Proximity matching using fixed-queries trees

We present a new data structure, called the fixed-queries tree, for the problem of finding all elements of a fixed set that are close, under some distance function, to a query element. Fixed-queries trees can be used for any distance function, not necessarily even a metric, as long as it satisfies the triangle inequality. We give an analysis of several performance parameters of fixed-queries trees and experimental results that support the analysis. Fixed-queries trees are particularly efficient for applications in which comparing two elements is expensive.