In this paper, we construct triangulations of point sets and polygons by using quadtrees to add extra vertices to the input. As a result we can guarantee that all triangles have angles bounded away from zero, using a number of triangles within a constant of optimal; this was the first paper to provide simultaneous bounds on mesh element quality and mesh complexity of this form, and therefore the first to provide finite element mesh generation algorithms that guarantee both the robustness of the algorithm against unexpected input geometries and the quality of its output.
In the same paper we also use quadtrees to triangulate planar point sets so that all angles are non-obtuse, using linearly many triangles, and to triangulate higher dimensional point sets with no small solid angles and a number of simplices within a constant of optimal. Also, we can augment any higher dimensional point set so the Delaunay triangulation has linear complexity.
In later follow-up work, I showed that the same technique can also be used to find a triangulation whose edges have total length within a constant factor of optimal. Bern, Mitchell, and Ruppert showed that alternative methods can be used to triangulate any polygon without obtuse angles; see "Faster circle packing with application to nonobtuse triangulation" for an algorithmic improvement to their technique. Additionally, with Bern, Chew, and Ruppert, we showed that any point set in higher dimensions can be triangulated with nonobtuse simplices. Bern and I surveyed these and related results in our paper "Mesh generation and optimal triangulation".
(Preliminary copy of journal version)
First half of journal version of Separator based sparsification for dynamic planar graph algorithms.
Journals – Publications – David Eppstein – Theory Group – Inf. & Comp. Sci. – UC Irvine
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