Projective Geometry Lecture Notes

Thomas Baird
March 26, 2014

Contents
1 Introduction

2 Vector Spaces and Projective Spaces

2.1 Vector spaces and their duals . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1 Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2 Vector spaces and subspaces . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.3 Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.4 Dual vector spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Projective spaces and homogeneous coordinates . . .
2.2.1 Visualizing projective space . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.2 Homogeneous coordinates . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3 Linear subspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.1 Two points determine a line . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.2 Two planar lines intersect at a point . . . . .
2.4 Projective transformations and the Erlangen Program
2.4.1 Erlangen Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.2 Projective versus linear . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.3 Examples of projective transformations . . . .
2.4.4 Direct sums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.5 General position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.6 The Cross-Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5 Classical Theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.1 Desargues Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.2 Pappus Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.6 Duality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Quadrics and Conics
3.1 Affine algebraic sets . . . . .
3.2 Projective algebraic sets . .
3.3 Bilinear and quadratic forms
3.3.1 Quadratic forms . . .
3.3.2 Change of basis . . .

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28
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31
33
33

3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8

3.3.3 Digression on the Hessian . . . . . . . .

Quadrics and conics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Parametrization of the conic . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.1 Rational parametrization of the circle . .
Polars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Linear subspaces of quadrics and ruled surfaces
Pencils of quadrics and degeneration . . . . . .

4 Exterior Algebras
4.1 Multilinear algebra . . . . . . . .
4.2 The exterior algebra . . . . . . .
4.3 The Grassmanian and the Pl
ucker
4.4 Decomposability of 2-vectors . . .
4.5 The Klein Quadric . . . . . . . .

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embedding
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36
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52
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59
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5 Extra details

64

6 The hyperbolic plane

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7 Ideas for Projects

68

Introduction

Projective geometry has its origins in Renaissance Italy, in the development of perspective
in painting: the problem of capturing a 3-dimensional image on a 2-dimensional canvas.
It is a familiar fact that objects appear smaller as the they get farther away, and that the
apparent angle between straight lines depends on the vantage point of the observer. The
more familiar Euclidean geometry is not well equipped to make sense of this, because in
Euclidean geometry length and angle are well-defined, measurable quantities independent
of the observer. Projective geometry provides a better framework for understanding how
shapes change as perspective varies.
The projective geometry most relevant to painting is called the real projective plane,
and is denoted RP 2 or P (R3 ).
Definition 1. The real projective plane, RP 2 = P (R3 ) is the set of 1-dimensional subspaces of R3 .
This definition is best motivated by a picture. Imagine an observer sitting at the origin
in R3 looking out into 3-dimensional space. The 1-dimensional subspaces of R3 can be
understood as lines of sight. If we now situate a (Euclidean) plane P that doesnt contain
the origin, then each point in P determines unique sight line. Objects in (subsets of) R3
can now be projected onto the plane P , enabling us to transform a 3-dimensional scene
into a 2-dimensional image. Since 1-dimensional lines translate into points on the plane,
we call the 1-dimensional lines projective points.
Of course, not every projective point corresponds to a point in P , because some 1dimensional subspaces are parallel to P . Such points are called points at infinity. To
2

Figure 1: A 2D representation of a cube

Figure 2: Projection onto a plane

motivate this terminology, consider a family of projective points that rotate from projective points that intersect P to one that is parallel. The projection onto P becomes a
family of points that diverges to infinity and then disappears. But as projective points
they converge to a point at infinity. It is important to note that a projective point is only
at infinity with respect to some Euclidean plane P .
One of the characteristic features of projective geometry is that every distinct pair
of projective lines in the projective plane intersect. This runs contrary to the parallel
postulate in Euclidean geometry, which says that lines in the plane intersect except when
they are parallel. We will see that two lines that appear parallel in a Euclidean plane will
intersect at a point at infinity when they are considered as projective lines. As a general
rule, theorems about intersections between geometric sets are easier to prove, and require
fewer exceptions when considered in projective geometry.
According to Dieudonnes History of Algebraic Geometry, projective geometry was
among the most popular fields of mathematical research in the late 19th century. Projective geometry today is a fundamental part of algebraic geometry, arguably the richest
and deepest field in mathematics, of which we will gain a glimpse in this course.

Vector Spaces and Projective Spaces

2.1

Vector spaces and their duals

Projective geometry can be understood as the application of linear algebra to classical

geometry. We begin with a review of basics of linear algebra.
2.1.1

Fields

The rational numbers Q, the real numbers R and the complex numbers C are examples of
fields. A field is a set F equipped with two binary operations F F F called addition
and multiplication, denoted + and respectively, satisfying the following axioms for all
a, b, c R.
1. (commutativity) a + b = b + a, and ab = ba.
2. (associativity) (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) and a(bc) = (ab)c
3. (identities) There exists 0, 1 F such that a + 0 = a and a 1 = a
4. (distribution) a(b + c) = ab + ac and (a + b)c = ac + bc
5. (additive inverse) There exists a F such that a + (a) = 0
6. (multiplicative inverse) If a 6= 0, there exists

1
a

F such that a

1
a

= 1.

Two other well know operations are best defined in terms of the above properties. For
example
a b = a + (b)

and if b 6= 0 then
1
a/b = a .
b
We usually illustrate the ideas in this course using the fields R and C, but it is
worth remarking that most of the results are independent of the base field F . A perhaps
unfamiliar example that is fun to consider is the field of two elements Z/2. This is the
field containing two elements Z/2 = {0, 1} subject to addition and multiplication rules
0 + 0 = 0,

0 + 1 = 1 + 0 = 1,

1+1=0

0 0 = 0,

0 1 = 1 0 = 0,

11=1

and arises as modular arithmetic with respect to 2.

2.1.2

Vector spaces and subspaces

Let F denote a field. A vector space V over F is set equipped with two operations:
Addition: V V V , (v, w) 7 v + w.
Scalar multiplication: F V V , (, v) 7 v
satisfying the following list of axioms for all u, v, w V and , F .
(u + v) + w = u + (v + w) (additive associativity)
u + v = v + u (additive commutativity)
There exists a vector 0 V called the zero vector such that, 0 + v = v for all v V
(additive identity)
For every v V there exists v V such that v + v = 0 (additive inverses)
( + )v = v + v (distributivity)
(u + v) = u + v (distributivity)
(v) = ()v (associativity of scalar multiplication)
1v = v ( identity of scalar multiplication)
I will leave it as an exercise to prove that 0v = 0 and that 1v = v.
Example 1. The set V = Rn of n-tuples of real numbers is a vector space over F = R in
the usual way. Similarly, F n is a vector space over F . The vector spaces we consider in
this course will always be isomorphic to one of these examples.
Given two vector spaces V, W over F , a map : V W is called linear if for all
v1 , v2 V and 1 , 2 F , we have
(1 v1 + 2 v2 ) = 1 (v1 ) + 2 (v2 ).
5

Example 2. A linear map from Rm to Rn can be uniquely represented by an n m

matrix of real numbers. In this representation, vectors in Rm and Rn are represented by
column vectors, and is defined using matrix multiplication. Similarly, a linear map from
Cm to Cn can be uniquely represented by an n m matrix of complex numbers.
We say that a linear map : V W is an isomorphism if is a one-to-one and onto.
In this case, the inverse map 1 is also linear, hence is also a isomorphism. Two vector
spaces are called isomorphic if there exists an isomorphism between them. A vector space
V over F is called n-dimensional if it is isomorphic to F n . V is called finite dimensional
if it is n-dimensional for some n {0, 1, 2, ....}. Otherwise we say that V is infinite
dimensional.
A vector subspace of a vector space V is a subset U V containing zero which is
closed under addition and scalar multiplication. This makes U into a vector space in its
own right, and the inclusion map U , V in linear. Given any linear map : V W ,
we can define two vector subspaces: the image
(V ) := {(v)|v V } W
and the kernel
ker() := {v V |(v) = 0} V.
The dimension of (V ) is called the rank of , and the dimension of ker() is called the
nullity of . The rank-nullity theorem states that the rank plus the nullity equals the
dimension of V . I.e., given a linear map : V W
dim(V ) = dim(ker()) + dim((V )).
Given a set of vectors S := {v1 , ..., vk } V a linear combination is an expression of
the form
1 v1 + ... + k vk
where 1 , ..., k F are scalars. The set of vectors that can be written as a linear
combination of vectors in S is called the span of S. The set S is called linearly independent
if the only linear combination satisfying
1 v1 + ... + k vk = 0
is when 1 = 2 = ... = k = 0. If some non-trivial linear combination equals zero, then
we say S is linearly dependent.
A basis of V is a linearly independent set S V that spans V . Every vector space
has a basis, and the dimension of a vector space is equal to the number of vectors in any
basis of that vector space. If {v1 , ..., vn } is a basis of V , then this defines an isomorphism
: F n V by
((x1 , ..., xn )) = x1 v1 + ... + xn vn .
Conversely, given an isomorphism : F n V , we obtain a basis {v1 , ..., vn } V by
setting vi = (ei ) where {e1 , ..., en } F n is the standard basis. So choosing a basis for V
amounts to the same thing as defining an isomorphism from F n to V .
Proposition 2.1. Suppose that W V is a vector subspace. Then dim(W ) dim(V ).
Furthermore, we have equality dim(W ) = dim(V ) if and only if W = V .
Proof. Exercise.
6

2.1.3

Matrices

A m n-matrix A over the field F is a set of scalars Ai,j F parametrized by i

{1, ..., m} and j {1, ..., n}, normally presented as a 2 dimensional array for which i and
j parametrize rows and columns respectively.

A1,1 A1,2 ... A1,n

A2,1 A2,2 ... ...
.
A=
...
... ... ...
Am,1 ... ... Am,n
If A is m n and B is n p then the product matrix AB is an m p matrix with
entries
(AB)i,j =

n
X

Ai,k Bk,j

(1)

k=1

The identity matrix I is the n n-matrix satisfying

(
1 i=j
.
Ii,j :=
0 i 6= j
An n n-matrix A is called invertible if there exists an n n-matrix B such that AB =
I = BA. If B exists, it is unique and is called the inverse matrix B = A1 .
The determinant of an n n-matrix A is the scalar value
X
(1) A1,(1) ...An,(n)
Sn

where the sum is indexed by permutations of the set {1, ..., n} and (1) = 1 is the
sign of the permutation.
Theorem 2.2. Let A be an n n-matrix. The following properties are equivalent (i.e. if
one holds, they all hold).
A is invertible.
A has non-zero determinant.
A has rank n.
The simplest way to check that A is invertible is usually to check if the rank is n by
row reducing.
2.1.4

Dual vector spaces

Given any vector space V , the dual vector space V is the set of linear maps from V to
F = F1
V := { : V F | is linear}.
7

The dual V is naturally a vector space under point-wise addition and multiplication
(1 + 2 )(v) = 1 (v) + 2 (v)
and
()(v) = ((v)).
Example 3. Suppose V
= F n is the set of 1 n column vectors. Then V is identified
with the set of n 1 row vectors under matrix multiplication.
Suppose that v1 , ..., vn V is a basis. Then the dual basis v1 , ..., vn V is the unique
set of linear maps satisfying
vi (vj ) = ij ,
where ij is the Kronecker delta defined by ii = 1 and ij = 0 if i 6= j.
Example 4. Let v1 , ..., vn F n be a basis of column vectors and let A = [v1 ...vn ] be the
n n-matrix made up of these columns. The rules of matrix multiplication imply that
the dual basis v1 , ..., vn are the rows of the inverse matrix

v1

v2

A1 =
.: .
vn

2.2

Projective spaces and homogeneous coordinates

Definition 2. Let V be a vector space. The projective space P (V ) of V is the set of

1-dimensional subspaces of V .
Definition 3. If V is a vector space of dimension n + 1, then we say that P (V ) is a
projective space of dimension n. A 0-dimensional projective space is called a projective
point, a 1-dimensional vector space is called a projective line, and a 2-dimensional vector
space is called a projective plane. If V is one of the standard vector spaces Rn+1 or Cn+1
we also use notation RP n := P (Rn+1 ) and CP n := P (Cn+1 ).
2.2.1

Visualizing projective space

To develop some intuition about projective spaces, we consider some low dimensional
examples.
If V is one-dimensional, then the only one dimensional subspace is V itself, and consequently P (V ) is simply a point (a one element set).
Now consider the case of the real projective line. Let V = R2 with standard coordinates
x, y and let L R2 be the line defined x = 1. With the exception of the y-axis, each
1-dimensional subspace of R2 intersects L in exactly one point. Thus RP 1 = P (R2 ) is
isomorphic as a set with the union of L with a single point. Traditionally, we identify L
with R and call the extra point {}, the point at infinity. Thus we have a bijection of
sets
RP 1
= R {}
8

Figure 3: The real projective plane

Figure 4: The Riemann Sphere

Another approach is to observe that every 1-dimensional subspace intersects the unit
circle S 1 in a pair of antipodal points. Thus a point in RP 1 corresponds to a pair of
antipodal points in S 1 . Topologically, we can construct RP 1 by taking a closed half circle
and identifying the endpoints. Thus RP 1 is itself a circle.
By similar reasoning we can see that the complex projective line CP 1 is in bijection
with C {}
CP 1
= C {}.
Topologically, CP 1 is a isomorphic to the 2-dimensional sphere S 2 and is sometimes called
the Riemann Sphere. The correspondence between C {} and S 2 can be understood
through stereographic projection, pictured in Figure 2.2.1.
We turn next to the real projective plane RP 2 = P (R3 ). Let x, y, z be the standard
coordinates on R3 . Then every 1-dimensional subspace of R3 either intersects the plane
z = 1 or lies in the plane z = 0. The first class of 1-dimensional subspaces is in bijection

with R2 , and the second class is in bijection with RP 1 . Thus we get a bijection
RP 2
= R2 R {}.
= R2 RP 1
It is not hard to see that this reasoning extends inductively to every dimension n to
determine the following bijection

and similarly

RP n
= Rn RP n1
= Rn Rn1 ... R0

(2)

CP n
= Cn CP n1
= Cn Cn1 ... C0 .

