simple polygon P and a placement of some number of guards in P such
that the guards see every one of the vertices, V (P ), of P , but there is at least one point on the
boundary, ∂P , of P that is not seen by any of the guards.
Try to make your example as “small” as possible (having the fewest number of vertices in P ).
Optional: Can you argue that your example is the smallest possible?
(6). (a). Give an example of a simple polygon P and a set of 7 guards that cover it such that
deletion of any one guard causes part of the gallery P to be unseen (i.e., the set of 7 guards is
minimal), but the guard number, g(P ), for P is less than 7 (g(P ) < 7).
(b). Now give an example of a simple polygon P , with n = 15 vertices, and a set G of 5 point
guards that cover (see all of) P , such that the guards G form a minimal set (removing any one of
them causes part of P not to be seen), but the optimal guard number is at most 2. (Make sure to
justify! What exactly is the guard number, g(P ), of the polygon, and why?)
(c). Give an example of a simple polygon P such that the only way it is possible to obtain
the maximum number, w(P ), of independent witness points (independent with respect to point
guards) is to have at least one of the witness points be strictly interior to P (not on the boundary
of P , and, in particular, not at vertices of P ). Show an optimal set of w(P ) witness points, and
also give the (point) guard number, g(P ) for your example.
(7). For each of the simple polygons P below, do the following:
(a). Show a set of diagonals that yield a triangulation of P .
(b). Apply the method of Fisk’s proof to obtain a set of at most ⌊n/3⌋ (vertex) guards. How
many guards do you use?
(c). Obtain the vertex guard number for P ; i.e., find the minimum number of vertex guards
necessary to guard the polygon. Justify your answer! In particular, give an argument that fewer
guards cannot suffice.
(d). Obtain the point guard number for P , allowing guards to be placed at any point (interior
or boundary) of the polygon. Justify your answer! (Give an argument that fewer guards cannot
suffice.)

Polygon P1
 Polygon P2

(8). (a). Draw an example of a simple polygon P for which gV (P ) = 3 · g(P ).

(b) Draw a generic example of a simple n-vertex polygon P for which gV (P ) = Ω(n), while
g(P ) = O(1).