THE UNION OF BALLS AND ITS DUAL SHAPE

Efficient algorithms are described for computing topological, combinatorial, and metric properties of the union of finitely many spherical balls in R(d) These algorithms are based on a simplicial complex dual to a decomposition of the union of balls using Voronoi cells, and on short inclusion-exclusion formulas derived from this complex. The algorithms are most relevant in R(3) where unions of finitely many balls are commonly used as models of molecules.