(3)

Returning now to the projective plane, observe that every 1-dimensional subspace of
R3 intersects the unit sphere S 2 in a pair of antipodal points.

Figure 5: Antipodal points on the sphere

Thus we can construct RP 2 by taking (say) the northern hemisphere and identifying
antipodal points along the equator. This makes the boundary a copy of RP 1 .
RP 2 is difficult to visual directly because it can not be topologically embedded in R3 ,
though it can be in R4 . However, it can be embedded if we allow self intersections as a
cross cap.
See the website Math Images for more about the projective plane.
It is also interesting to consider the field of two elements F = Z2 . As a set, the standard
vector space F n is an n-fold Cartesian product of F with itself so Zn2 has cardinality 2n .
From the bijection F P n
= F n F n1 ... F 1 F 0 , it follows that
|Z2 P n | = 2n + 2n1 + .... + 1 = 2n+1 1
so a projective line contains 3 points and an projective plane contains 7 points. The Z2
projective plane is also called the Fano plane.

10

Figure 6: RP 2 as quotient of a disk

Figure 7: Cross Caps

11

Figure 8: Sliced open Cross Caps

Figure 9: The Fano Plane

12

2.2.2

Homogeneous coordinates

To go further it is convenient to introduce some notation. Given a non-zero vector v

V \ {0}, define [v] P (V ) to be the 1-dimensional subspace spanned by v. If F \ {0}
is a non-zero scalar, then
[v] = [v].
Now suppose we choose a basis {v0 , ..., vn } for V (recall this is basically the same as
defining an isomorphism V
= F n ). Then every vector in v V can be written
v=

n
X

xi vi

i=0

for some set of scalars xi and we can write

[v] = [x0 : ... : xn ]
with respect to this basis. These are known as homogeneous coordinates. Once again, for
6= 0 we have
[x0 : ... : xn ] = [x0 : ... : xn ]
Consider now the subset U0 P (V ) consisting of points [x0 : ... : xn ] with x0 6= 0
(Observe that this subset is well-defined independent of the representative (x0 : ... : xn )
because for 6= 0 we have x0 6= 0 if and only if x0 6= 0). For points in U0
[x0 : ... : xn ] = [x0 (1/x0 ) : x0 (x1 /x0 ) : ... : x0 (xn /x0 )] = [1 : x1 /x0 : ... : xn /x0 ]
Thus we can uniquely represent any point in U0 by a representative vector of the form
(1 : y1 : ... : yn ). It follows that U0
= F n . This result has already been demonstrated
geometrically in equations (2) and (3) because U0 is the set of 1-dimensional subspaces
in V that intersect the hyperplane x0 = 1. The complement of U0 is the set of points
with x0 = 0, which form a copy of P (F n ).

2.3

Linear subspaces

Definition 4. A linear subspace of a projective space P (V ) is a subset

P (W ) P (V )
consisting of all 1-dimensional subspaces lying in some vector subspace W V . Observe
that any linear subspace P (W ) is a projective space in its own right.
For example, each point in P (V ) is a linear subspace because it corresponds to a 1dimensional subspace. If W V is 2-dimensional, we call P (W ) P (V ) a projective
line in P (V ). Similarly, if W is 3-dimensional then P (W ) P (V ) is a projective plane
in P (V ). Observe that when each of these linear subspaces are intersected with the
subset U0 = {x0 = 1}
= F n then they become points, lines and planes in the traditional
Euclidean sense.
13

2.3.1

Two points determine a line

Theorem 2.3. Given two distinct points [v1 ], [v2 ] P (V ), there is a unique projective
line containing them both.
Proof. Since [v1 ] and [v2 ] represent distinct points in P (V ), then the representative vectors
v1 , v2 V must be linearly independent, and thus span a 2-dimensional subspace W V .
Thus P (W ) is a projective line containing both [v1 ] and [v2 ].
Now suppose that there exists another projective line P (W 0 ) P (V ) containing [v1 ]
and [v2 ]. Then v1 , v2 W , so W W 0 . Since both W and W 0 are 2-dimensional it follows
that W = W 0 and P (W ) = P (W 0 ).
Example 5. Consider the model of RP 2 as pairs of antipodal points on the sphere S 2 . A
projective line in this model is represented by a great circle. Proposition 2.3 amounts to
the result that any pair of distinct and non-antipodal points in S 2 lie on a unique great
circle (by the way, this great circle also describes the shortest flight route for airplanes
flying between two points on the planet).

Figure 10: Two points determine a line

2.3.2

Two planar lines intersect at a point

Theorem 2.4. In a projective plane, two distinct projective lines intersect in a unique
point.
Proof. Let P (V ) be a projective plane where dim(V ) = 3. Two distinct projective lines
P (U ) and P (W ) correspond to two distinct subspaces U, W V each of dimension 2.
Then we have an equality
P (U ) P (W ) = P (U W )
so proposition amounts to showing that U W V is a vector subspace of dimension 1.
Certainly
dim(U W ) dim(U ) = 2.
Indeed we see that dim(U W ) 1 for otherwise dim(U W ) = 2 = dim(U ) = dim(W )
so U W = U = W which contradicts the condition that U, W are distinct.
14

Thus to prove dim(U W ) = 1 it is enough to show that U W contains a non-zero

vector. Choose bases u1 , u2 U and w1 , w2 W . Then the subset {u1 , u2 , w1 , w2 } V
must be linearly dependent because V only has dimension 3. Therefore, there exist scalars
1 , ..., 4 not all zero such that
1 u1 + 2 u2 + 3 w1 + 4 w2 = 0
from which it follows that 1 u1 +2 u2 = 3 w1 4 w2 is a non-zero element in U W .
Example 6. Using the model of RP 2 as pairs of antipodal points in S 2 , then Proposition
2.4 is the geometric fact that pairs of great circles always intersect in a pair of antipodal
points.

Figure 11: Two lines in a plane determine a point

2.4

Projective transformations and the Erlangen Program

So far we have explored how a vector space V determines a projective space P (V ) and
how a vector subspace W V determines a linear subspace P (W ). How do linear maps
fit into projective geometry?
It is not true in general that a linear map T : V V 0 induces a map between the
projective spaces P (V ) and P (V 0 ).1 This is because if T has a non-zero kernel, then
it sends some 1-dimensional subspaces of V to zero in V 0 . However, if ker(T ) = 0, or
equivalently if T is injective, then this works fine.
Definition 5. Let T : V V 0 be an injective linear map. Then the map
: P (V ) P (V 0 )
defined by
([v]) = [T (v)]
is called the projective morphism or projective transformation induced by T .
Projective transformations from a projective space to itself : P (V ) P (V ) are called
projective automophisms and are considered to be the group of symmetries of projective
space.
If T is non-zero but not injective, then it does define a map from a subset of P (V ) to P (V 0 ). This is
an example of a rational map which play an important role in algebraic geometry. We will not consider
rational maps in this course though.
1

15

2.4.1

Erlangen Program

To better understand the meaning of this phrase, we make a brief digression to consider
the more familiar Euclidean geometry in the plane. This kind of geometry deals with
certain subsets of R2 and studies their properties. Especially important are points, lines,
lengths and angles. For example, a triangle is an object consisting of three points and three
line segments joining them; the line segments have definite lengths and their intersections
have definite angles that add up to 180 degrees. A circle is a subset of R2 of points lying a
fixed distance r from a point p R2 . The length r is called the radius and circumference
of the circle is 2r.
The group of symmetries of the Euclidean plane (or Euclidean transformations) consists of translations, rotations, and combinations of these. All of the objects and quantities studied in Euclidean geometry are preserved by these symmetries: lengths of line
segments, angles between lines, circles are sent to circles and triangles are sent to triangles. Two objects in the plane are called congruent if they are related by Euclidean
transformations, and this is the concept of isomorphism in this context.
In 1872, Felix Klein initiated a highly influential re-examination of geometry called the
Erlangen Program. At the time, several different types of non-Euclidean geometries had
been introduced and it was unclear how they related to each other. Kleins philosophy
was that a fundamental role was played by the group of symmetries in the geometry;
that the meaningful concepts in a geometry are those that preserved by the symmetries
and that geometries can be related in a hierarchy according to how much symmetry they
possess.
With this philosophy in mind, let us explore the relationship between projective and
Euclidean geometry in more depth. Recall from 2.2.2 that we have a subset U0 RP n
consisting of those points with homogeneous coordinates [1 : y1 : ... : yn ]. There is an
obvious bijection
[1 : y1 : ... : yn ] (y1 , ..., yn )
U0
= Rn ,
Proposition 2.5. Any Euclidean transformation of U0
= Rn extends uniquely to a pron
jective transformation of RP .
Proof. We focus on the case n = 2 for notational simplicity. It is enough to show that
translations and rotations of U0 extend uniquely.
Consider first translation in R2 by a vector (a1 , a2 ). That is the map (y1 , y2 ) 7
(y1 + a1 , y2 + a2 ). The corresponding projective transformation is associated to the linear
transformation

1
1 0 0
1
1
y1 7 a1 1 0 y1 = y1 + a1
y2
a2 0 1
y2
y 2 + a2
A rotation by angle of U0 = R2 extends to the projective transformation induced by the
linear transformation

16

1
1
0
0
1
1
y1
7 0 cos() sin() y1 = cos()y1 sin()y2
y2
0 sin() cos()
y2
cos()y2 + sin()y1
Uniqueness will be clear after we learn about general position.
From the point of view of the Erlangen Program, Proposition 2.5 tells us that projective geometry more basic than Euclidean geometry because it has more symmetry.
This means that theorems and concepts in projective geometry translate into theorems
and concepts in Euclidean geometry, but not vice-versa. For example, we have lines and
points and triangles in projective geometry, but no angles or lengths. Furthermore, objects in Euclidean geometry that are not isomorphic (or congruent) to each other can
be isomorphic to each other in projective geometry. We will show for example that all
projective triangles are isomorphic to one another. We will also learn that circles, ellipses,
parabolas and hyperbolas all look the same in projective geometry, where they are called
conics.
2.4.2

Projective versus linear

Next, we should clarify the relationship between linear maps and projective morphisms.
Proposition 2.6. Two injective linear maps T : V W and T 0 : V W determine the
same projective morphism if and only if T = T 0 for some non-zero scalar .
Proof. Suppose that T = T 0 . Then for [v] P (V ),
[T (v)] = [T 0 (v)] = [T 0 (v)],
so T and T 0 define the same projective morphism.
Conversely, suppose that for all [v] P (V ) that [T (v)] = [T 0 (v)]. Then for any basis
v0 , ..., vn V , there exist non-zero scalars 0 , ..., n such that
T (vi ) = i T 0 (vi ).
However it is also true that [T (v0 + ... + vn )] = [T 0 (v0 + ... + vn )] so for some non-zero
scalar we must have
T (v0 + ... + vn ) = T 0 (v0 + ... + vn ).
Combining these equations and using linearity, we get
n
X

T 0 (vi ) = T 0 (

i=0

n
X
i=0

n
n
n
X
X
X
vi ) = T (
vi ) =
T (vi ) =
i T 0 (vi )
i=0

Pn

i=0

i=0

Subtracting gives i=0 ( i )T 0 (vi ) = 0. Since T 0 is an injective, {T 0 (vi )} is a linearly

independent set, so = i for all i and T = T 0 .
17

2.4.3

Examples of projective transformations

To develop some intuition about projective transformations, lets consider transformations

of the projective line F P 1 = P (F 2 ). A linear transformation of F 2 is uniquely described
by a 2 2 matrix,

  

a b
x
ax + by
=
c d
y
cx + dy
so for a projective point of the form [1 : y] we have
([1 : y]) = [a + by : c + dy] = [1 :

c + dy
].
a + by

In the case F = C, the function f : C C {} of the complex numbers

f (y) =

c + dy
a + by

is called a Mobius transformation and plays an important role in complex analysis.

Proposition 2.7. Expressed in a Euclidean coordinate y [1 : y], every projective
transformation of the line F P 1 is equal to a combination of the following transformations:
A translation: y 7 y + a
A scaling: y 7 y,
An inversion: y 7

6= 0
1
y

Proof. Recall from linear algebra that any invertible matrix can be obtained from the
identity matrix using elementary row operations: multiplying a row by a non-zero scalar,
permuting rows, and adding one row to another. Equivalently, every invertible matrix
can be written as a product of matrices of the form

 
 

1 0
0 1
1 0
,
,
0
1 0
1 1
and these correspond to scaling, inversion and translation respectively. For instance,

   


0 1
1
y
1
=
=y
1 0
y
1
1/y
so corresponds to the inversion y 7

1
y

It is also informative to try and picture these transformations using our model where
RP 1 is a circle and CP 1 is a sphere (leave this to class discussion). A delightful video
about Moebius transformations is available here.

18

Remark 1. More generally, a projective transformation of F P n takes the form

y 7

c + D
y
a + b y

where D is an n n matrix, b, c are vectors in F n , a is a scalar and is the dot product.

