Some Aperture-Angle Optimization Problems

Abstract. Let P and Q be two disjoint convex polygons in the plane with m and n vertices, respectively. Given a point x in P , the aperture angle of x with respect to Q is defined as the angle of the cone that: (1) contains Q , (2) has apex at x and (3) has its two rays emanating from x tangent to Q . We present algorithms with complexities O(n log m) , O(n + n log (m/n)) and O(n + m) for computing the maximum aperture angle with respect to Q when x is allowed to vary in P . To compute the minimum aperture angle we modify the latter algorithm obtaining an O(n + m) algorithm. Finally, we establish an Ω(n + n log (m/n)) time lower bound for the maximization problem and an Ω(m + n) bound for the minimization problem thereby proving the optimality of our algorithms.