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Moksh Nihalani
Exploring Bellman’s Forest Problem in Elliptical Geometries

Moksh developed a project that investigates Bellman’s Forest Problem, a classic geometric minimisation problem, within the context of elliptical regions. By combining geometric reasoning with analytic techniques, the study identifies minimum-length escape paths for ellipses of varying eccentricities, extending known results for polygons and unbounded regions. The project establishes exact solutions for “fat” ellipses and derives upper and lower bounds for more elongated shapes, linking their behaviour to the well-known Zalgaller path. Overall, it deepens understanding of how shape and eccentricity influence optimal escape paths in convex geometries.
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