Proving this is an exercise.
A more geometrically defined example of a projective transformation is obtained as
follows. Let P (V ) be a projective plane, let P (U ), P (U 0 ) be two projective lines in P (V ),
and let [w] P (V ) be a projective points not lying on P (U ) or P (U 0 ). We define a map
: P (U ) P (U 0 )
as follows: Given [u] P (U ), there is a unique line L P (V ) containing both [w] and
[u]. Define ([u]) to be the unique intersection point L P (U 0 ). Observe that is well
defined by Theorem 2.3 and 2.4 .
Proposition 2.8. The map : P (U ) P (U 0 ) is a projective transformation.
Before proving this proposition, it is convenient to introduce a concept from linear
algebra: the direct sum.
2.4.4

Direct sums

Let V and W be vector spaces over the same field F . The direct sum V W is the vector
space with vector set equal to the cartesian product
V W := V W := {(v, w)|v V, w W }
with addition and scalar multiplication defined by (v, w) + (v 0 , w0 ) = (v + v 0 , w + w0 ) and
(v, w) = (v, w). Exercise: show that
dim(V W ) = dim(V ) + dim(W ).
There are natural linear maps
i : V V W,

i(v) = (v, 0)

p : V W V,

p(v, w) = v

and
called inclusion and projection maps respectively. Similar maps exist for W as well.
Proposition 2.9. Let V be a vector space and let U, W be vector subspaces of V . Then
the natural map
: U W V,
(u, w) 7 u + w
has image
im() = span{U, W }
with kernel
ker() = U W.
In particular, if span{U, W } = V and U W = {0}, then defines an isomorphism
U W
= V and we say that V is the internal direct sum of U and W .
19

Proof. The image of is the set {u + w V | u U, w W }. Since U and W are both

closed under linear combinations, it follows easily that {u + w V | u U, w W } =
span{U, W }. To find the kernel:
ker() = {(u, w) U W | u + w = 0} = {(u, u) U W }
= U W.
Finally, if ker() = U W = {0} and span{U, W } = V , then is both injective and
surjective, so it is an isomorphism.
Proof of Proposition 2.8. Let W = span{w} be the one-dimensional subspace of V corresponding to [w]. Since [w] 6 P (U 0 ), it follows that W U 0 = {0}. Counting dimensions,
we deduce that
V
= W U0
is an internal direct sum. Denote by p : V U 0 the resulting projection map.
Now let [u] P (U ) and take
[u0 ] = ([u]) P (U 0 ).
By definition of , [u0 ] lies in the line determined by [w] and [u], so u0 is a linear combination
u0 = w + u
for some scalars , F . Moreover, [w] P (U 0 ) so [w] 6= [u0 ] and we deduce that 6= 0,
so

1
u = w u0

so p(u) = 1 u0 and ([u]) = [p(u)]. It follows that is the projective transformation

induced by the composition of linear maps i : U , V and p : V U 0 .
2.4.5

General position

We gain a firmer grasp of the freedom afforded by projective transformations using the
following concept.
Definition 6. Let P (V ) be a projective space of dimension n. A set of n + 2 points in
P (V ) are said to lie in general position if the representative vectors of any proper subset
are linearly independent in V (A subset S 0 S is called a proper subset if S 0 is non-empty
and S 0 does not equal S).
Example 7. Any pair of distinct points in a projective line are represented by linearly
independent vectors, so any three distinct points on a projective line lie in general position.
Example 8. Four points in a projective plane lie in general position if and only if no
three of them are collinear (prove this).

20

Theorem 2.10. If P (V ) and P (W ) are projective spaces of the same dimension n and
both p1 , ..., pn+2 P (V ) and q1 , ..., qn+2 P (W ) lie in general position, then there is a
unique projective transformation
: P (V ) P (W )
sending (pi ) = qi for all i = 1, 2, ..., n + 2.
Proof. Choose representative vectors v1 , ..., vn+2 V such that [vi ] = pi for all i. Because
the points pi lie in general position, it follows that the first n + 1 vectors v1 , ..., vn+1 are
linearly independent and thus form a basis of V . It follows that vn+2 can be written as a
linear combination
n+1
X
i vi = vn+2
i=1

Moreover, all of the scalars i are non-zero, for otherwise the non-trivial linear expression
n+1
X

i vi vn+2 = 0

i=1

would imply that some proper subset of {v1 , ..., vn+2 } is linearly dependent, in contradiction with the points lying in general position. By replacing our representative vectors vi
with the alterative representing vectors i vi , we may assume without loss of generality
that
n+1
X
vi = vn+2 .
i=1

Similarly, we may choose representing vectors wi W for qi P (W ) such that

n+1
X

wi = wn+2 .

i=1

Since v1 , ..., vn+1 V are linearly independent, they form a basis for V and we can define
a linear map T : V W by sending T (vi ) = wi for i = 1, ..., n + 1 and extending linearly.
By linearity we have
n+1
n+1
n+1
X
X
X
T (vn+2 ) = T (
vi ) =
T (vi ) =
wi = wn+2
i=1

i=1

i=1

So it induces a projective transformation satisfying (pi ) = qi for all i.

To prove uniqueness, assume that there is another linear map T 0 : V W satisfying
the conditions of the theorem. Then for each i there exists a non-zero scalar i such that
T 0 (vi ) = i wi .
But then by linearity
n+2 wn+2 = T 0 (vn+2 ) = T 0 (

n+1
X
i=1

21

vi ) =

n+1
X
i=1

i w i

so

n+1
X

wi = wn+2 =

i=1

and we deduce that

scalar .

i
n+2

n+1
X
i
wi

n+2
i=1

= 1 for all i and thus that T 0 = T for some non-zero constant

Example 9. There is a unique projective transformation : F P 1 F P 1 sending any

ordered set of three points to any other ordered set of three points. In the context of
complex analysis, we traditionally say that a mobius transformation is determined by
where it sends 0, 1, .
Remark 2. In the proof of Theorem 2.10, we proved that for points p1 , ..., pn+2 P (V )
in general position, and given a representative vector vn+2 V such that [vn+2 ] = pn+2 ,
we may choose vectors v1 , ..., vn+1 V with [vi ] = pi for i = 1, ..., n + 1 and satisfying
n+1
X

vi = vn+2 .

i=1

This is a useful fact that we will apply repeatedly in the rest of the course.
2.4.6

The Cross-Ratio

The concept of general position enables us to understand an invariant known at least

since Pappus of Alexandria (c. 290 - c. 350), called the cross-ratio. Consider four points
~ the vector pointing from A to B.
A, B, C, D lying on a Euclidean line. We denote by AB
The cross ratio of this ordered 4-tuple of points is
~
~ BD
~
~ BC
AC
AC
/
=
,
~ BD
~
~ BC
~
AD
AD
where the ratio of vectors is meaningful because one is a scalar multiple of the other. If
a, b, c, d R, then the cross ratio is
R(A, B; C, D) :=

R(a, b; c, d) =

(a c)(b d)
.
(a d)(b c)

This extends to 4-tuples of points on RP 1 by defining / = 1.

For homework you will prove that cross-ratio is preserved under projective transformations of the line. By Proposition 2.8, it follows that in Diagram 14 we have an equality
of cross-ratios R(A, B; C, D) = R(A0 , B 0 ; C 0 , D0 ).
We can define the cross-ratio in a different way using Theorem 2.10. For any field F
let
: L F P 1 = F {}
be the unique projective transformation sending (A) = , (B) = 0 and (C) = 1. Let
(D) = d. Then
( 1)(0 d)   d 
R(A, B; C, D) = R(, 0; 1, d) =
=
= d.
( d)(0 1)
1
22

Figure 12: The cross-ratio is preserved under projective transformations

2.5

Classical Theorems

2.5.1

Desargues Theorem

Desargues (1591-1661) a french mathematician, architect and engineer, is considered one

of the founders of projective geometry. His work was forgotten for many years, until it
was rediscovered in the 19th century during the golden age of projective geometry. The
following result is named in his honour.
First, we adopt some notation commonly used in Euclidean geometry. Given distinct
points A, B in a projective space, let AB denote the unique line passing through them
both.
Theorem 2.11 (Desargues Theorem). Let A, B, C, A0 , B 0 , C 0 be distinct points in a projective space P (V ) such that the lines AA0 , BB 0 , CC 0 are distinct and concurrent (meaning the three lines intersect at a common point). Then the three points of intersection
X := AB A0 B 0 , Y := BC B 0 C 0 and Z := AC A0 C 0 are collinear (meaning they lie
on a common line).
Proof. Let P be the common point of intersection of the three lines AA0 , BB 0 and CC 0 .
First suppose that P coincides with one of the points A, B, C, A0 , B 0 , C 0 . Without loss
of generality, let P = A. Then we have equality of the lines AB = BB 0 and AC = CC 0 ,
so it follows that X = AB A0 B 0 = B 0 , Z = AC A0 C 0 = C 0 , so B 0 C 0 = XZ must be
collinear with Y = BC B 0 C 0 and the result is proven.
Now suppose that P is distinct from A, B, C, A0 , B 0 , C 0 . Then P , A and A0 are three
distinct points lying on a projective line, so they are in general position. By Remark 2,
given a representative p V of P , we can find representative vectors a, a0 of A, A0 such
that
p = a + a0 .

23

Figure 13: Illustration of Desargues Theorem

Similarly, we have representative vectors b, b0 for B, B 0 and c, c0 for C, C 0 such that

p = b + b0 ,

p = c + c0

It follows that a + a0 = b + b0 so
x := a b = b0 a0
must represent the intersection point X = AB A0 B 0 , because x is a linear combination
of both a, b and of a0 , b0 . Similarly we get
z := b c = c0 b0

and y := c a = a0 c0

representing the intersection points Y and Z respectively.

To see that X, Y and Z are collinear, observe that
x + z + y = (a b) + (b c) + (c a) = 0
so x, y, z are linearly dependent and thus must lie in a 2-dimensional subspace of V
corresponding to a projective line.
2.5.2

Pappus Theorem

Desargues Theorem is our first example of a result that is much easier to prove using
projective geometry than using Euclidean geometry. Our next result, named after Pappus
of Alexandria (290-350) is similar.
Theorem 2.12. Let A, B, C and A0 , B 0 , C 0 be two pairs of collinear triples of distinct
points in a projective plane. Then the three points X = BC 0 B 0 C, Y := CA0 C 0 A and
Z := AB 0 A0 B are collinear.

24

Figure 14: Illustration of Pappus Theorem

Proof. Without loss of generality, we can assume that A, B, C 0 , B 0 lie in general position.
If not, then two of the three required points coincide, so the conclusion is trivial. By
Theorem 2.10, we can assume that
A = [1 : 0 : 0],

B = [0 : 1 : 0],

C 0 = [0 : 0 : 1],

B 0 = [1 : 1 : 1]

The line AB corresponds to the two dimensional vector space spanned be (1, 0, 0) and
(0, 1, 0) in F 3 , so the point C AB must have the form
C = [1 : c : 0]
for some c 6= 0 (because it is not equal to A or B). Similarly, the line B 0 C 0 corresponds
to the vector space spanned by (0, 0, 1) and (1, 1, 1) so
A0 = [1, 1, a]
for some a 6= 1.
Next compute the intersection points of lines
BC 0 = span{(0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)} = {(x0 , x1 , x2 ) | x0 = 0}
B 0 C = span{(1, 1, 1), (1, c, 0)}
so we deduce that BC 0 B 0 C is represented by (1, 1, 1) (1, c, 0) = (0, 1 c, 1).
AC 0 = span{(1, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1)} = {(x0 , x1 , x2 ) | x1 = 0}
A0 C = span{(1, 1, a), (1, c, 0)}
so we deduce that A0 C AC 0 is represented by (1, c, 0) c(1, 1, a) = (1 c, 0, ca).
AB 0 = span{(1, 0, 0), (1, 1, 1)} = {(x0 , x1 , x2 ) | x1 = x2 }
A0 B = span{(1, 1, a), (0, 1, 0)}
so we deduce that AB 0 A0 B is represented by (a 1)(0, 1, 0) + (1, 1, a) = (1, a, a).
25

Finally, we must check that the intersection points [0 : 1 c : 1], [1 c : 0 : ca] and
[1 : a : a] are collinear, which is equivalent to showing that (0, 1 c, 1), (1 c, 0, ca) and
(1, a, a) are linearly dependent. This can be accomplished by row reducing the matrix,

1
a
a
1
a
a
1c
0
ca 0 (c 1)a a
0
1c 1
0 1c
1

1
a
a
0
0
0
0 1c 1

which has rank two, so the span of the rows has dimension two and the vectors are linearly
dependent.

