Perfect vector sets, properly overlapping partitions, and largest empty box

Abstract

We revisit the following problem (along with its higher dimensional variant): Given a set $S$ of $n$ points inside an axis-parallel rectangle $U$ in the plane, find a maximum-area axis-parallel sub-rectangle that is contained in $U$ but contains no points of $S$. (I) We present an algorithm that finds a large empty box amidst $n$ points in $[0,1]^d$: a box whose volume is at least $\frac{\log{d}}{4(n + \log{d})}$ can be computed in $O(n+d \log{d})$ time. (II) To better analyze the above approach, we introduce the concepts of perfect vector sets and properly overlapping partitions, in connection to the minimum volume of a maximum empty box amidst $n$ points in the unit hypercube $[0,1]^d$, and derive bounds on their sizes.