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Concept
Level-set method
Summary
Level-set methods (LSM) are a conceptual framework for using level sets as a tool for numerical analysis of surfaces and shapes. The advantage of the level-set model is that one can perform numerical computations involving curves and surfaces on a fixed Cartesian grid without having to parameterize these objects (this is called the Eulerian approach). Also, the level-set method makes it very easy to follow shapes that change topology, for example, when a shape splits in two, develops holes, or the reverse of these operations. All these make the level-set method a great tool for modeling time-varying objects, like inflation of an airbag, or a drop of oil floating in water.
The figure on the right illustrates several important ideas about the level-set method. In the upper-left corner we see a shape; that is, a bounded region with a well-behaved boundary. Below it, the red surface is the graph of a level set function determining this shape, and the flat blue region represents the xy plane. The boundary of the shape is then the zero-level set of , while the shape itself is the set of points in the plane for which is positive (interior of the shape) or zero (at the boundary).
In the top row we see the shape changing its topology by splitting in two. It would be quite hard to describe this transformation numerically by parameterizing the boundary of the shape and following its evolution. One would need an algorithm able to detect the moment the shape splits in two, and then construct parameterizations for the two newly obtained curves. On the other hand, if we look at the bottom row, we see that the level set function merely translated downward. This is an example of when it can be much easier to work with a shape through its level-set function than with the shape directly, where using the shape directly would need to consider and handle all the possible deformations the shape might undergo.
Thus, in two dimensions, the level-set method amounts to representing a closed curve (such as the shape boundary in our example) using an auxiliary function , called the level-set function.
Official source
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