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I have a curve (not a function) as a list of points and I would like to find the intersection of the curve with another curve (another set of points). To be more concrete about the problem I am solving :

The curve is a spiral, whose points are https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TtkKPgIxSKmdeWZDYQ1-Dd2aUvxqGDyF/view?usp=sharing. It looks like :

enter image description here

and I need to find intersection with another curve, say a straight line $y=x$. Is there a way to do this in Mathematica.

A canonical procedure is to find the interpolating function from the points (if this were a function) say $f(x)$ and solve $f-g=0$ to find intersection with the the curve $g(x)$.

How does one do the same for a curve where an interpolating function makes no sense? Other alternatives?

Thanks for reading and any help is appreciated.

Edit: I think one way is to check for intersection of all possible line segments, but the number of checks is $O(n^2)$. Maybe someone in the community could suggest a clever way to remove some of these checks, or suggest another method.

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2 Answers 2

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ListLinePlot[data, 
 MeshFunctions -> {Function[{x, y}, x - y]}, 
 Mesh -> {{0}}, 
 MeshStyle -> Directive[PointSize[Medium], Red], 
 Prolog -> {Orange, InfiniteLine[{{0, 0}, {1, 1}}]},
 PlotRange -> All, ImageSize -> Large]

enter image description here

intersections = Cases[Normal @ llp, Point[x_] :> x, All]

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Why are the double curly braces needed around zero in Mesh-> {{0}}? The intersections vanish if I remove one of them. $\endgroup$
    – Charlie
    Mar 28, 2022 at 22:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Shubham, See Mesh >> Details for details of the settings for Mesh. $\endgroup$
    – kglr
    Mar 28, 2022 at 22:13
  • $\begingroup$ I see. Thanks for the answer and comment! $\endgroup$
    – Charlie
    Mar 28, 2022 at 22:15
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Another way which does not depend on the order of points.We select the points close to the region y==x.

pts = RandomSample[data];
reg = ImplicitRegion[x == y, {x, y}];
dist = RegionDistance[reg];
inters = Select[pts, dist[#] < .01 &]
ListPlot[{inters, pts}, 
 PlotStyle -> {Directive[PointSize[.02], Red], 
   Directive[AbsoluteThickness[1], Blue]}, AspectRatio -> Automatic]

enter image description here

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