Shrinking the Jung radius: Maximizing partial coverage of finite point sets

Abstract

Jung's theorem says that planar sets of diameter $1$ can be covered by a closed circular disk of radius $\frac 1{\sqrt3}$. In this paper we consider a fractional Jung-type problem for finite planar point-sets. Let $\mathcal{P}_n$ be the family of all finite sets of $n$ points in the plane, of diameter at most $1$. Let the function value $N_n(r)$ ($0 < r \leq 1$) be the largest integer $k$ so that for every point set $P \in \mathcal{P}_n$ there is a closed circular disk of radius $r$ which covers at least $k$ points of $P$. We focus on the radii $r=\frac 12$ and $r=\frac 14$ and prove exact maximum values. Concerning the radius $r= \frac 12$, we prove $N_n(\frac{1}{2})=\lceil \frac{n}{3}\rceil+1$. Concerning the radius $r= \frac 14$, we prove that $N_{n}(\frac{1}{4}) = \lceil \frac{n}{7}\rceil$ if $n$ is not a multiple of 7, and $N_{n}(\frac{1}{4})$ is $ \frac{n}{7}$ or $ \frac{n}{7}+1$ otherwise. We also initiate further study of the function $N_n(r)$ by giving lower and upper bounds for $N_n(r)$ ($0 < r < \frac 1{\sqrt3}$).