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APPROX
Bichromatic Geometric Spanners

Authors: Theodore Fung and Csaba D. Tóth

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 392, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026)


Abstract
For an edge-weighted graph G = (V,E) and a stretch parameter t ≥ 1, a t-spanner is a subgraph H ⊆ G such that the shortest path distances in G and H satisfy δ_H(u,v) ≤ t δ_G(u,v) for all u,v ∈ V. In metric spanners, V is a finite metric space, and G is the complete graph with edge weights corresponding to the distances between the endpoints. When G is the complete graph on n points in the plane, O(n)-size t-spanners are possible for any t > 1: For every ε > 0, there is an (1+ε)-spanner with O(n/ε) edges (the stretch can be arbitrarily close to 1). When G = K(R,B) is the complete bipartite graph on n bichromatic points in the plane, in general, no spanner construction can achieve stretch t < 3 with o(n²) edges. Bose et al. (SICOMP 2009) constructed a (3+ε)-spanner with O(nlog n) edges for any constant ε > 0. Our main result is a new construction for a (3+ε)-spanner with O(√{1/ε} ⋅ n) edges. Eliminating the O(log n) factor resolves a problem left open for more than 17 years, and raises a new research problem about optimizing the dependence on ε. We also study spanners for G = K(R,B) on n bichromatic points on the real line: In this case, we show that the MST of K(R,B) is a 7-spanner, and we construct a 3-spanner with at most 2n-3 edges.

Cite as

Theodore Fung and Csaba D. Tóth. Bichromatic Geometric Spanners. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 392, pp. 6:1-6:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{fung_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.6,
  author =	{Fung, Theodore and T\'{o}th, Csaba D.},
  title =	{{Bichromatic Geometric Spanners}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2026)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-449-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{392},
  editor =	{Singh, Mohit and Gur, Tom},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-277233},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2026.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Euclidean spanner, bichromatic points, computational geometry}
}

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