Surface parameterizations have been widely used in computer graphics and geometry processing. In particular, as simply-connected open surfaces are conformally equivalent to the unit disk, it is desirable to compute the disk conformal parameterizations of the surfaces. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for the conformal parameterization of a simply-connected open surface onto the unit disk, which significantly speeds up the computation, enhances the conformality and stability, and guarantees the bijectivity. The conformality distortions at the inner region and on the boundary are corrected by two steps, with the aid of an iterative scheme using quasi-conformal theories. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

The skeleton of a 2D shape is an important geometric structure in pattern analysis and computer vision. In this paper we study the skeleton of a 2D shape in a two-manifold M, based on a geodesic metric. We present a formal definition of the skeleton S(\Omega) for a shape V in M and show several properties that make S(\Omega) distinct from its Euclidean counterpart in R^2. We further prove that for a shape sequence {\Omega_i} that converge to a shape V in M, the mapping \Omega\rightarrow S(\Omega_i) is lower semi-continuous. A direct application of this result is that we can use a set P of sample points to approximate the boundary of a 2D shape V in M, and the Voronoi diagram of P inside \Omega\subset M gives a good approximation to the skeleton S(\Omega). Examples of skeleton computation in topography and brain morphometry are illustrated.

In this paper, we consider the problem of approximating the longest path in a grid graph that possesses a square-free 2-factor. By (1) analyzing several characteristics of four types of cross cells and (2) presenting three cycle-merging operations and one extension operation, we propose an algorithm that finds in an n-vertex grid graph G, a long path of length at least 5/6 n + 2. Our approximation algorithm runs in quadratic time. In addition to its theoretical value, our work has also an interesting application in image-guided maze generation.

Let $K/k$ be a finite Galois extension and $\pi = \fn{Gal}(K/k)$. An algebraic torus $T$ defined over $k$ is called a $\pi$-torus if $T\times_{\fn{Spec}(k)} \fn{Spec}(K)\simeq \bm{G}_{m,K}^n$ for some integer $n$. The set of all algebraic $\pi$-tori defined over $k$ under the stably birational equivalence forms a semigroup, denoted by $T(\pi)$. We will give a complete proof of the following theorem due to Endo and Miyata \cite{EM4}. Theorem. Let $\pi$ be a finite group. Then $T(\pi)\simeq C(\Omega_{\bm{Z}\pi})$ where $\Omega_{\bm{Z}\pi}$ is a maximal $\bm{Z}$-order in $\bm{Q}\pi$ containing $\bm{Z}\pi$ and $C(\Omega_{\bm{Z}\pi})$ is the locally free class group of $\Omega_{\bm{Z}\pi}$, provided that $\pi$ is isomorphic to one of the following four types of groups : $C_n$ ($n$ is any positive integer), $D_m$ ($m$ is any odd integer $\ge 3$), $C_{q^f}\times D_m$ ($m$ is any odd integer $\ge 3$, $q$ is an odd prime number not dividing $m$, $f\ge 1$, and $(\bm{Z}/q^f\bm{Z})^{\times}=\langle \bar{p}\rangle$ for any prime divisor $p$ of $m$), $Q_{4m}$ ($m$ is any odd integer $\ge 3$, $p\equiv 3 \pmod{4}$ for any prime divisor $p$ of $m$).

In this paper, we investigate how to topologically and geometrically characterize the intersection relations between a movable convex polygon and a set  of possibly overlapping polygons fixed in the plane. More specifically, a subset   is called an intersection relation if there exists a placement of that intersects, and only intersects, . The objective of this paper is to design an efficient algorithm that finds a finite and discrete representation of all of the intersection relations between and . Past related research only focuses on the complexity of the free space of the configuration space between and  and how to move or place an object in this free space. However, there are many applications that require the knowledge of not only the free space, but also the intersection relations. Examples are presented to demonstrate the rich applications of the formulated problem on intersection relations.