Length minimizing graphs between a finite set of points

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP











up vote
2
down vote

favorite
1












Consider a set of $n$ points in the plane. Among all the connected graphs (trees) $T$ in the plane that have these $n$ points among their vertices, I am looking to find one such that the sum of its edge lengths is minimum. Note that this question is different from Minimum Spanning Tree as we allow $T$ to have vertices other than the given $n$ points. For example, if $n=3$, there are 2 possibilities: Let $A,B,C$ be the three given points. If one of the angles in the triangle $ABC$, say $ABC$ is bigger than $120^circ$ then AB+BC is the minimizing tree. If all the angles are less than $120^circ$, let $P$ be the point within the triangle $ABC$ such that the angles $APB$, $BPC$, $CPA$ are all $120^circ$. Then the tree $T$ with the set of vertices $A,B,C,P$ and edges $AP,BP,CP$ is the length minimizing one.



Is this problem worked out before?










share|cite|improve this question

























    up vote
    2
    down vote

    favorite
    1












    Consider a set of $n$ points in the plane. Among all the connected graphs (trees) $T$ in the plane that have these $n$ points among their vertices, I am looking to find one such that the sum of its edge lengths is minimum. Note that this question is different from Minimum Spanning Tree as we allow $T$ to have vertices other than the given $n$ points. For example, if $n=3$, there are 2 possibilities: Let $A,B,C$ be the three given points. If one of the angles in the triangle $ABC$, say $ABC$ is bigger than $120^circ$ then AB+BC is the minimizing tree. If all the angles are less than $120^circ$, let $P$ be the point within the triangle $ABC$ such that the angles $APB$, $BPC$, $CPA$ are all $120^circ$. Then the tree $T$ with the set of vertices $A,B,C,P$ and edges $AP,BP,CP$ is the length minimizing one.



    Is this problem worked out before?










    share|cite|improve this question























      up vote
      2
      down vote

      favorite
      1









      up vote
      2
      down vote

      favorite
      1






      1





      Consider a set of $n$ points in the plane. Among all the connected graphs (trees) $T$ in the plane that have these $n$ points among their vertices, I am looking to find one such that the sum of its edge lengths is minimum. Note that this question is different from Minimum Spanning Tree as we allow $T$ to have vertices other than the given $n$ points. For example, if $n=3$, there are 2 possibilities: Let $A,B,C$ be the three given points. If one of the angles in the triangle $ABC$, say $ABC$ is bigger than $120^circ$ then AB+BC is the minimizing tree. If all the angles are less than $120^circ$, let $P$ be the point within the triangle $ABC$ such that the angles $APB$, $BPC$, $CPA$ are all $120^circ$. Then the tree $T$ with the set of vertices $A,B,C,P$ and edges $AP,BP,CP$ is the length minimizing one.



      Is this problem worked out before?










      share|cite|improve this question













      Consider a set of $n$ points in the plane. Among all the connected graphs (trees) $T$ in the plane that have these $n$ points among their vertices, I am looking to find one such that the sum of its edge lengths is minimum. Note that this question is different from Minimum Spanning Tree as we allow $T$ to have vertices other than the given $n$ points. For example, if $n=3$, there are 2 possibilities: Let $A,B,C$ be the three given points. If one of the angles in the triangle $ABC$, say $ABC$ is bigger than $120^circ$ then AB+BC is the minimizing tree. If all the angles are less than $120^circ$, let $P$ be the point within the triangle $ABC$ such that the angles $APB$, $BPC$, $CPA$ are all $120^circ$. Then the tree $T$ with the set of vertices $A,B,C,P$ and edges $AP,BP,CP$ is the length minimizing one.



      Is this problem worked out before?







      co.combinatorics graph-theory extremal-graph-theory






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked 3 hours ago









      Mohammad F. Tehrani

      2,9531655




      2,9531655




















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          4
          down vote



          accepted










          This is the so-called Steiner Tree Problem.






          share|cite|improve this answer




















            Your Answer





            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
            return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
            StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
            StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
            );
            );
            , "mathjax-editing");

            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "504"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );













             

            draft saved


            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmathoverflow.net%2fquestions%2f314645%2flength-minimizing-graphs-between-a-finite-set-of-points%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest






























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes








            up vote
            4
            down vote



            accepted










            This is the so-called Steiner Tree Problem.






            share|cite|improve this answer
























              up vote
              4
              down vote



              accepted










              This is the so-called Steiner Tree Problem.






              share|cite|improve this answer






















                up vote
                4
                down vote



                accepted







                up vote
                4
                down vote



                accepted






                This is the so-called Steiner Tree Problem.






                share|cite|improve this answer












                This is the so-called Steiner Tree Problem.







                share|cite|improve this answer












                share|cite|improve this answer



                share|cite|improve this answer










                answered 2 hours ago









                Igor Rivin

                78.6k8112305




                78.6k8112305



























                     

                    draft saved


                    draft discarded















































                     


                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmathoverflow.net%2fquestions%2f314645%2flength-minimizing-graphs-between-a-finite-set-of-points%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest













































































                    Comments

                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Long meetings (6-7 hours a day): Being “babysat” by supervisor

                    Is the Concept of Multiple Fantasy Races Scientifically Flawed? [closed]

                    Confectionery