2.6

Duality

In this section we explore the relationship between the geometry of P (V ) and that of
P (V ) where V denotes the dual vector space. Recall that given any vector space V , the
dual vector space V is the set of linear maps from V to F
V := { : V F } = Hom(V, F ).
The dual V is naturally a vector space under the operations
(1 + 2 )(v) = 1 (v) + 2 (v)
()(v) = ((v)).
Suppose that v1 , ..., vn V is a basis. Then the dual basis 1 , ..., n V is the
unique set of linear maps satisfying i (vj ) = 1, if i = j and i (vj ) = 0 otherwise.
If T : V W is a linear map, then there is a natural linear map T : W V
(called the transpose) defined by
T (f )(v) = f (T (v)).
Although the vector spaces V and V have the same dimension, there is no natural isomorphism between them. However there is a natural correspondence between subspaces.
Definition 7. Let U V be a vector subspace. The annihilator U 0 V is defined by
U 0 := { V | (u) = 0, for all u U }.
To check that U 0 is a subspace of V , observe that if 1 , 2 U 0 and u U then
(1 1 + 2 2 )(u) = 1 1 (u) + 2 2 (u) = 0 + 0 = 0
so (1 1 + 2 2 ) U 0 , so U0 is closed under linear combinations.
Proposition 2.13. If U1 U2 V then U10 U20 .
26

Proof. This is simply because if (v) = 0 for all v U2 then necessarily (v) = 0 for all
v U1 .
We also have the following result.
Proposition 2.14. dim(U ) + dim(U 0 ) = dim(V )
Proof. Choose a basis u1 , ..., um U and extend to a basis u1 , ..., um , vm+1 , ..., vn of V .
Let 1 , ..., n be the dual basis. For a general element
=

n
X

i i V

i=1

we have (ui ) = i . Thus U 0 if and only if i = 0 for i = 1, ..., m so U 0 V is the

subspace with basis m+1 , ..., n which has dimension n m.
The following proposition justifies the term duality.
S

Proposition 2.15. There is a natural isomorphism V

= (V ) , defined by v 7 S(v)
where S(v)() = (v).
Proof. We already know that dim(V ) = dim(V ) = dim((V ) ), so (by Proposition 2.1)
it only remains to prove that S : V (V ) is injective. But if v V is non-zero, we
may extend v1 := v to a basis and then in the dual basis 1 (v1 ) = S(v1 )(1 ) = 1 6= 0 so
S(v) 6= 0. Thus ker(S) = {0} and S is injective.
Remark 3. Proposition 2.15 depends on V being finite dimensional. If V is infinite
dimensional, then S is injective but not surjective.
In practice, we tend to replace the phrase naturally isomorphic with equals and
write V = (V ) . Using this abuse of terminology, one may easily check that (U 0 )0 = U ,
so the operation of taking a subspace to its annihilator is reversible.
Proposition 2.16. Let P (V ) be a projective space of dimension n. Then there is a oneto-one correspondence between linear subspaces P (U ) P (V ) of dimension m and linear
subspaces of P (V ) of dimension n m 1 by the rule
P (U ) P (U 0 ).
We use notation P (U 0 ) = P (U )0 and call P (U )0 the dual of P (U ).
Proof. By preceding remarks there is a one-to-one correspondence
U U0
between subspaces of dimension m + 1 in V and subspaces of dimension n m in V . The
result follows immediately.
It follows from Propositions 2.13 and 2.16 that geometric statements about linear
subspaces of P (V ) translate into geometric statements about linear subspaces of P (V ).
27

Example 10. Let P (V ) be a projective plane, so P (V ) is also a projective plane. There

is a one-to-one correspondence between points in P (V ) and lines in P (V ). Similarly,
there is one-to-one correspondence between lines in P (V ) and points in P (V ).
Corollary 2.17. Let A, B be distinct points in a projective plane lying on the line L.
Then A0 , B 0 are lines intersecting at the point L0 .
Proof. If A, B L then L0 A0 and L0 B 0 , so L0 = A0 B 0 is their single point of
intersection.
Corollary 2.18. Two distinct projective planes in projective 3-space always intersect in
a line.
Proof. This statement is dual to statement two points determine a line in 3-space
(Theorem 2.3).
Duality can be used to establish dual versions of theorems. For example, simply be
exchanging points with lines and collinear with concurrent, we get the following results.
Theorem 2.19 (Dual version of Desargues Theorem = Converse of Desargues Theorem).
Let , , , 0 , 0 , 0 be distinct lines in a projective plane such that the points 0 , 0
and 0 are distinct and collinear. Then the lines joining to 0 0 , to
0 0 and 0 to 0 0 are concurrent.
Theorem 2.20 (Dual version of Pappus Theorem). Let , , and 0 , 0 , 0 be two sets
of concurrent triples of distinct lines in a projective plane. Then the three lines determined
by pairs of points 0 and 0 , 0 and 0 , 0 and 0 are concurrent.
In fact, with a little effort one can show that the statement of Pappus Theorem is
equivalent to the Dual of Pappus Theorem (see Hitchins notes for details). Thus Pappus
Theorem may be considered self-dual.
As a final result, we describe the set of lines in R2 .
Proposition 2.21. The set of lines in R2 is in one-to-one correspondence with the Mobius
strip.
Proof. The set of lines in R2 is the set of lines in RP 2 minus the line at infinity. By
duality, this is identified with RP 2 minus a single point, which is the same as a mobius
strip.

Quadrics and Conics

3.1

Affine algebraic sets

Given a set {x1 , ..., xn } of variables, a polynomial f (x1 , ..., xn ) is an expression of the form
X
f = f (x1 , ..., xn ) :=
aI x I
I

where
28

 the sum is over n-tuples of non-negative integers I = (i1 , ..., in ),

xI = xi11 ...xinn are called monomials, and
aI F are scalars called coefficients, of which all but finitely many are zero.
The degree of a monomial xI is the sum |I| = i1 + ... + in . The degree of a polynomial f
equals the largest degree of a monomial occuring with non-zero coefficient.
Example 11.

x1 x2 is a polynomial of degree one.

x2 + y + 7 is a polynomial of degree two.

xy 2 + 2x3 xyz + yz 11 is a polynomial of degree three.
A polynomial f (x1 , ..., xn ) in n variables determines a function2
f : Fn F
by simply plugging in the entries n-tuples in F n in place of the variables x1 , ..., xn .
Definition 8. Given an n variable polynomial f , the set
Zaf f (f ) := {(x1 , ..., xn ) F n | f (x1 , ..., xn ) = 0}
is called the (affine) zero set of f . More generally, if f1 , ..., fk are polynomials then
Zaf f (f1 , ..., fk ) := Zaf f (f1 ) ... Zaf f (fk )
is called the zero set of f1 , ..., fk . An affine algebraic set X F n is a set that equals
Zaf f (f1 , ..., fk ) for some set of polynomials f1 , ..., fk .
Example 12. An affine line in F 2 is defined by a single equation ax + by + c = 0, where a
and b are not both zero. Thus a line in F 2 is the zero set of a single degree one polynomial.
More generally, an affine linear subset of F n (points, lines, planes, etc.) is the zero set of
a collection of degree one polynomials.
Example 13. The graph of a one variable polynomial f (x) is defined by the equation
y = f (x), thus is equal to the algebraic set Zaf f (y f (x)).
Example 14. Any finite set of points {r1 , ..., rd } F is an algebraic set Zaf f (f ) wheref (x) =
(x r1 )(x r2 )...(x rd ).
Definition 9. An affine quadric X F n is a subset of the form X = Zaf f (f ) where f
is a single polynomial of degree 2. In the special case that X F 2 , we call X a (affine)
conic.
Example 15. Some examples of affine in R2 conics include: circles, ellipses, hyperbolas
and parabolas. The unit sphere Zaf f (x21 + ... + x2n 1) is a quadric in Rn .
2

For some fields, two different polynomials can define the same function. For example x2 + x defines
the zero function over Z2 .

29

3.2

Projective algebraic sets

What is the right notion of an algebraic set in projective geometry? We begin with a
definition.
Definition 10. A polynomial is called homogeneous if all non-zero monomials have the
same degree.
Example 16.

x y is a homogeneous polynomial of degree one.

x2 + y + 7 is a non-homogeneous polynomial.
yz 2 + 2x3 xyz is a homogeneous polynomial of degree three.
Projective algebraic sets in F P n are defined using homogeneous polynomials in n + 1
variables, which we normally denote {x0 , x1 , ..., xn }. The crucial property that makes
homogenous polynomials fit into projective geometry is the following.
Proposition 3.1. Let f (x0 , ..., xn ) be a homogeneous polynomial of degree d. Then for
any scalar F , we have
f (x0 , ..., xn ) = d f (x0 , ..., xn ).
Proof. For a monomial xI = xi00 ...xinn of degree d = |I| = i0 + ... + in , we get
(x)I = (x0 )i0 ...(xn )in = i0 +...+in xi00 ...xinn = d xI .
The same will hold true for a linear combination of monomials of degree d.
It follows from Proposition 3.1 that for a non-zero scalar, f (x0 , ..., xn ) = 0 if and
only if f (x0 , ..., xn ) = 0. This makes the following definition well-defined.
Definition 11. Let f1 , ..., fk be a set of homogeneous polynomials in the variables x0 , ..., xn .
The zero set
Z(f1 , ..., fk ) := {[x0 : ... : xn ] F P n | fi (x0 , ..., xn ) = 0 for all i=1,...k}
is a called a projective algebraic set. Notice that
Z(f1 , ..., fk ) = Z(f1 ) ... Z(fk ).
The main example we have encountered so far are linear subsets of projective space.
These are always of the form Z(l1 , ..., lk ) for some set of homogeneous linear polynomials
l1 , ..., lk .
To understand the correspondence between projective and algebraic sets we recall that
within F P n , we have a copy of the affine plane U0 := {[1 : y1 , ... : yn ] F P n }
= F n.
Under this correspondence, we have an equality
Z(f1 , ..., fk ) U0 = Zaf f (g1 , ..., gk )
where gi (x1 , ..., xn ) := f (1, x1 , ..., xn ).
30

Conversely, given an affine algebraic set we construct a projective algebraic set as

follows. Let f (x1 , .., xn ) be a non-homogeneous polynomial of degree d. By multiplying
the monomials of f by appropriate powers of x0 , we can construct a homogenous, degree d polynomial h(x0 , ..., xn ) such that h(1, x1 , ..., xn ) = f (x1 , ..., xn ). We call h the
homogenization of f .
Example 17. Here are some examples of homogenizing polynomials
g(x) = 1 x + 2x2 h(x, y) = y 2 xy + 2x2
g(x, y) = y x2 + 1 h(x, y, z) = yz x2 + z 2
g(x1 , x2 ) = x1 + x32 + 7 h(x0 , x1 , x2 ) = x20 x1 + x32 + 7x30
Now suppose that g1 , ..., gk are non-homogeneous polynomials with homogenizations
h1 , ..., hk . Then we have equality
Z(h1 , ..., hk ) = U0 Zaf f (g1 , ..., gk ).
The study of algebraic sets is called algebraic geometry. It is a very active field of research today, of which projective geometry is a small part. So far we have only considered
linear algebraic sets, where the polynomials all have order one. Our next big topic are
algebraic sets of the form Z(f ) where f is a degree two polynomial. Such algebraic sets
are called quadrics.

3.3

Bilinear and quadratic forms

Definition 12. A symmetric bilinear form B on a vector space V is a map

B :V V F
such that
B(u, v) = B(v, u), (Symmetric)
B(1 u1 + 2 u2 , v) = 1 B(u1 , v) + 2 B(u2 , v), (Linear)
Observe that by combining symmetry and linearity, a bilinear form also satisfies
B(u, 1 v1 + 2 v2 ) = 1 B(u, v1 ) + 2 B(u, v2 ).
We say that B is linear in both entries, or bilinear. We say that B is nondegenerate if
for each non-zero v V , there is a w V such that B(v, w) 6= 0.
Example 18. The standard example of a symmetric bilinear form is the dot product
n

B : R R R, B((x1 , ..., xn ), (y1 , ..., yn )) =

n
X

xi y i .

i=1

The dot product is nondegenerate because B(v, v) = |v|2 > 0 if v 6= 0.

31

Example 19. The bilinear form B : R4 R4 R defined by

B((x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 ), (y0 , y1 , y2 , y3 )) = x0 y0 + x1 y1 + x2 y2 + x3 y3
is called the Minkowski metric that measures lengths in space-time according to special
relativity. In contrast with the dot product, the equation B(v, v) = 0 has holds for some
non-trivial vectors called null-vectors. The null-vectors form a subset of R4 called the light
cone dividing those vectors satisfying B(v, v) < 0 (called time-like vectors) from those
satisfying B(v, v) > 0 (called space-like vectors).
The bilinear form is completely determined by its values on a basis.
Lemma 3.2. Let v1 , ..., vn V be a basis. For any pair of vectors u = x1 v1 + ...xn vn and
w = y1 v1 + ... + yn vn we have
B(u, w) =

n
X

xi yj B(vi , vj ).

i,j=1

This means that the bilinear form is completely determined by the n n-matrix with
entries i,j = B(vi , vj ).
Proof.
B(u, w) = B(x1 v1 + ...xn vn , w)
n
n
X
X
=
xi B(vi , w) =
xi B(vi , y1 v1 + ... + yn vn )
i=1

n X
n
X

i=1

xi yj B(vi , vj ) =

i=1 j=1

n
X

xi yj i,j

i,j=1

Lemma 3.2 provides a nice classification of bilinear forms: Given a vector space V
equipped with a basis v1 , ..., vn , then there is a one-to-one correspondence between symmetric bilinear forms B on V and symmetric n n matrices , according to the rule
B(v, w) = vT w
where v, w denote the vectors v, w expressed as column vectors and T denotes transpose,
so that vT is v as a row vector.
Proposition 3.3. The bilinear form B is non-degenerate if and only if the matrix has
non-zero determinant.
Proof. Suppose that det() is zero if and only if there exists a nonzero row vector vT such
that vT = 0 if and only if vT w = 0 for all column vectors w
if and only if there exists
v V \ {0} such that B(v, w) = 0 for all w V if and only if B is degenerate.

32

3.3.1

Quadratic forms

Given a symmetric bilinear form B : V V F , we can associate a function called a

quadratic form Q : V F by the rule Q(v) = B(v, v).
Proposition 3.4. Let V be a vector space over a field F in which 1 + 1 6= 0. Let B be a
symmetric bilinear form on V and let Q : V F be the associated quadratic form. Then
for any u, v V we have
B(u, v) = (Q(u + v) Q(u) Q(v))/2.
In particular, B is completely determined by its quadratic form Q.
Proof. Using bilinearity and symmetry, we have
Q(u+v) = B(u+v, u+v) = B(u, u)+B(u, v)+B(v, u)+B(v, v) = Q(u)+Q(v)+2B(u, v)
from which the result follows.
Remark 4. Proposition 3.4 does not hold when F is the field of two elements because
we are not allowed to divide by 2 = 0.
We can understand these relationship better using a basis. Let v1 , ..., vn for V be a
basis so B can be expressed in terms of the n n matrix . According to ...
Q(x1 v1 + ... + xn vn ) = B(x1 v1 + ... + xn vn , x1 v1 + ... + xn vn ) =

i,j xi xj

i,j

is a homogeneous quadratic polynomial.

