CS6100: Topics in Design and

Analysis of Algorithms
Delaunay Triangulation
John Augustine

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Triangulation of a Planar Point Set

A triangulation of P is planar subdivision of the plane

in which (i) end points of line segments are in P and
(ii) no line segment (connecting points in P ) can be
added without destroying planarity.
Bounded faces are triangles hence triangulation.
Convex hull edges always included.
Theorem 1. Let P have n points (not all collinear)
and k points on the convex hull.
Number of triangular faces m is 2n 2 k.
Number of edges is 3n 3 k.
Proof Idea. Total # of faces is m + 1 where 1 is
unbounded and others are triangles. The total number
of edges is 3m+k
(why?) . Results follow by applying
2
Eulers formula.
CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

How do we compare the skinniness triangulations?

Define angle-vector A(T ) of a triangulation T as vector
of angles sorted in non-decreasing order.
We use lexicographic comparison on the angle vectors
to compare skinniness of triangulations.
More precisely, let A(T ) = {1, 2, . . .} and A(T 0) =
{10 , 20 , . . .}. We say that A(T ) > A(T 0) if for some
i,
j < i, j = j0 and i > i0 .
We say that a triangulation T is angle-optimal if 6 T 0
such that A(T 0) > A(T ).

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Flipping an Illegal Edge

Let e be a non-boundary edge between two triangles

that form a convex quadrilateral. This edge can be
flipped to e0. If this flip locally improves the angle
vector, then we call e illegal.
pl
2

pi

1
4

pl
3
5

pj

edge flip

20
pi

pk

10

40
30

60

pj

50
pk

Observation 2. If e is an illegal edge in T and T 0 is

obtained by flipping e, then,
A(T 0) > A(T ).

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

How to check if an edge is illegal?

pl
pj
pi
pk

illegal

Lemma 3. In the above figure, if pl is inside circle

through pi, pk , and pj , then the edge (as indicated)
is illegal. (This follows from Thales Theorem.)
Theorem 4 (Thales Theorem). In Figure 1,
arb
s
p

>

apb

aqb

>

asb.

q
r
b

Figure 1: Figure for Thales Theorem.

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Legal Triangulation

A legal triangulation does not contain any illegal edge.

Recall Observation 2.
A repeated flipping of illegal edges will terminate
make eventually make the triangulation legal.
Observation 5. Every angle-optimal triangulation is
a legal triangulation.
Is the converse true?
See http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/~barequet/
teaching/cg/misc/DT-deg-pos.pdf for more details.

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Towards Delaunay Graph

Consider a set P of points/sites in the plane. Let

Vor(P ) be its Voronoi diagram. Each site p has a cell
V(p) associated with it.
The dual graph of VorP in which the vertices are the
sites and two sites pi and pj are connected iff their
cells V(pi) and V(pj ) share an edge in Vor(P ).

Vor(P)

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Delaunay Graph

A straight line embedding of the dual graph on the

set P of points is called the Delaunay Graph (denoted
DG(P )).

Theorem 6. The Delaunay graph is a plane graph.

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Proof of Theorem 6

Proof. Recall that the perpendicular bisector between

two sites appears in Vor(P ) iff a circle touching the
sites but not enclosing any other site.
In other words, pipj is in DG(P ) iff closed disc Cij
with pi and pj on the boundary and no other site is
contained in it.
Let tij be the triangle formed by pi, pj , and center of
(some) Cij .
contained in V(pi )
pi

Ci j
pj
contained in V(p j )

Note that edge of tij between pi and center of Cij is

inside V(pi).
CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Suppose there is another edge pk pl also in DG(P ) such

that pipj and pk pl intersect.
(As defined for pipj , define Ckl and tkl for pk pl.)
If pk pl intersected pipj , it must also intersect one other
edge e of tij . Why? (Because pk and pl are outside
Cij and therefore outside tij .
Likewise an edge e0 of tkl must intersect pipj .
Notice that this implies that one of the edges of tij
incident to center of Cij and one of the edges of tkl
incident to center of Ckl must intersect.
But, those edges must be contained within their
respective Voronoi cells, which is a contradiction.

