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We present optimal deterministic algorithms for constructing shallow cuttings in an arrangement of lines in two dimensions or planes in three dimensions. Our results improve the deterministic polynomial-time algorithm of Matousek (1992) and the optimal but randomized algorithm of Ramos (1999). This leads to efficient derandomization of previous algorithms for numerous well-studied problems in computational geometry, including halfspace range reporting in 2-d and 3-d, k nearest neighbors search in 2-d, (<= k)-levels in 3-d, order-k Voronoi diagrams in 2-d, linear programming with k violations in 2-d, dynamic convex hulls in 3-d, dynamic nearest neighbor search in 2-d, convex layers (onion peeling) in 3-d, epsilon-nets for halfspace ranges in 3-d, and more. As a side product we also describe an optimal deterministic algorithm for constructing standard (non-shallow) cuttings in two dimensions, which is arguably simpler than the known optimal algorithms by Matousek (1991) and Chazelle (1993).
@InProceedings{chan_et_al:LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.719,
author = {Chan, Timothy M. and Tsakalidis, Konstantinos},
title = {{Optimal Deterministic Algorithms for 2-d and 3-d Shallow Cuttings}},
booktitle = {31st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2015)},
pages = {719--732},
series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
ISBN = {978-3-939897-83-5},
ISSN = {1868-8969},
year = {2015},
volume = {34},
editor = {Arge, Lars and Pach, J\'{a}nos},
publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
address = {Dagstuhl, Germany},
URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.719},
URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-51353},
doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.719},
annote = {Keywords: shallow cuttings, derandomization, halfspace range reporting, geometric data structures}
}