Some examples:



a b
b c

ax2

ax2 + 2bxy + cy 2

a b d
b c e ax2 + 2bxy + cy 2 + 2dxy + 2exz + f z 2
d e f
3.3.2

Change of basis

Weve seen so far that a symmetric bilinear form B can be described using a symmetric
matrix with respect to a basis. What happens if we change the basis?
Let v1 , ..., vn and w1 , ..., wn be two different bases of V . Then we can find scalars
{Pi,j }ni,j=1 such that
X
wi =
Pi,j vj
(4)
j

The matrix P with entries Pi,j is called the change of basis matrix from w1 , ..., wn to
v1 , ..., vn .
33

Proposition 3.5. The change of basis matrix P is invertible and the inverse P 1 is the
change of basis matrix from v1 , ..., vn to w1 , ..., wn .
Proof. Let Q be the change of basis matrix from v1 , ..., vn to w1 , ..., wn . Then

vi =

n
X
j=1

Qi,j wj =

n
X

Qi,j (

j=1

n
X

Pj,k vk ) =

n X
n
n
X
X
(
Qi,j Pj,k )vk =
(QP )i,k vk
k=1 j=1

k=1

k=1

where we have used (1) for matrix multiplication. We conclude that

(
1 i=k
(QP )i,k =
0 i 6= k
and QP is the identity matrix.
Observe that P is invertible, with P 1 providing the change of matrix from w1 , ..., wn
back to v1 , ..., vn . In fact, if P 0 is an invertible matrix then it is the change of basis matrix
from v1 , ..., vn to the new basis w1 , ..., wn satisfying (4).
Proposition 3.6. Let B be a bilinear form on V , and let , 0 be symmetric matrices
representing B with respect to bases v1 , ..., vn and w1 , ..., wn respectively. Then
0 = P P T
where P is the change of basis matrix.
Proof. There are two approaches. Simply calculate:
X
X
0
Pj,l vl )
i,j
Pi,k vk ,
= B(wi , wj ) = B(
l

Pi,k Pj,l k,l =

T
Pi,k k,l Pl,j

k,l

k,l
T

= (P P )i,j
Alternatively, we can argue more conceptually as follows. Let ei denote the ith standard basis row vector. Then in terms of the basis v1 , ..., vn , wi corresponds to the row
vector ei P . Then
0
i,j
= B(wi , wj ) = (ei P )(ej P )T = ei P P T eTj = (P P T )i,j .

Our next task is to classify bilinear forms up to change of basis. First we need a
lemma.
Lemma 3.7. Let V be a vector space of dimension n equipped with a symmetric bilinear
form B. For w V define
w := {v V |B(v, w) = 0}.
Then w V is a vector space of dimension n 1.
34

Proof. Consider the map : V F , defined by (v) = B(v, w). Then is linear because
(1 v1 + 2 v2 ) = B(1 v1 + 2 v2 , w) = 1 B(v1 , w) + 2 B(v2 , w) = 1 (v1 ) + 2 (v2 )
so w is equal to the kernel of , hence it is a vector subspace. By the rank nullity
theorem,
(
n
im() = {0}

dim(w ) = dim(V ) dim(im()) =

n 1 im() = F.

Theorem 3.8. Let B be a symmetric, bilinear form on a vector space V over F = C or

F = R. Then there exists a basis v1 , ..., vn such that
B(vi , vj ) = 0

(5)

for i 6= j and such that for all i = 1, ..., n

(
0, 1
F =C
B(vi , vi )
0, 1 F = R.

(6)

I.e., there is a choice of basis so that is diagonal with diagonal entries 0, 1 if F = C

and 0, 1, 1 if F = R.
Proof. As a first step construct a basis satisfying (5) using induction on the dimension of
V . In the base case dim(V ) = 1, (5) holds vacuously.
Now suppose by induction that all n 1 dimensional symmetric bilinear forms can
be diagonalized. Let V be n dimensional. If B is trivial, then is the zero matrix with
respect to any basis (hence diagonal). If B is non-trivial then by Proposition 3.4, there
exists a vector wn V such that B(wn , wn ) = Q(wn ) 6= 0. Clearly wn 6 vn , so wn is n 1
dimensional. By induction we may choose a basis w1 , ..., wn1 wn satisfying (5) for all
i, j < n. Furthermore, for all i < n, B(wi , wn ) = 0 because wi wn . Thus w1 , ..., wn
satisfy (5).
Finally, we want to modify w1 , ..., wn to satisfy (6). Suppose that B(wi , wi ) = c F .
If c = 0, then let vi = wi . If c 6= 0 and F = C, let vi = 1c wi so that
 1 2
1
1
c
B(vi , vi ) = B( wi , wi ) =
B(wi , wi ) = = 1.
c
c
c
c
If c 6= 0 and F = R then let vi := 1 wi so
|c|

B(vi , vi ) =

c
= 1.
|c|

Corollary 3.9. Let V and B be as above and let Q(v) = B(v, v). Then
35

 If F = C then for some m n there exists a basis such that if v =

Q(v) =

m
X

Pn

i=1 zi vi

zi2

i=1

If F = R then for some p, q with p + q n there exists a basis such that

Q(v) =

p
X

zi2

i=1

p+q
X

zi2

i=p+1

Proof. Choose the basis v1 , ..., vn so that B(vi , vj ) satisfy the equations (5) and (6). Then

Q(z1 v1 +...+zn vn ) = B(z1 v1 +...+zn vn , z1 v1 +...+zn vn ) =

n
X

zi zj B(vi , vj ) =

i,j=1

n
X

zi2 B(vi , vi ),

i=1

where the B(vi , vi ) are 0, 1 or 1 as appropriate.

Exercise: Show that the numbers m, p, q occurring above are independent of the
choice of basis.
It follows that B and Q are non-degenerate if and only if m = n or m = p + q. In the
case of a real vector space, we say that B is positive definite if p = n, negative definite if
q = n and indefinite otherwise.
3.3.3

Digression on the Hessian

This discussion will not be on the test or problem sets.

An important place where symmetric bilinear forms occur in mathematics is the study
of critical points of differentiable functions. Let f (x1 , ..., xn ) be a differentiable function
and let (a1 , ..., an ) be a point at which all partial derivatives vanish:
fxi (a1 , ..., an ) =

f
|(a ,...,a ) = 0,
xi 1 n

for all i = 1, ..., n

If the the second order partials are defined and continuous then the n n-matrix H with
entries
2f
|(a ,...,a )
Hi,j = fxi xj (a1 , ..., an ) =
xj xi 1 n
is a symmetric matrix (Hi,j = Hj,i ) defining a symmetric bilinear form on the set of
tangent vectors called the Hessian. The corresponding quadratic form is equal to the
second order Taylor polynomial of the function.
The Hessian can be used to determine if f has a local maximum or minimum at
(a1 , ..., an ) (using the Second Derivative Test). Specifically, if H is non-degenerate then
f has a local maximum at (a1 ..., an ) if H is negative definite, has a local minimum if H
is positive definite, and has neither a max or min if H is neither positive nor negative
definite.
36

Similarly, there is a notion of a complex valued function of complex variables being

differentiable (also called analytic). Reasoning as above one can show that for a complexvalued function f , |f | has no local maximums where f is differentiable. This is a version
of the maximum principle.

3.4

Quadrics and conics

We now can state a coordinate independent definition of a quadric.

Definition 13. A quadric X P (V ) is a subset defined by
X = Z(B) := {[v] V |B(v, v) = 0}.
By convention, we exclude the trivial case B = 0.
Is the case P (V ) = F P n , this definition is equivalent to X = Z(f ) for some homogeneous degree two polynomial f .
We say that B and B 0 are projectively equivalent if there exists non-zero scalar
F {0} such that B = B 0 . Observe that
Z(B) = Z(B)
so projectively equivalently symmetric bilinear forms determine same quadric.
Consider now the implications of Corollary 3.9 for quadrics in a projective line. Over
the reals such a quadric has the form Z(f ) = Z(f ) where (up to a change of coordinates/linear change of variables) f equals
x2
x2 + y 2
x2 y 2
In the first case, Z(x2 ) consists of the single point [0 : 1]. In algebraic geometry, we
would say that Z(x2 ) has a root of multiplicity two at [0 : 1], but we wont define this
concept in this course. The case Z(x2 + y 2 ) is empty set because there are no solutions
with both x and y non zero. Finally Z(x2 y 2 ) = Z((x y)(x + y)) has two solutions:
[1 : 1] and [1 : 1].
These three possibilities correspond to a familiar fact about roots of quadratic polynomials 0 = ax2 + bx + c: such a polynomial can have two roots, one root, or no roots.
A consequence of Corollary 3.9 is that up to projective transformations, the number of
roots completely characterizes the quadric.
Over the complex numbers, the classification is even simpler: a quadric has the form
Z(f ) where f is one of (up to coordinate change)
x2
x2 + y 2
37

The first case Z(x2 ) is a single point of multiplicity 2, while Z(x2 +y 2 ) = Z((xiy)(x+iy))
consists of the two points [i : 1] and [i : 1]. This corresponds to the fact that over the
complex numbers 0 = ax2 + bx + c with a 6= 0 has either two distinct roots or a single
root of order two (complex polynomials in one variable can always be factored!).
We now consider the case F = R and P (V ) is a projective plane (in this case a quadric
is called a conic). We may choose coordinates so that X = Z(f ) where f is one of:
x2 ,
x2 + y 2 ,
x2 + y 2 + z 2 ,
x2 y 2 ,
x2 + y 2 z 2 ,
up to multiplication by 1 which doesnt change Z(f ) = Z(f ).
The first example
x2 = xx = 0
has the same solution set as x = 0, which is projective line {[0 : a : b]}
= RP 1 , however
this line is counted twice in a sense we wont make precise (similar two a double root of
single variable polynomial). The second example
x2 + y 2 = 0
has a single solution [0 : 0 : 1]. The third example x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 0, has no projective
solutions (remember (0, 0, 0) does not represent a projective point!). The example
x2 y 2 = (x y)(x + y)
factors as a product of linear polynomials. It follows that Z(x2 y 2 ) is a union of two
distinct lines intersecting at one point.
The last example Z(x2 + y 2 z 2 ) is (up to coordinate change) the only non-empty
and non-degenerate real conic, up to projective transformation. The apparent difference
between the affine conics: ellipses, parabolas, hyperbolas, can be understood as how the
conic relates to the line at infinity. A conic looks like an ellipse if it is disjoint form the
line at infinity, looks like parabola if it is tangent to the line at infinity, and looks like a
hyperbola if it intersects the line at infinity at two points.
To illustrate, consider what happens when we set z = 1 and treat x and y like affine
coordinates (so the equation z = 0 is the line at infinity). Then the polynomial equation
x2 + y 2 z 2 = 0 becomes x2 + y 2 1 = 0 or
x2 + y 2 = 1
which defines the unit circle in the x-y plane.

38

Now instead, set y = 1 and consider x, z as affine coordinates (so y = 0 defines the
line at infinity). Then we get the equation
x2 + 1 z 2 = 0,
or
z 2 x2 = (z x)(z + x) = 1
which is the equation of a hyperbola asymptotic to the lines x = z and x = z.
Finally, consider performing the linear change of variables z 0 = y + z. In these new
coordinates, the equation becomes
x2 + y 2 (z 0 y)2 = x2 + 2z 0 y z 02 = 0.
Passing to affine coordinates x, y by setting z 0 = 1 we get
x2 + 2y 1 = 0
or
y = x2 /2 + 1/2
which defines a parabola.
Since ellipses, hyperbolas, and parabolas can all be obtained by intersecting an affine
plane with the cone in R3 defined by x2 + y 2 z 2 , they are sometimes called conic
sections.

Figure 15: Conic sections

In case F = C then the possible conics is even more restricted. Up to change of

coordinates, the possible quadratics in the complex projective plane are defined by the
quadratic polynomial equations
x2 = 0,
x2 + y 2 = 0,
39

 x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 0.
The equation x2 = 0 defines a projective line that is counted twice or has multiplicity
two (in a sense we wont make precise). The equation
x2 + y 2 = (x + iy)(x iy) = 0
defines the union of two distinct lines determined by the equations x + iy = 0 and
x iy = 0. The last equation x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 0 defines the non-degenerate quadric curve.
We study what this curve looks like in the next section.

3.5

Parametrization of the conic

Theorem 3.10. Let C be a non-degenerate conic in a projective plane P (V ) over the

field F in which 2 6= 0, and let A be a point on C. Let L P (V ) be a projective line not
containing A. Then there is a bijection

:LC
such that, for X L, the points A, X, (X) are collinear.

Figure 16: Parametrization of the conic

Proof. Suppose the conic is defined by the symmetric bilinear form B. Let a V represent
the fixed point A. Because A C, we know that B(a, a) = 0. Let x V represent a
point X L. Because A 6 L, it follows that X 6= A so the vectors a, x are linearly
independent, so we can extend them to a basis a, x, y V .
The restriction of B to the span of a, x is not identically zero. If it were then the
matrix for B associated to the basis a, x, y would be of the form

0 0
0 0

40

which has determinant zero, and this is impossible because B is non-degenerate. It follows
that either B(a, x) or B(x, x) is non-zero.
An arbitrary point on the line AX has the form [a + x] for some scalars and .
Such a point lies on the conic C if and only if
B(a + x, a + x) = 2 B(a, a) + 2B(a, x) + 2 B(x, x)
= (2B(a, x) + B(x, x)) = 0
for which there are two solutions in the homogeneous coordinates and : The solution
= 0 corresponding the point A and solution to 2B(a, x) + B(x, x) = 0 corresponding
to the point represented by the vector
w := 2B(a, x)x B(x, x)a
which is non-zero because one of the coefficients 2B(a, x) or B(x, x) is non-zero.
We define the map : L C by
(X) = [w].
It remains to prove that is a bijection. We do this by proving the preimage of any
point is a paint. If Y is a point on C distinct from A, then by Theorem 2.4 there is a
unique point of intersection AY L, so 1 (Y ) = AY L.

