Approximate Shortest Paths in Polygons with Violations

Abstract

We study the shortest [Formula: see text]-violation path problem in a simple polygon. Let [Formula: see text] be a simple polygon in [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] vertices and let [Formula: see text] be a pair of points in [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] represent the interior of [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] represent the exterior of [Formula: see text]. For an integer [Formula: see text], the shortest [Formula: see text]-violation path problem in [Formula: see text] is the problem of computing the shortest path from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text], such that at most [Formula: see text] path segments are allowed to be in [Formula: see text]. The subpaths of a [Formula: see text]-violation path are not allowed to bend in [Formula: see text]. For any [Formula: see text], we present a [Formula: see text] factor approximation algorithm for the problem that runs in [Formula: see text] time. Here [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] are geometric parameters.