CS6100 (Even 2012): Delaunay Triangulation

Delaunay Triangulation

A vertex v Vor(P ) corresponds to a face in DG(P ).

If v has degree k, then, the corresponding face is a
k-gon. Furthermore, it is a convex k-gon. Why?

A Delaunay Triangulation is a triangulation obtained

by adding edges to a delaunay graph.

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Let P be a set of points in the plane.

Theorem 7.
1. Three points form a triangle in DG(P ) iff the
circle through those three points does not enclose
any other point in P .
2. Two points form an edge in DG(P ) iff a circle
through those two points that does not enclose any
other point in P .

Theorem 8. A triangulation T is a Delaunay

triangulation iff the circumcircle of any triangle in
T does not contain any point in its interior.
Theorem 9. A triangulation T is legal iff T is a
Delaunay triangulation.

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Proof of Theorem 9

Proof. Easy to see that any Delaunay triangulation is

legal. So focus on opposite direction.
Assume for contradiction that T is a legal triangulation,
but not a Delaunay triangulation.
From Theorem 7, pi, pj , pk such that circumcircle
C(pi, pj , pk ) contains point pl P in its interior.
Let e = pipj be the edge chosen so that 4pipj pl does
not intersect 4pipj pk .
pm

C(pi p j pm )

pi

pl

e
pj
pk
C(pi p j pk )

Notice that 4pipj pl cannot be a triangle in T as e

can be flipped to improve angle-optimality. Therefore,
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 pm 6= pl such that 4pipj pm is in T . (Note that e

cannot be a boundary edge.)
From Lemma 3 (since T is a legal triangulation), pm
is outside C(pi, pj , pj ).
Let pj pm be the edge such that 4pj pmpl does not
intersect pj pmpi. But, by Thales Theorem,
pj plpi > pj pmpi,
a contradiction as it allows pj pm to be flipped.

Theorem 10.
1. Any angle optimal triangulation is a Delaunay
triangulation.
2. Any Delaunay triangulation maximizes the minimum
angle.

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A Randomized Incremental Construction

of Delaunay Triangulation

Let P = {p0, p1, . . . , pn} be a set of points in the plane

and let p0 be the highest point in P , whereas, the rest
of the points are randomly permuted.
Enclose P in 4p0p1p2, where p1 and p2 are
dummy points. 4p0p1p2 must be large enough so
that p1 and p2 dont lie in any circle defined by
three points in P .
p2
p0

p1

We start with 4p0p1p2 as the current triangulation

and incrementally add points taken from a random
permutation {p1, p2, . . . , pn} of the remaining points.
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Two Cases
pr lies in the interior of a triangle

pr falls on an edge
pi

pk
pl

pr

pr
pi

pj

pk

pj

In either case, illegal edges can be introduced, so we

legalize them by testing each potentially illegal edge
and flipping illegal edges.

pr

Note that all edges created are incident to the newly

inserted point pr .
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Pseudocode
Algorithm D ELAUNAY T RIANGULATION(P)
Input. A set P of n + 1 points in the plane.
Output. A Delaunay triangulation of P.
1. Let p0 be the lexicographically highest point of P, that is, the rightmost among the points
with largest y-coordinate.
2. Let p1 and p2 be two points in R2 sufficiently far away and such that P is contained in
the triangle p0 p1 p2 .
3. Initialize T as the triangulation consisting of the single triangle p0 p1 p2 .
4. Compute a random permutation p1 , p2 , . . . , pn of P \ {p0 }.
5. for r 1 to n
6.
do ( Insert pr into T: )
7.
Find a triangle pi p j pk T containing pr .
8.
if pr lies in the interior of the triangle pi p j pk
9.
then Add edges from pr to the three vertices of pi p j pk , thereby splitting pi p j pk
into three triangles.
10.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pi p j , T)
11.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , p j pk , T)
12.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pk pi , T)
13.
else ( pr lies on an edge of pi p j pk , say the edge pi p j )
14.
Add edges from pr to pk and to the third vertex pl of the other triangle that
is incident to pi p j , thereby splitting the two triangles incident to pi p j into
four triangles.
15.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pi pl , T)
16.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pl p j , T)
17.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , p j pk , T)
18.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pk pi , T)
19. Discard p1 and p2 with all their incident edges from T.
20. return T

