Reconstruction of Convex Sets from One or Two X-rays
Pith reviewed 2026-05-24 10:24 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
Reconstruction of convex lattice sets from one X-ray runs in polynomial time by encoding convex aggregation as a DAG path search.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
The reconstruction of a digital convex lattice set from only one X-ray can be performed in polynomial time. We prove it by encoding the convex aggregation problem in a Directed Acyclic Graph. With the same strategy, we prove that the reconstruction of fat digital convex sets from their horizontal and vertical X-rays can be solved in polynomial time. Fatness is a property of the digital convex sets regarding the relative position of the left, right, top and bottom points of the set. The complexity of the reconstruction of the lattice sets which are not fat remains an open question.
What carries the argument
Encoding the convex aggregation step as a search for a path in a suitably constructed Directed Acyclic Graph, where each path corresponds to a valid filling that respects the X-ray projections.
If this is right
- The standard convex aggregation step for HV-convex polyominoes does not always yield a solution, as shown by the bad guy counterexample.
- Single-X-ray reconstruction of any digital convex lattice set is polynomial-time solvable.
- Two-X-ray reconstruction of fat digital convex lattice sets is polynomial-time solvable.
- The complexity status for two-X-ray reconstruction of non-fat convex lattice sets is left unresolved.
Where Pith is reading between the lines
- Fatness appears to be the precise property that removes the combinatorial obstructions illustrated by the bad guy, suggesting it may be the boundary between tractable and intractable cases.
- If the general two-X-ray problem turns out to be NP-hard, the DAG technique could still serve as a practical heuristic or approximation for near-fat instances.
- The DAG encoding might generalize to other projection directions or to higher-dimensional lattice sets if analogous acyclicity can be maintained.
Load-bearing premise
That every valid convex aggregation of the lattice points corresponds exactly to the existence of a path in the defined DAG, with no hidden constraints that would make the search fail to capture all solutions or introduce NP-hardness.
What would settle it
An explicit family of convex lattice sets for which the DAG constructed from the X-rays either admits a path that produces an invalid set or misses a valid reconstruction, causing the algorithm to output an incorrect answer or run in superpolynomial time.
Figures
read the original abstract
We consider a class of problems of Discrete Tomography which has been deeply investigated in the past: the reconstruction of convex lattice sets from their horizontal and/or vertical X-rays, i.e. from the number of points in a sequence of consecutive horizontal and vertical lines. The reconstruction of the HV-convex polyominoes works usually in two steps, first the filling step consisting in filling operations, second the convex aggregation of the switching components. We prove three results about the convex aggregation step: (1) The convex aggregation step used for the reconstruction of HV-convex polyominoes does not always provide a solution. The example yielding to this result is called \textit{the bad guy} and disproves a conjecture of the domain. (2) The reconstruction of a digital convex lattice set from only one X-ray can be performed in polynomial time. We prove it by encoding the convex aggregation problem in a Directed Acyclic Graph. (3) With the same strategy, we prove that the reconstruction of fat digital convex sets from their horizontal and vertical X-rays can be solved in polynomial time. Fatness is a property of the digital convex sets regarding the relative position of the left, right, top and bottom points of the set. The complexity of the reconstruction of the lattice sets which are not fat remains an open question.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The manuscript addresses reconstruction of convex lattice sets from horizontal and/or vertical X-rays in discrete tomography. It exhibits a counterexample ('the bad guy') demonstrating that the standard convex aggregation step for HV-convex polyominoes fails to always produce a solution, thereby disproving a conjecture. It further claims that reconstruction of a digital convex lattice set from a single X-ray is solvable in polynomial time via reduction of the convex aggregation problem to a path search in a suitably constructed DAG, and that the same strategy yields a polynomial-time algorithm for fat digital convex sets from two X-rays, where fatness is defined in terms of the relative positions of the leftmost, rightmost, topmost, and bottommost points.
Significance. If the DAG constructions are verified to be of polynomial size, to enforce all required convexity and switching-component constraints without omissions or extraneous solutions, and to correctly handle the fatness restriction, the results would establish efficient algorithms for the one-X-ray case and the fat two-X-ray case. The explicit counterexample is a concrete contribution that settles a prior conjecture negatively. The decision to leave the complexity status of non-fat two-X-ray instances open is appropriate.
major comments (2)
- [DAG encoding for one-X-ray case] The reduction of convex aggregation to a DAG path problem (central to both polynomial-time claims) requires an explicit argument that every path in the constructed DAG corresponds to a valid convex aggregation and that every valid aggregation arises from some path; this must be shown to hold without hidden constraints that could render the search NP-hard in practice.
- [fat digital convex sets and two-X-ray reconstruction] For the two-X-ray fat case, the manuscript must demonstrate that the fatness condition precisely excludes all configurations (such as the bad-guy example) in which the two-X-ray aggregation problem may fail or become intractable, and that the DAG construction remains complete for every fat instance.
minor comments (3)
- The abstract contains a minor grammatical issue ('yielding to this result' should read 'leading to this result').
- [Definition of fatness] The definition of fatness should be stated with greater formality, ideally via explicit inequalities or coordinate conditions on the extremal points, to facilitate verification that it excludes exactly the problematic cases.
- Figure or pseudocode illustrating the DAG construction (vertices, edges, and weights) would improve readability of the algorithmic claims.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for the careful reading, the positive recommendation for minor revision, and the recognition that the counterexample settles the conjecture negatively while leaving the non-fat two-X-ray case open. We address the two major comments below and will incorporate the requested clarifications.
read point-by-point responses
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Referee: [DAG encoding for one-X-ray case] The reduction of convex aggregation to a DAG path problem (central to both polynomial-time claims) requires an explicit argument that every path in the constructed DAG corresponds to a valid convex aggregation and that every valid aggregation arises from some path; this must be shown to hold without hidden constraints that could render the search NP-hard in practice.
Authors: We agree that an explicit bijection argument is needed. The manuscript describes the DAG construction that encodes the convex aggregation problem and states that a path search solves it in polynomial time, but does not contain a self-contained proof that every path yields a valid aggregation satisfying all convexity and switching-component constraints and that every valid aggregation corresponds to a path. In the revision we will add a dedicated subsection proving this equivalence, confirming that the DAG size remains polynomial and that the reduction introduces no hidden constraints that would affect membership in P. revision: yes
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Referee: [fat digital convex sets and two-X-ray reconstruction] For the two-X-ray fat case, the manuscript must demonstrate that the fatness condition precisely excludes all configurations (such as the bad-guy example) in which the two-X-ray aggregation problem may fail or become intractable, and that the DAG construction remains complete for every fat instance.
Authors: We will revise the manuscript to include an explicit verification that the bad-guy example violates the fatness condition (specifically, the relative positions of its extremal points). We will also add an argument showing that fatness eliminates precisely the configurations where aggregation can fail or become intractable, and that the same DAG construction remains complete and correct for every fat instance, with no omissions of valid solutions. revision: yes
Circularity Check
No significant circularity
full rationale
The central claims reduce the reconstruction problems to existence of a path in an explicitly constructed DAG whose nodes and edges encode the convexity and switching-component constraints. This is a direct algorithmic reduction to a standard problem (DAG reachability) whose polynomial-time complexity is established independently of the paper. No self-definitional equations, fitted inputs renamed as predictions, or load-bearing self-citations appear in the derivation chain. The definition of fatness is an explicit restriction that excludes the exhibited counterexample, not a circular assumption.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
axioms (1)
- standard math Path search or existence in a directed acyclic graph is solvable in polynomial time
Reference graph
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