Product Range Search Problem

Abstract

Given a metric space, a standard metric range search, given a query $(q,r)$, finds all points within distance $r$ of the point $q$. Suppose now we have two different metrics $d_1$ and $d_2$. A product range query $(q, r_1, r_2)$ is a point $q$ and two radii $r_1$ and $r_2$. The output is all points within distance $r_1$ of $q$ with respect to $d_1$ and all points within $r_2$ of $q$ with respect to $d_2$. In other words, it is the intersection of two searches. We present two data structures for approximate product range search in doubling metrics. Both data structures use a net-tree variant, the greedy tree. The greedy tree is a data structure that can efficiently answer approximate range searches in doubling metrics. The first data structure is a generalization of the range tree from computational geometry using greedy trees rather than binary trees. The second data structure is a single greedy tree constructed on the product induced by the two metrics.