<s>
In	O
geometry	O
,	O
space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
dividing	O
a	O
space	O
(	O
usually	O
a	O
Euclidean	O
space	O
)	O
into	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
disjoint	B-Algorithm
subsets	O
(	O
see	O
also	O
partition	O
of	O
a	O
set	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
other	O
words	O
,	O
space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
divides	O
a	O
space	O
into	O
non-overlapping	O
regions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
regions	O
can	O
be	O
organized	O
into	O
a	O
tree	B-Application
,	O
called	O
a	O
space-partitioning	O
tree	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recursively	O
partitioning	O
space	O
using	O
planes	O
in	O
this	O
way	O
produces	O
a	O
BSP	O
tree	B-Application
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
forms	O
of	O
space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
is	O
particularly	O
important	O
in	O
computer	O
graphics	O
,	O
especially	O
heavily	O
used	O
in	O
ray	B-Algorithm
tracing	I-Algorithm
,	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
frequently	O
used	O
to	O
organize	O
the	O
objects	O
in	O
a	O
virtual	O
scene	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Storing	O
objects	O
in	O
a	O
space-partitioning	O
data	B-General_Concept
structure	I-General_Concept
(	O
k-d	B-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
or	O
BSP	O
tree	B-Application
for	O
example	O
)	O
makes	O
it	O
easy	O
and	O
fast	O
to	O
perform	O
certain	O
kinds	O
of	O
geometry	O
queries	O
—	O
for	O
example	O
in	O
determining	O
whether	O
a	O
ray	O
intersects	O
an	O
object	O
,	O
space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
can	O
reduce	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
intersection	O
test	O
to	O
just	O
a	O
few	O
per	O
primary	O
ray	O
,	O
yielding	O
a	O
logarithmic	O
time	O
complexity	O
with	O
respect	O
to	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
polygons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
is	O
also	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
scanline	O
algorithms	O
to	O
eliminate	O
the	O
polygons	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
camera	O
's	O
viewing	B-General_Concept
frustum	I-General_Concept
,	O
limiting	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
polygons	O
processed	O
by	O
the	O
pipeline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
also	O
a	O
usage	O
in	O
collision	O
detection	O
:	O
determining	O
whether	O
two	O
objects	O
are	O
close	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
can	O
be	O
much	O
faster	O
using	O
space	B-Algorithm
partitioning	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
number	O
of	O
components	O
in	O
a	O
space	B-Algorithm
partition	I-Algorithm
plays	O
a	O
central	O
role	O
in	O
some	O
results	O
in	O
probability	O
theory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
Cartography	O
and	O
GIS	B-Application
-	I-Application
Geographic	I-Application
Information	I-Application
System	I-Application
,	O
is	O
common	O
to	O
identify	O
cells	O
of	O
the	O
partition	O
by	O
standard	O
codes	O
.	O
</s>