To determine 1 (A), observe that

(X) = [2B(a, x)x B(x, x)a] = A
if and only if B(a, x) = 0, if and only if x a and X L. Since a is 2-dimensional
subspace by Lemma 3.7, P (a ) is a projective line. The intersection of lines P (a ) and
L is the unique point in L mapping to A.
In the course of proving Theorem 3.10, we proved the following result that will come
up again later.
Proposition 3.11. Let C = Z(B) be a non-degenerate conic and P C a point. The
polar of P is the unique line L such that C L = P . We call L the tangent line of C
at P .
41

Though Theorem 3.10 only says that is a bijection of sets, it is in fact an isomorphism
of algebraic varieties. In particular, this means that a real projective conic is has the
topology to a real projective line, which in turn has the topology of a circle - a fact that
weve already seen. A second consequence is that the complex projective conic is has the
topology of CP 1 which in turn has the topology of the two sphere S 2 .
3.5.1

Rational parametrization of the circle

Let us now describe a special case of the map in coordinates. Let C = Z(x2 + y 2 z 2 )
corresponding to the matrix

1 0 0
= 0 1 0 .
0 0 1
Choose A = [1 : 0 : 1] and let L = Z(x). Then points in L have the form [0 : t : 1] or
[0 : 1 : 0] and the map : L C satisfies
([0 : t : 1]) = [2B((1, 0, 1), (0, t, 1))(0, t, 1) B((0, t, 1), (0, t, 1))(1, 0, 1)]
= [2(0, t, 1) (t2 1)(1, 0, 1)]
= [(t2 + 1, 2t, t2 1)]
= [t2 1 : 2t : t2 + 1]
and
([0 : 1 : 0]) = [2B((1, 0, 1), (0, 1, 0))(0, 0, 1) B((0, 1, 0), (0, 1, 0))(1, 0, 1)]
= [0(0, 0, 1) + 1(1, 0, 1)]
= [1 : 0 : 1] = A
These formulas can be used to parametrize the circle using rational functions. For t a
real number 1 + t2 > 0 is non-zero so we can divide
[t2 1 : 2t : t2 + 1] = [

2t
t2 1
: 2
: 1]
2
t +1 t +1

and we gain a parametrization of the unit circle in affine co-ordinates

: R S1 =
2
2
Zaf f (x + y 1)
 t2 1 2t 
,

(t) = 2
t + 1 t2 + 1
that hits all points except (1, 0).
These formulas have an interesting application in the case F = Q is the field of rational
numbers (those of the form a/b where a and b are integers).
Since we have focused on the cases F = R and F = C so far, we take a moment to
discuss informally linear algebra and projective geometry over F = Q. To keep matters
simple, we concentrate on the standard dimension n vector space over Q, Qn consisting
of n-tuples of rational numbers. It is helpful geometrically to consider Qn as a subset
42

of Rn in the standard way. Elements in Qn can be added in the usual way and can be
multiplied by scalars from Q, so it makes sense to form linear combinations
1 v1 + ...k vk Qn ,
where 1 , ..., k Q and v1 , ..., vk Qn . The span of a set of vectors span(v1 , ..., vk ) Qn
is the set of all linear combinations of v1 , ..., vk . In particular, a one-dimensional subspace
of Qn is the span of a single non-zero vector. We define the projective space
QP n = P (Qn+1 )
to be the set of one dimensional subspaces in Qn+1 . Geometrically, we can regard
QP n RP n
consisting of those projective points that can be represented by [v] RP n where v Qn+1 .
Many of the results about projective geometry we have developed so far generalize
immediately to geometry in QP n (one notable exception is the classification of symmetric
bilinear forms because the proof depends on taking square roots but the square root of a
rational number is not necessarily rational!).
In particular the formulas parametrizing the circle remain valid. That is, solutions to
the equation
x2 + y 2 = z 2
for x, y, z Q must be of the form
[x : y : z] = [1 t2 : 2t : 1 + t2 ]
for some rational number t Q. If we let t = a/b where a and b are integers sharing no
common factors, then
[x : y : z] = [1 (a/b)2 : 2(a/b) : 1 + (a/b)2 ] = [b2 a2 : 2ab : b2 + a2 ].
It follows in particular that every integer solution to the equation x2 + y 2 = z 2 must have
the form
x = c(b2 a2 ),
y = c(2ab),
z = c(b2 + a2 )
for some integers a, b, c. Such solutions are called Pythagorean triples because they define
right triangles with integer side lengths. For example, a = c = 1, b = 2 determines
x = 3, y = 4, z = 5, while a = 2, b = 3, c = 1 determines x = 5, y = 8, z = 13.

43

3.6

Polars

Let B be a non-degenerate bilinear form on a vector space V . Recall that V = Hom(V, F )

is the dual vector space for V .
Lemma 3.12. The map B # : V V defined by
B # (v)(w) := B(v, w)
is an isomorphism of vector spaces
Proof. The map is linear because
B # (1 v1 + 2 v2 )(w) = B(1 v1 + 2 v2 , w)
= 1 B(v1 , w) + 2 B(v2 , w)
= 1 B # (v1 )(w) + 2 B # (v2 )(w)
so
B # (1 v1 + 2 v2 ) = 1 B # (v1 ) + 2 B # (v2 ).
Since B is non-degenerate, if v 6= 0 then there exists w V such that B # (v)(w) =
B(v, w) 6= 0. Thus ker(B # ) = 0 and B # is injective. By ... dim(V ) = dim(V ) so B #
must also be surjective and thus is an isomorphism between V and V .
Given a vector subspace U V , define
U := {v V |B(u, v) = 0, for all u V }.
We call U orthogonal or perpendicular subspace of U (relative to B).
Proposition 3.13. The isomorphism of Lemma 3.12 sends U to U 0 . In particular, for
any subspaces of V
(U ) = U
U1 U2 U2 U1
dim(U ) + dim(U ) = dim(V )
Proof.
B # (U ) = {B # (v) V |v U }
= { V |(u) = 0 for all u U }
= U 0.
The properties is inherited from Section 2.6.
The isomorphism B # determines a projective isomorphism between P (V ) with its dual
P (V )
P (V )
(7)
= P (V ).
44

Definition 14. Let B be a non-degenerate symmetric bilinear form on V and let P (U )

P (V ) be a linear subspace. We call P (U ) the polar of P (U ).
If P (V ) has dimension n and P (U ) P (V ) has dimension m then P (U ) has dimension n m 1, just like for duality.
Proposition 3.14. Let C be a non-degenerate conic in a complex projective plane P (V ).
Then
(i) Each line in the plane meets the conic in one or two points
(ii) If P C, its polar line is the unique tangent to C passing through P
(iii) If P 6 C, the polar line of P meets C in two points, and the tangents to C at these
points intersect at P .

Figure 17: Duality for conics

Proof. Let U V be the 2-dimensional subspace defining the projective line P (U ) and
let u, v U be a basis for U . A general point in P (U ) has the form [u + v] for scalars
, C not both zero. A point [u + v] lies on the conic C if
0 = B(u + v, u + v) = 2 B(u, u) + 2B(u, v) + 2 B(v, v).

(8)

We think of and as homogeneous coordinates on the projective line, so that (8) defines
the roots of a quadratic polynomial. From 3.4 we know that (8) has one or two solutions,
establishing (i). Property (ii) is a direct consequence of Proposition 3.11.
Now let [a] denote a point not lying on C, and let P (U ) denote the polar of [a]. From
the calculation above, it follows that P (U ) meets C in two distinct points [u] and [w] with
[u] 6= [w]. Because [u] lies on C we know B(u, u) = 0. Because [u] lies on the polar of [a]
we know B(u, a) = 0. It follows that for all points on the line joining [u] and [a] that
B(u, u + a) = B(u, u) + B(u, a) = 0
so the line joining [u] and [a] is the polar of [u] hence also the tangent to C at [u]. The
same argument applies to [w] and this establishes (iii).
45

Proposition 3.14 establishes a duality between circumscribed polygons and inscribed polygons for complex conics, as depicted in the real plane below.3

Figure 18: Duality for conics

3.7

Linear subspaces of quadrics and ruled surfaces

Quadrics in projective spaces P (V ) of dimension greater than 2 often contain linear spaces.
However, such a linear space can only be so big.
Proposition 3.15. Suppose that Q P (V ) is a non-degenerate quadric over field F in
which 0 6= 2. Then if some subspace P (U ) is a subset of Q, then
dim(P (U )) (dim(P (V )) 1)/2.
Proof. Because of dimension shifts, the statement is equivalent to
dim(U ) dim(V )/2
Suppose that P (U ) Q. Then for all u U , B(u, u) = 0. Furthermore, for any pair
u, u0 U we have by Proposition 3.4 that
1
B(u, u0 ) = (B(u + u0 , u + u0 ) B(u, u) B(u0 , u0 )) = 0
2
from which it follows that U U . According to Proposition 2.14 this means that
2 dim(U ) dim(U ) + dim(U ) = dim(V )

(9)

from which the conclusion follows.

3

This duality is explored in the suggested project topic Pascals Theorem, Brianchons Theorem and
duality

46

Indeed, over the complex numbers the maximum value of (9) is always realized. If n
is odd then we can factor
x20 + ... + x2n = (x0 + ix1 )(x0 ix1 ) + ... + (xn1 + ixn )(xn1 ixn )
so the non-degenerate quadric Z(x20 + ... + x2n ) in CP n contains the linear space
Z((x0 ix1 ), ..., (xn1 ixn ))
of dimension (n 1)/2.
In the real case, the maximum value of (9) is achieved when n is odd and n + 1 =
2p = 2q (we say B has split signature) . In this case,
x21 + ... + x2p x2p+1 ... x22p = (x1 + xp+1 )(x1 xp+1 ) + ... + (xp + x2p )(xp x2p )
so the quadric contains the linear subspace Z(x1 xp+1 , ..., xp x2p ).
This is best pictured in the case n = 3:
x2 + y 2 z 2 w2 = (x z)(x + z) + (y w)(y + w) = 0
passing to affine coordinates by setting w = 1 gives
x2 + y 2 = z 2 + 1
which defines a surface called a hyperboloid or cooling tower.
Indeed, the hyperboloid can be filled or ruled by a family of lines satisfying the
equations
(x z) = (y 1)
(x + z) = (y + 1)
for some homogeneous coordinates [ : ]. It can also by ruled by the family of lines
satisfying
(x z) = (y + 1)
(x + z) = (y 1)
for some homogeneous coordinates [ : ].

3.8

Pencils of quadrics and degeneration

In this section, we move beyond the study of individual quadrics to the study of families
of quadrics. The proof of the following proposition is straightforward and will be omitted.
Proposition 3.16. The set of symmetric bilinear forms on a vector space V forms a
vector space under the operation
(1 B1 + 2 B2 )(v, w) = 1 B1 (v, w) + 2 B2 (v, w).
47

Figure 19: Bi-ruled hyperboloid

Figure 20: Bi-ruled hyperboloid

48

The vector space of symmetric bilinear forms on V is denoted S 2 (V ).

Proposition 3.17. Two symmetric bilinear forms B, B 0 on a complex vector space V
define the same quadric if and only if B = B 0 for some non-zero scalar C. Consequently, the set of quadrics in P (V ) is in one-to-one correspondence with the points of
P (S 2 (V )).
Proof. The statement is immediate if dim(V ) = 1.
If dim(V ) = 2, then by choosing a basis and passing to the associated quadratic form,
the statement is equivalent to saying that a homogeneous degree two polynomial in two
variables ax2 +bxy+cy 2 is determined up to scalar multiplication by its roots. This follows
from the fact that homogeneous polynomials in two variables can always be factored over
the complex numbers (by dehomogenizing, factoring and rehomogenizing). This is the
homogeneous version of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.
For the general case, choose a basis v1 , ..., vn of V and define n n-matrices in which
0
B(vi , vj ) = i,j and B 0 (vi , vj ) = i,j
. For any pair of i, j 1, ..., n, we may restrict the
bilinear forms to the span of vi and vj . The result for two dimensional vector spaces
implies that



 0
0
i,i i,j
i,i i,j
,
=
0
0
j,i
j,j
j,i j,j
for some non-zero scalar (possibly depending on i, j). This means in particular that
0
i,j = 0 if and only if i,j
= 0.

(10)

According to Theorem 3.8, we may choose the basis v1 , ..., vn so that for some 0 p n
0
= 0
we have 1,1 = 2,2 = ... = p,p = 1 and all other entries i,j = 0 . By (10), i,j
unless (i, j) {(1, 1), (2, 2), ..., (p, p)} . If p 1 then we are done. If p 2, then for any
1 i p,

 0


1,1 0
1 0
0
. = 1,1
.
0
0 i,i
0 1
0
so = 0 with = 1,1
and thus B = B 0 .

Remark 5. Proposition 3.17 does not hold over general fields. For example, the quadratic
forms x2 + y 2 and x2 + 2y 2 are not scalar multiples of each other, but Z(x2 + y 2 ) =
Z(x2 + 2y 2 ) = over the real numbers.
Definition 15. Let B, B 0 be two linearly independent symmetric bilinear forms on a
vector space V . The pencil of quadrics generated by B and B 0 is the set of quadrics
associated to bilinear forms of the form B + B 0 , for , not both zero. For complex
V , the pencil forms a projective line in P (S 2 (V )).
Proposition 3.18. Let V be a vector space of dimension n. A pencil of quadrics contains
at most n degenerate quadrics. If F = C, then the pencil contains at least one degenerate
quadric.

49

Proof. Choose a basis for V so that B and B 0 are represented by matrices and 0 . The
bilinear for B + B 0 is degenerate if and only if the determinant det( + 0 ) equals
zero. Expanding out the expression det( + 0 ) is a degree n homogeneous polynomial
in the homogeneous variables [ : ], so it has at most n roots. Over C, such a polynomial
has at least one root by the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.
Theorem 3.19. Two non-degenerate conics in a complex projective plane intersect in at
least one and no more than four points.

