The complexity of interpolating given data in three space with a convex function of two variables (Q1061327)

The author examines three problems concerning the interpolation of a finite set of points \(\{(x_ i,y_ i,z_ i)\}^ N_ 1\) in \(R^ 3\) with a convex function \(z=f(x,y)\). The first problem is to decide whether convex interpolation is possible for a given set of data. The second problem is to determine the minimal set of independent, linear inequalities that represent the convexity constraints when the (x,y) values are fixed, but the z-values are variable. Finally the number of such linear inequalities as a function of the location of the (x,y) points is examined. Algorithms for these problems and their effectiveness are also studied.