Abstract. We establish new upperbounds on the complexity ofmultidimensional 3earching. Our results include, in particular, linear-size data structures for range and rectangle counting in two dimensions with logarithmic query time. More generally, we give improved data structures for rectangle problems in any dimension, in a static as well as a dynamic setting. Several ofthe algorithms we give are simple to implement and might be the solutions of choice in practice. Central to this paper is the nonstandard approach followed to achieve these results. At its rootwe find a redefinition ofdata structures interms offunctional specifications.