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In line 7 of the pseudocode in the previous page, we

perform a point location.
We use a DAG D similar to the DAG used in point
location in planar subdivision.
Each node in D corresponds to a 4 that was created
at some point.
Searching for a point pr would entail going down the
DAG D through a sequence of nodes corresponding
to all triangles created before step r (and possibly
destroyed) that contain pr .

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2
3
split 1

pj

pr

2
pi

3
flip pi p j

pi

4
3

pk
4

flip pi pk

4
7
6
4

5
6

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L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pi p j , T)
1. ( The point being inserted is pr , and pi p j is the edge of T that may need to be flipped. )
2. if pi p j is illegal
3.
then Let pi p j pk be the triangle adjacent to pr pi p j along pi p j .
4.
( Flip pi p j : ) Replace pi p j with pr pk .
5.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pi pk , T)
6.
L EGALIZE E DGE(pr , pk p j , T)

pj

pk

pr

pi

To show correctness, recall that every new edge

added after the insertion of a point pr is incident to
pr .
The part that gets changed is limited to triangles with
two edges incident to pr . Therefore, the correctness of
the algorithm follows from the following lemma.

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Lemma 11. Every new edge created when pr is added

is a Delaunay edge of {p2, p1, p0, p1, . . . , pr }.
Proof Sketch.
pl

pj

pr
C

C0

pi

4pj pipl is a Delaunay triangle of {p2, p1, p0, p1, . . . , pr1}

Therefore a circle C through pj pipl devoid of
points in {p2, p1, p0, p1, . . . , pr1}. Shrink C until
it touches only pr and pl this can be done thus
proving that pr pl is a Delaunay Edge.

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Analysis
Lemma 12. Expected number of triangle created by
the algorithm is 9n + 1.
Proof. Recall what happens when we insert pr . First,
one of the following two cases, and subsequently, we
repeatedly legalize edges (until none are left).
pr lies in the interior of a triangle

pr falls on an edge
pi

pk
pl

pr

pr
pi

pj

pk

pj

First, three (or four) triangles are formed.

Subsequently, each edge we legalize will add 2
triangles.
Therefore, if k is the number of edges incident to
pr then, 2(k 3) + 3 = 2k -3 new triangles are
formed.
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When pr is added, the

k , which is the expected

degree of pr is 6. This follows from

6r being the total degree, which in turn follows from
the bound on the number of edges in the Delaunay
Graph,
which equals the number of Voronoi edges.

E[# of 4s created in step r] E[2k 3]

(1)

= 2 6 3 = 9. (2)

Using linearity of expectation over all iterations, the

expected number of triangles added is 9n + 1, where
the extra triangle is 4p0p1p2.

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Theorem 13. The Randomized Incremental Algorithm

for the Delaunay Triangulation of n points takes
O(n log n) time and O(n) space, both on expectation.

Proof Sketch. Space follows from nodes in D

representing triangles created, which is 9n + 1 on
expectation.
Not counting point location, the creation of each
triangle takes O(1) time, so the total time will be
O(n) + time for point locations (on expectation).
Recall: Searching for a point pr would entail going
down the DAG D through a sequence of nodes
corresponding to all triangles created before step r
(and possibly destroyed) that contain pr .
So each triangle that was created is visited once for
each point in it. In other words, . . .
Let K() P be the points inside triangle . Time
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for point locations is

X

K().

Roughly speaking, each triangle created in round r has

O(n/r) points of P in it. Therefore,
X

K()

O(n/r)

O(n log n),

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