Gradient-constrained minimum networks. I. Fundamentals

Abstract

In three-dimensional space an embedded network is called gradient-constrained if the absolute gradient of any differentiable point on the edges in the network is no more than a given value m. A gradient-constrained minimum Steiner tree T is a minimum gradient-constrained network interconnecting a given set of points. In this paper we investigate some of the fundamental properties of these minimum networks. We first introduce a new metric, the gradient metric, which incorporates a new definition of distance for edges with gradient greater than m. We then discuss the variational argument in the gradient metric, and use it to prove that the degree of Steiner points in T is either three or four...