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Given a point set P in the plane, we seek a subset Q ⊆ P, whose convex hull gives a smaller and thus simpler representation of the convex hull of P. Specifically, let cost(Q,P) denote the Hausdorff distance between the convex hulls CH(Q) and CH(P). Then given a value ε > 0 we seek the smallest subset Q ⊆ P such that cost(Q,P) ≤ ε. We also consider the dual version, where given an integer k, we seek the subset Q ⊆ P which minimizes cost(Q,P), such that |Q| ≤ k. For these problems, when P is in convex position, we respectively give an O(n log²n) time algorithm and an O(n log³n) time algorithm, where the latter running time holds with high probability. When there is no restriction on P, we show the problem can be reduced to APSP in an unweighted directed graph, yielding an O(n^2.5302) time algorithm when minimizing k and an O(min{n^2.5302, kn^2.376}) time algorithm when minimizing ε, using prior results for APSP. Finally, we show our near linear algorithms for convex position give 2-approximations for the general case. 

In this survey we describe progress over the last decade or so in understanding the complexity of solving constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) approximately in the streaming and sketching models of computation. After surveying some of the results we give some sketches of the proofs and in particular try to explain why there is a tight dichotomy result for sketching algorithms working in subpolynomial space regime. 

We continue a line of work on extracting random bits from weak sources that are generated by simple processes. We focus on the model of locally samplable sources, where each bit in the source depends on a small number of (hidden) uniformly random input bits. Also known as local sources, this model was introduced by De and Watson (TOCT 2012) and Viola (SICOMP 2014), and is closely related to sources generated by AC⁰ circuits and bounded-width branching programs. In particular, extractors for local sources also work for sources generated by these classical computational models. Despite being introduced a decade ago, little progress has been made on improving the entropy requirement for extracting from local sources. The current best explicit extractors require entropy n^{1/2}, and follow via a reduction to affine extractors. To start, we prove a barrier showing that one cannot hope to improve this entropy requirement via a black-box reduction of this form. In particular, new techniques are needed. In our main result, we seek to answer whether low-degree polynomials (over 𝔽₂) hold potential for breaking this barrier. We answer this question in the positive, and fully characterize the power of low-degree polynomials as extractors for local sources. More precisely, we show that a random degree r polynomial is a low-error extractor for n-bit local sources with min-entropy Ω(r(nlog n)^{1/r}), and we show that this is tight. Our result leverages several new ingredients, which may be of independent interest. Our existential result relies on a new reduction from local sources to a more structured family, known as local non-oblivious bit-fixing sources. To show its tightness, we prove a "local version" of a structural result by Cohen and Tal (RANDOM 2015), which relies on a new "low-weight" Chevalley-Warning theorem.