English

Maximum-Area Triangle in a Convex Polygon, Revisited

Computational Geometry 2020-05-11 v2

Abstract

We revisit the following problem: Given a convex polygon PP, find the largest-area inscribed triangle. We show by example that the linear-time algorithm presented in 1979 by Dobkin and Snyder for solving this problem fails. We then proceed to show that with a small adaptation, their approach does lead to a quadratic-time algorithm. We also present a more involved O(nlogn)O(n\log n) time divide-and-conquer algorithm. Also we show by example that the algorithm presented in 1979 by Dobkin and Snyder for finding the largest-area kk-gon that is inscribed in a convex polygon fails to find the optimal solution for k=4k=4. Finally, we discuss the implications of our discoveries on the literature.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1705.11035,
  title  = {Maximum-Area Triangle in a Convex Polygon, Revisited},
  author = {Vahideh Keikha and Maarten Löffler and Ali Mohades and Jérôme Urhausen and Ivor van der Hoog},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.11035},
  year   = {2020}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T20:04:43.969Z