Proof. First we show that all pairs of conics on the pencil intersect at the same points.
Let [v] P (V ) be an intersection point of two non-degenerate conics Z(B) and Z(B 0 ). If
B 00 := B + B 0 is a linear combination then
B 00 (v, v) = B(v, v) + B 0 (v, v) = 0 + 0 = 0
so [v] Z(B 00 ). It follows that Z(B) Z(B 0 ) Z(B 00 ) so
Z(B) Z(B 0 ) Z(B) Z(B 00 ).
If 6= 0, then the pencil determined by B and B 0 coincides with the one determinded by
B and B 00 . In particular,
B0 =

1
(B + B 0 ) B = B 00 B

so arguing conversely, we get

Z(B) Z(B 0 ) = Z(B) Z(B 00 ).

(11)

By Proposition 3.18 we know that Z(B 00 ) is degenerate for some choice [ : ], so we

are reduced to counting the intersection points between degenerate and a non-degenerate
conic. From 3.4 we know that degenerate conics can either be a line or a union of two
lines. By Proposition 3.14 it follows that
Z(B) Z(B 00 ) = Z(B) Z(B 0 )
consists of between one and four points.
50

Corollary 3.20. Two conics in a complex projective plane have between one and four
tangent lines in common.
Proof. Follows from Theorem 3.19 by duality (see Proposition ??).

Remark 6. With an appropriate notion of multiplicity, Theorem 3.19 (resp. Corollary

3.20) can be improved to say there are exactly four intersection points (resp. common
tangents) counted with multiplicity.
Using equation (11), we are able to produce pairs on non-degenerate conics realizing
all possible intersections 1 to 4.
For example, consider the affine circle defined by the equation (x 1)2 + y 2 1 = 0.
This circle intersects the y-axis at one point, and so it intersects the degenerate conic
defined be x2 = 0 exactly once. Homogenize to get polynomials
f (x, y, z) := (x z)2 + y 2 z 2 = x2 2xz + y 2
and x2 . I claim that the quadrics Z(f ) and Z(x2 ) have only one intersection point over
the complex numbers. To see this, observe that Z(x2 ) = {[0 : a : b] | [a : b] CP 1 } and
that f (0, a, b) = (0 b)2 + a2 b2 = a2 vanishes only if [0 : a : b] = [0 : 0 : 1]. According
to (11), this means that Z(x2 + f (x, y, z)) = Z(y 2 2xz) intersects Z(f ) at the unique
point [0 : 0 : 1].
How do we interpret pencils of conics geometrically? Here is the generic answer.
Proposition 3.21. Suppose that two complex conics intersect in four points lying in
general position. Then the pencil of conics they determine consists of all conics passing
through those four points.
Proof. All conics in the pencil must contain the four intersection points by (11). It remains
to prove that the set of conics passing through four points in general position is a pencil.
Up to a projective transformation, we may assume that the four intersection points are
[1 : 0 : 0], [0 : 1 : 0], [0 : 0 : 1] and [1 : 1 : 1]. The set of quadratic forms vanishing at these
four points is
{axy + byz + cxz | a, b, c C, s.t. a + b + c = 0}
= {axy + byz + (b a)xz = ax(y z) + by(x z) | a, b C}.
51

Figure 21:

which is equal to the pencil spanned by the two (degenerate) conics Z(x(y z)) and
Z(y(x z)). This contains also a third degenerate conic Z(z(x y)).
From the above argument, we see that if two conics intersect in four points lying in
general position, then the pencil they determine contains three
degenerate conics (the
maximum allowed by Proposition 3.19), corresponding to the 42 /2 = 3 ways to contain
four points in general position in a union of two lines:

Exterior Algebras

In this chapter we will always assume that fields F satisfy 2 6= 0 and consequently that
1 6= 1.

4.1

Multilinear algebra

Definition 16. Let V be a vector space over a field F . A multilinear form of degree k
(k 1) or k-linear form is a function
M : V k = V ... V F
that is linear in each entry. That is, for each i = 1, 2, ..., k we have
M (u1 , u2 , ...., ui + u0i , ...., uk ) = M (u1 , ..., ui , ..., uk ) + M (u1 , ..., u0i , ..., uk )
for all u1 , ..., uk , u0i V and , F . The set of k-linear forms is denoted T k (V ). By
convention T 0 (V ) = F .
Weve seen many example of multilinear forms already.
A multilinear form of degree 1 is simply a linear map : V F , so T 1 (V ) = V .
52

Figure 22: Degenerate Conics determining pencil, viewed in the z = 1 affine plane.

Figure 23: Degenerate Conics lying on four points in general position.

53

 Symmetric bilinear forms are multilinear forms of degree two.

If V
= F n is the set of n 1 column matrices, then given v1 , ..., vn V we may
form the n n matrix [v1 ....vn ]. The determinant
det : V ... V F,

(v1 , ...., vn ) 7 det(v1 ....vn )

is a multilinear form of degree n.

Multilinearity implies that that the form M is completely determined by its values
on on k-tuples of basis elements. If v1 , ..., vn is a basis for V , then
n
n
X
X
M(
1,j vj , ...,
k,j vj ) =
j=1

j=1

n
X

1,j1 ...k,jk M (vj1 , ..., vjk ).

(12)

j1 ,...,jk =1

There are two distinguished subsets of T k (V ). The symmetric k-linear forms S k (V )

T k (V ) possess the property that transposing any two entries does not change the value
of the form. That is, if for any u1 , ...uk V , we have
M (u1 , ..., ui , ..., uj , ..., uk ) = M (u1 , ..., uj , ..., ui , ...uk ).
In this chapter we will concentrate on what are called alternating (or skew-symmetric
or exterior) forms
k (V ) T k (V ).
A multilinear form M is called alternating if transposing two entries changes M by a
minus sign. That is, if for any u1 , ...uk V , we have
M (u1 , ..., ui , ..., uj , ..., uk ) = M (u1 , ..., uj , ..., ui , ...uk ).

(13)

Of the examples above, dual vectors are alternating because the condition is vacuous
in degree one. The determinant is alternating, because transposing columns (or rows for
that matter) changes the determinant by minus one. Symmetric bilinear forms are of
course not alternating, because transposing the entries leaves it unchanged.
A consequence of (13) is that an alternating multilinear form will vanish if two entries
are equal. From (12) it follows that there are no nonzero multilinear forms of degree k
greater than n the dimension of V . More generally, we can say
Proposition 4.1. Let V be a vector space of dimension n over a field F in
which 0 6= 2.
For k a non-negative integer, then k (V ) is a vector space of dimension nk .
Proof. Let M1 and M2 be k-linear alternating forms. The vector space structure is defined
by
(1 M1 + 2 M2 )(u1 , ..., uk ) = 1 M1 (u1 , ..., uk ) + 2 M2 (u1 , ..., uk ).

(14)

That this makes the set of k-linear forms into a vector space is a routine verification.

54

Let v1 , ..., vn V be a basis. According to (12), a k-linear form is determined by its

values on k-tuples of basis vectors
Mi1 ,...,ik := M (vi1 , ..., vik )
for vij v1 , ..., vn . The constants Mi1 ,...,ik are sometimes called structur constants. If two
indices are duplicated, then Mi1 ,...,ik = 0 and if two indices are transposed Mi1 ,...,ik changes
only by a minus sign. Thus M is completely determined by the list of scalars
(Mi1 ,...,ik | i1 < i2 < .... < ik )

(15)

n

which is a list of k scalars. Conversely, it is straightforward to show that any list of

scalars (15) defines a k-linear alternating form.
The following corollary helps establish the significance of the determinant of a matrix.
Corollary 4.2. The determinant is the only alternating n-linear form on F n , up to scalar
multiplication.
Proof. The determinant is a non-trivial element of the one-dimensional vector space nlinear alternating forms, so every other element is a scalar multiple of the determinant.

4.2

The exterior algebra

Definition 17. The kth exterior power k (V ) is the dual of the vector space of k-linear
alternating forms. Elements of k (V ) are sometimes called k-vectors.
It follows immediately from
results in the last section that 0 (V ) = F , that 1 (V ) = V


and that dim(k (V )) = nk .
Definition 18. If u1 , ...uk V , define the exterior product u1 .... uk k (V ) to be
the dual vector satisfying
(u1 .... uk )(M ) = M (u1 , ..., uk ).
That u1 ... uk is in fact an element of k (V ) is immediate from (14).
An element of k (V ) is called decomposable if it equals u1 ... uk for some choice of
vectors u1 , ..., uk . The following proposition tells us that every k-vector in k (V ) is equal
to a linear combination of decomposable k-vectors.
Proposition 4.3. Let V be a vector space with basis v1 , ..., vn . The set
S := {vi1 ... vik | 1 i1 < ... < ik n}
is a basis for k (V ).
Proof. It follows from the proof of Proposition 4.1 that the vector space of k-linear alternating forms has a basis {MI } indexed by k-subsets I {{i1 < ... < ik } | i1 , ..., ik
{1, 2, ..., n}}, defined by the condition MI (vi1 , ..., vik ) = 1 and MI (vj1 , ..., vjk ) = 0 for all
other k-tuples. The set S is simply the dual basis.
55

For example, if V has basis v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 then 2 (V ) has a basis of six 2-vectors v1 v2 ,

v1 v3 , v1 v4 , v2 v3 , v2 v4 , v3 v4 .
Consider the function (called the exterior product)
V k = V ... V k (V ),

(u1 , ..., uk ) 7 u1 ... uk .

(16)

It is a straightforward consequence of the definition that (16) is linear in each factor (i.e.
it is k-linear) and that transposing two factors introduces a minus sign. Consequently, if
ui = uj for some i 6= j, then u1 ... uk = 0.
Proposition 4.4. A set of vectors u1 , ..., uk V is linearly independent if and only if
u1 ... uk k (V ) is non-zero.
Proof. Suppose that u1 , ..., uk V are linearly dependent. Then it is possible to write
one of them as a linear combination of the others
X
ui =
j uj .
j6=i

It follows by linearity that

X
j uj ) uk
u1 ... uk = u1 ... (
j6=i

j u1 ... uj ... uk

j6=i

= 0
which equals zero because it is a sum of terms containing repeated factors.
On the other hand, if u1 , ..., uk is linearly independent, then it may be extended to a
basis of V . By Proposition 4.3, this means that u1 ... uk is part of a basis for k (V ),
so in particular it is non-zero.
Suppose that T : V V is linear transformation from V to itself. If M is a k-linear
form on V , then the pull-back T M is the k-linear form on V defined by the formula
T M (u1 , ..., uk ) = M (T (u1 ), ..., T (uk )).
If M is alternating, then T M is alternating because
T M (u1 , ..., ui , ..., uj , ..., uk ) = M (T (u1 ), ..., T (ui ), ...T (uj ), ..., T (uk ))
= M (T (u1 ), ..., T (uj ), ...T (ui ), ..., T (uk ))
= T M (u1 , ..., uj , ..., ui , ..., uk ).
The transpose of T is the linear map (abusing notation)
k T : k (V ) k (V )
that sends u1 ... uk to T (u1 ) ... T (uk ).
In the case k = n = dim(V ), we get something familiar (the following proof involves
material outside of the prerequisites and will not be tested).
56

Proposition 4.5. If dim(V ) = n and T : V V is a linear map, then n T : n (V )

n (V ) is scalar multiplication by the determinant of T .


Proof. The vector space n (V ) has dimension nn = 1, thus n T : n (V ) n (V ) must
be multiplication by some scalar (it is defined by a 1 1-matrix). Choose a basis v1 , ..., vn
is a basis of V . The linear map T determines an nn matrix [Ti,j ] with entries determined
by the formuala
n
X
T (vi ) =
Ti,j vj .
j=1

By Proposition 4.3, the vector v1 ... vn spans n (V ), and

n T (v1 ... vn ) = T (v1 ) ... T (vn )
X
X
= (
T1,j1 vj1 ) ... (
Tn,jn vjn )
j1 =1
n
X

j1 =1

T1,j1 ...Tn,jn vj1 ... vjn

j1 ,...,jn =1

To proceed further, observe that the product vj1 ... vjn equals zero if any of the indices
are repeated and equals v1 ... vn if they are all distinct. The sign is determined by
whether it takes an odd or an even number of transpositions get from the list (j1 , ..., jn ) to
the list (1, 2, ..., n), because a minus sign is introduced for each transposition. Generally, a
permutation is a list of the numbers {1, ..., n} written without repetition and we define
sign() = (1)t , where t is how many transpositions it takes to reorder to (1, ..., n).
With this notation, we have

T (v1 ... vn ) =

n
X

T1,j1 ...Tn,jn vj1 ... vjn

j1 ,...,jn =1

T1,(1) ...Tn,(n) v(1) ... v(n)

sign()T1,(1) ...Tn,(n) v1 ... vn

so n T is scalar multiplication by the scalar

for the determinant of T .

sign()T1,(1) ...Tn,(n) , which is a formula

Proposition 4.6. There exists a unique bilinear map, called the exterior product,
: k (V ) l (V ) k+l (V ),
satisfying the property that for decomposable elements, we have
(u1 ... uk ) (w1 ... wl ) = u1 ... uk w1 ... wl ,
57

(17)

Proof. By choosing a basis and applying Proposition 4.3, it is clear that bilinearity combined with (17) uniquely determines the map. It remains to show the map exists and is
independent of any choice of basis. We do this by supplying a definition of the exterior
product that is independent of any basis.
Let b l (V ) be an arbitrary element. Define a map
b : k+l (V ) k (V )
by the rule that for vectors u1 , ..., uk V ,
(b (M ))(u1 , ..., uk ) = b(M (u1 , ..., uk , , , ...)).
Observe that when k = 0, then k (V ) = 0 (V ) = F and b is simply b.
It is easy to check that b (M ) inherits multi-linearity and the alternating property
from M so ib is well-defined. Given a k (V ) and b l (V ), we define the exterior
product a b k+l (V ) by the formula
(a b)(M ) = a b (M ) 0 (V ) = F,
for all alternating (k + l)-forms M .
Example 20. Suppose we have vectors (v1 v2 ) V = 1 (V ) and (v2 v3 + v1 v3 )
2 (V ). Then the product satisfies
(v1 v2 ) (v2 v3 + v1 v3 ) =
=
=
=
=

v1 (v2 v3 + v1 v3 ) v2 (v2 v3 + v1 v3 )
v1 v2 v3 + v1 v1 v3 v2 v2 v3 + v2 v1 v3
v1 v2 v3 + v2 v1 v3
v1 v2 v3 v1 v2 v3
0

