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2D Projective Geometry: 1 The Real Projective Plane

The document discusses 2D projective geometry and projective transformations. It defines the real projective plane RP2 as the set of rays in 3D space, with each point representing a ray. Projective transformations map lines to lines while preserving intersections and cross ratios. Several examples are given showing that projective transformations can map any quadrilateral to any other, send conics to conics, and fix a circle while mapping lines and points within the circle to different lines and points.

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Tristan Chaang
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112 views2 pages

2D Projective Geometry: 1 The Real Projective Plane

The document discusses 2D projective geometry and projective transformations. It defines the real projective plane RP2 as the set of rays in 3D space, with each point representing a ray. Projective transformations map lines to lines while preserving intersections and cross ratios. Several examples are given showing that projective transformations can map any quadrilateral to any other, send conics to conics, and fix a circle while mapping lines and points within the circle to different lines and points.

Uploaded by

Tristan Chaang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2D Projective Geometry

Chaang Tze Shen Tristan


June 4, 2020

1 The Real Projective Plane


In three-dimensional vector space, for every nonzero vector v define a ray as the set of vectors kv (k ∈
R \ {0}). The real projective plane RP2 is defined to be the set of all rays in three-dimensional space. Each
element of RP2 is called a point, while in reality it is just a ray in three-dimensional space. Hence each
point in RP2 has coordinates with three-entries not all zero.

A B C

Even though RP2 is a three-dimensional concept, it is enough to imagine it as a two-dimensional plane,


including an extra line called the line at infinity `∞ . Every point on `∞ is a point at infinity at which
every set of parallel lines concur. In this case, every pair of lines must intersect at a point.

2 Projective Transformations
A transformation on the projective plane that sends each line to a line is called projective. In other words,
a projective transformation (abbrv. PT) is a function T : L → L where L is the set of lines in RP2 . As
such, PTs form a group: a composition of PTs is still a PT; each PT has its inverse. The well-known
affine transformations (rotations, translations, shear transforms) are obviously also PTs. Under a PT,
intersections and cross ratios are preserved. However, note that under a PT sending `1 to `2 , the other
points in the plane may not preserve their positions as well. If so, why are PTs so useful then? Let’s look
at some examples of actions they can do.
Lemma 2.1. There is a PT that sends four points A, B, C, D (no three collinear) to any other four points
A∗ , B ∗ , C ∗ , D∗ (no three collinear).
Proof. Apply a PT sending the line connecting AB ∩ CD and AD ∩ BC to `∞ . That means T (A)B k
CD, AD k BC are forced to hold, even though we do not know where these points are. Nonetheless, a
parallelogram is formed. Take an affine transformation to transform it into a square. Therefore, a PT can
T1 T2
transform any quadrilateral into a square S. If ABCD −→ S and A∗ B ∗ C ∗ D∗ −→ S, then
T T −1
1
ABCD −→ 2
S −−→ A∗ B ∗ C ∗ D∗
is indeed a projective transformation.

1
Lemma 2.2. Under any PT, conics are sent to conics.

Proof. By definition, a conic is a projection of a circle.

Lemma 2.3. If we have a circle Γ and a line ` not intersecting Γ, then there is a PT that fixes Γ in place
and sends ` to any other line not intersecting Γ.

Proof. Apply a PT sending the ` to `∞ . Then Γ is sent to another conic. It cannot be a parabola or a
hyperbola since they intersect `i nf ty. Hence it is a circle or an ellipse. Take an affine transformation to
ensure it is a circle. Hence Γ → Γ and ` → `∞ . Then send `∞ back.

Lemma 2.4. If we have a circle Γ and a point P inside Γ, then there is a PT that fixes Γ in place and
sends P to any other point inside Γ.

Proof. This is the dual of the previous lemma using poles and polars.

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