A linear algorithm for analysis of minimum spanning and shortest-path trees of planar graphs

We give a linear time and space algorithm for analyzing trees in planar graphs. The algorithm can be used to analyze the sensitivity of a minimum spanning tree to changes in edge costs, to find its replacement edges, and to verify its minimality. It can also be used to analyze the sensitivity of a single-source shortest-path tree to changes in edge costs, and to analyze the sensitivity of a minimum-cost network flow. The algorithm is simple and practical. It uses the properties of a planar embedding, combined with a heap-ordered queue data structure.