computer science

Raimund Seidel

Raimund Seidel is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Raimund Seidel rather than just read about it. In short: Raimund G. Seidel is a German and Austrian theoretical computer scientist and an expert in computational geometry.

Key takeaways

Raimund Seidel belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Raimund Seidel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Raimund Seidel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Raimund G. Seidel is a German and Austrian theoretical computer scientist and an expert in computational geometry. Seidel was born in Graz, Austria, and studied with Hermann Maurer at the Graz University of Technology. He earned his M.Sc. in 1981 from University of British Columbia under David G. Kirkpatrick. He received his Ph.D. in 1987 from Cornell University under the supervision of John Gilbert. After teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, he moved in 1994 to Saarland University. In 1997, he and Christoph M. Hoffmann were program chairs for the Symposium on Computational Geometry. He was the vice president for Research and Technology Transfer at Saarland University from 1999 to 2003. In 2014, he took over as Scientific Director of the Leibniz Center for Informatics (LZI) from Reinhard Wilhelm. In May 2025, he was succeeded in this position by Holger Hermans. Seidel was elected as the vice president for Sustainable Development and Strategy of Saarland University in 2024. Seidel invented backwards analysis of randomized algorithms and used it to analyze a simple linear programming algorithm that runs in linear time for problems of bounded dimension. With his student Cecilia R. Aragon in 1989 he devised the treap data structure, and he is also known for the Kirkpatrick–Seidel algorithm for computing two-dimensional convex hulls.

References

External links Raimund Seidel at DBLP Bibliography Server

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Raimund Seidel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Raimund Seidel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Raimund Seidel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Raimund Seidel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Raimund Seidel

In research: Raimund Seidel appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Raimund Seidel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Raimund Seidel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Austrian computer scientists, Austrian expatriates in the United States, Cornell University alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Raimund Seidel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Raimund Seidel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Raimund Seidel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Raimund Seidel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raimund Seidel in simple terms?

Raimund G. Seidel is a German and Austrian theoretical computer scientist and an expert in computational geometry.

Why does Raimund Seidel matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Raimund Seidel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Raimund Seidel.