Reliable and Efficient Geometric Computing

Kurt Mehlhorn

Abstract: Computing with geometric objects (points, curves, and surfaces) is central for many engineering disciplines and lies at the heart of computer aided design systems. Implementing geometric algorithms is notoriously difficult and most actual implementations are incomplete: they are known to crash or deliver the wrong result on some instances. In the introductory part of the talk, we illustrate the pitfalls of geometric computing [5] and explain for one algorithm in detail where the problem lies and what goes wrong.