An important property of the exterior product is that it is graded commutative. Given

two decomposable elements we have
(u1 ... uk ) (w1 ... wl ) =
=
=
=
=

u1 ... uk w1 ... wl
(1)k w1 u1 ... uk w2 ... wl
(1)2k w1 w2 u1 ... uk w3 ... wl
...
(1)kl w1 w2 .... wl u1 ... uk

because moving each wj through u1 ... uk requires k transpositions. Extending this

formula by linearity gives us the third of the following list of properties
Proposition 4.7. Let a k (V ), b, b0 l (V ) and c p (V ). Then
a (b + b0 ) = a b + a b0
(a b) c = a (b c)
a b = (1)kl b a

(linearity)
(associativity)
(graded commutativity).
58

4.3

The Grassmanian and the Pl

ucker embedding

Let V be a vector space and let k be an integer, 0 k dim(V ). The Grassmanian of

k-planes in V, denoted Grk (V ), is the set of k-dimensional subspaces of V . In terms of
projective geometry, Gr1 (V ) is equal to the projective space P (V ), Gr2 (V ) is the set of
projective lines in P (V ), Gr3 (V ) is the set of planes in P (V ), etc..
A k-dimensional subspace U V , naturally determines a 1-dimensional subspace
k (U ) k (V ).
In terms of a basis u1 , ..., uk U , the k (U ) is spanned by u1 ... uk k (V ), which
we know is non-zero by Proposition 4.4.
Theorem 4.8. The map
: Grk (V ) P (k (V )),

(U ) = k (U )

is injective so we may identify Grk (V ) the subset of P (k (V )) represented by decomposable

vectors. The map is called the Pl
ucker embedding.
Proof. Suppose that U 6= W . Construct a basis of V as follows. Begin with a basis
v1 , v2 , ..., vk of U . Since U 6= W , there exists a vector vk+1 W \U , such that {v1 , ..., vk+1 }
is linearly independent (since its span has dimension strictly larger than dim(U ) = k).
Now extend to a basis v1 , ..., vn of V .
With respect to this basis (U ) is spanned by v1 ... vk , whereas (W ) is spanned
by a vector a vk+1 , for some a k1 (V ). Since every term in the expansion of a vk+1
will include a factor of vk+1 , it can not equal v1 ... vk , even up to scalar multiplication.
We conclude that (U ) 6= (W ).
It can be shown that the image of the Pl
ucker embedding is not only a set, it is
projective algebraic set in the sense of 3.2. Our next task is to describe this algebraic set
in the case k = 2 and use this to study the set of lines in projective space as a geometric
object.

4.4

Decomposability of 2-vectors

Recall that a 2-vector a 2 (V ) is called decomposable if it can be factored as a = u1 u2

for some vectors u1 , u2 2 (V ). For example
(3v1 v2 ) (v1 + v2 + v3 ) = 3v1 v2 + 3v1 v3 v2 v1 v2 v3 = 4v1 v2 + 3v1 v3 v2 v3
is decomposable. Now imagine simply being presented with the expression 4v1 v2 + 3v1
v3 v2 v3 . How can you tell that it factors?
Given any decomposable 2-vector, a = u1 u2 , we have
a a = u1 u2 u1 u2 = 0
because it contains repeated factors. It turns out that the converse of this is also true.
59

Proposition 4.9. Let V be a vector space. A 2-vector a 2 (V ) is decomposable if and

only if a a = 0.
Proof. We have already proven the only if direction.
Now suppose that a a = 0. We wish to prove that a is decomposable. We proceed
by induction on the dimension of V .
Base case: Suppose that V has dimension three (the statement is obvious for dimension less than three, because then all 2-vectors are decomposable). Consider the linear
map
A : V 3 (V ),
A(v) = a v.
Since dim(3 (V )) = 1, the kernel of A has dimension at least 3 1 = 2 by the RankNullity Theorem .... Let v1 , v2 V be two linearly independent vectors such that A(v1 ) =
A(v2 ) = 0 and extend to a basis v1 , v2 , v3 . By ..., there exist scalars such that
a = v1 v2 + v1 v3 + v2 v3 .
By construction a v1 = 0, so
0 = a v1
= v1 v2 v1 + v1 v3 v1 + v2 v3 v1
= v2 v3 v1

so we conclude that = 0. Similarly, because a v2 = 0 we conclude that = 0. It

follows that a = v1 v2 = (v1 ) v2 is decomposable.
Induction step: Let dim(V ) = n and suppose that the property holds for dimensions
less than n. Suppose a 2 (V ) satisfies a a = 0. Given an arbitrary basis v1 , ..., vn V ,
express a as a linear combination
X
a =
ai,j vi vj
1i<jn

= (

n1
X

ain vi ) vn +

i=1

ai,j vi vj

1i<jn1

= u vn + a0
where U = Span{v1 , ..., vn1 } V , u U and a0 2 (U ). Then
0 =
=
=
=

aa
(u vn + a0 ) (u vn + a0 )
u vn u vn + a0 u vn + u vn a0 + a0 a0
2a0 u vn + a0 a0

60

where in the last step we use the fact that products with repeated factors vanish and
graded commutativity of exterior multiplication. Because vn does not appear in the
expansion of a0 u or a0 a0 , they must both vanish separately and we get
a0 u = 0,

a0 a0 = 0.

Since a0 2 (U ) and dim(U ) = n1, it must be decomposable by induction, so a0 = u1 u2

for some u1 , u2 U . Subbing in we get the equation
u1 u2 u = 0,
so by Proposition 4.4, the vectors u1 , u2 , u are linearly dependent. Consequently
a = u vn + u1 u2 2 (W ).
where W is the (at most) 3-dimensional subspace spanned by u, u1 , u2 , vn , so by the base
case must a be decomposable.
Example 21. Returning to our previous example, it is immediately clear that a :=
4v1 v2 + 3v1 v3 v2 v3 is decomposable because there are only three basis vectors
v1 , v2 , v3 appearing as factors in its terms, thus every term of the product a a must
contain a repeated factor and thus must vanish, so a a = 0.

4.5

The Klein Quadric

A special case of Theorem 4.8 when k = 2 identifies Gr2 (V ), the set of lines in projective
space, with the set of points in P (2 (V )) represented by decomposable vectors. Let us
consider the implications of our algebraic characterization of decomposability (Proposition
4.9) in various dimensions of V .
If dim(V ) = 2, then 2 (V ) is one-dimensional. In this case P (V ) is itself a projective
line so it contains only a single line and P (2 (V )) is a single point.


If dim(V ) = 3, then P (V ) is a projective plane. Since dim(2 (V )) = 32 = 0, it follows
from Proposition 4.9 that every 2-vector is decomposable so Theorem 4.8 identifies the
set of lines in P (V ) with the set of points in P (2 (V )). Of course, we have already know
(2.6) that the set of lines in a projective plane P (V ) is in one-to-one correspondence
with the dual projective plane P (V ), so this result implies a natural bijection
P (2 (V ))
= P (V ).
To see where this comes from consider the wedge product
: V 2 (V ) 3 (V ).
Since the product is bilinear, 2-vectors in 2 (V ) determine linear maps form V to 3 (V ).
Since 3 (V ) is one-dimensional, there is an isomorphism 3 (V )
= F , which is uniquely
determined up to a non-zero scalar. Combining these allows us to consider 2-vectors as
defining linear maps V F which are determined up to a non-zero scalar, and this leads
to the natural bijection P (2 (V ))
= P (V ).
61

Now consider the case when dim(V ) = 4, so that P (V ) is projective 3-space. Choose
a basis v1 , ..., vn V . An arbitrary 2-vector in 2 (V ) has the form
a = x1,2 v1 v2 + x1,3 v1 v3 + x1,4 v1 v4 + x2,3 v2 v3 + x2,4 v2 v4 + x3,4 v3 v4
for some scalars xi,j which we treat as homogeneous variables for P (2 (V )). This gives
rise to a formula
a a = B(a, a)v1 v2 v3 v4
where B(a, a) is the quadratic form 2(x1,2 x3,4 x1,3 x2,4 + x1,4 x2,3 ). Combing with Proposition 4.9 we deduce the following.
Corollary 4.10. The set of lines in a three dimensional projective space P (V ), is in oneto-one correspondence with the points on a quadric X (called the Klein Quadric) lying
in the five dimensional projective space P (2 (V )). With respect to the standard basis of
2 (V ) coming from a basis v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 we have X = Z(f ) where
f = x1,2 x3,4 x1,3 x2,4 + x1,4 x2,3
Homework exercise: Prove that for dim(V ) = n 4, that the set of lines in P (V ) can
be identified with an intersection of quadrics in P (2 (V )).
In the remainder of this section we study the Klein Quadric Q. Recall from 3.7 that a
quadric in complex projective 5-space P (2 (V )) is a filled by families of projective planes.
Our next task is to characterize these planes in terms of the the geometry of lines in P (V ).
Proposition 4.11. Let L1 and L2 be two lines in a projective 3-space P (V ). Then L1
and L2 intersect if and only if they correspond to points (L1 ), (L2 ) P (2 (V )) that
are joined by a line contained in the Klein Quadric Q.
Proof. The lines L1 and L2 correspond to 2-dimensional subspaces U1 , U2 V . The lines
intersect if and only if U1 U2 contains an non-zero vector u U1 U2 .
Suppose that the lines do intersect. Then we may choose bases u1 , u U1 and u2 , u
U2 . The lines are represented by points [u1 u], [u2 u] P (2 (V )). These determine a
line represented by
u1 u + u2 u = (u1 + u2 ) u
which are all decomposable and thus are contained in Q.
Suppose that the lines do not intersect. Then U1 U2 = {0} and thus by ... U1 U2
=
V . In particular, there is a basis v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 V such that span{v1 , v2 } = U1 and
span{v3 , v4 } = U2 . The line containing (L1 ) and (L2 ) has points represented by
v1 v2 + v3 v4 ,
so
(v1 v2 + v3 v4 ) (v1 v2 + v3 v4 ) = 2v1 v2 v3 v4
is non-zero except when either or is zero, hence does not lie in Q.
62

Proposition 4.12. The set of lines passing through a fixed point X P (V ) corresponds
to a projective plane contained in the Klein Quadric Q P (2 (V )).
Proof. Let x V represent the point X P (V ), and extend to a basis x, v1 , v2 , v3 V .
Then a projective line L containing X corresponds to span{x, u} for some u = x+1 v1 +
2 v2 + 2 v2 with at least one of i non-zero. Then
(L) = [x (x + 1 v1 + 2 v2 + 2 v2 )] = [1 x v1 + 2 x v2 + 3 x v3 ],
which lies in the plane in P (2 (V ) spanned by the points [x v1 ], [x v2 ], [x v3 ]. Conversely, any point lying in this plane has form 1 x v1 + 2 x v2 + 3 x v3 and thus
corresponds to the line span{x, 1 v1 + 2 v2 + 3 v3 }.
We call a plane in the Klein Quadric of type described above an -plane. There is
another type of plane as well.
Proposition 4.13. The set of lines lying in a fixed plane P P (V ) determines a plane
in the Klein quadric Q P (2 (V )). Such a plane in Q is called a -plane.
Proof. Let [u1 ], [u2 ], [u3 ] P be three non-collinear points lying on the plane. An arbitrary
line in P is determined by a pair of points [u1 + u2 + u3 ] and [0 u1 + 0 u2 + 0 u3 ], and
maps to the point in Q
[(u1 + u2 + u3 ) (0 u1 + 0 u2 + 0 u3 )]
= [(0 0 )u1 u2 + ( 0 0 )u1 u3 + ( 0 0 )u2 u3 ]
contained in the plane determined by u1 u2 , u1 u3 and u2 u3 . Conversely, points in
P (2 (V )) of the form [1 u1 u2 + 2 u1 u3 + 3 u2 u3 ] must be decomposable, because
they are contained in 2 (span{u1 , u2 , u3 }) and 2-vectors over a 3-dimensional vector space
are always decomposable.
It is interesting to note that -planes and -planes are related by duality. A point
X P (V ) corresponds by duality to a plane X 0 P (V ). The set of lines in P (V )
containing the point X corresponds via duality to the set of lines contained in X 0 .
Proposition 4.14. Every plane contained in the Klein quadric is either an -plane or a
-plane.
Proof. Let P Q be a plane in the quadric and choose three non-collinear points in P
corresponding to three lines L1 , L2 , L3 P (V ). By Proposition 4.11, the intersections
Li Lj are non-empty. There are two cases:
Case 1: L1 L2 L3 is a point X. Then all (Li ) lie in the -plane associated to X
which must equal P .
Case 2: L1 L2 L3 is empty. Then the pairs of lines intersect three distinct points
X, Y, Z P (V ). These three points cant be collinear, because that would imply L1 =
L2 = L3 . Thus X, Y, Z determine a plane containing L1 , L2 , L3 so P must equal the
corresponding -plane.

63

Extra details

Characterization of affine algebraic sets in F 1 .

Proposition 5.1. If f (x) is a polynomial of degree n, then Zaf f (f ) consists of no more
than n points. Conversely, if X = {r1 , ..., rn } F 1 is a set of n points, then there exists
a polynomial g(x) of degree n such that X = Z(g(x)).
Proof. For the first part, we use induction on n.
Base case: If n = 1 then f (x) = ax + b for some scalars a, b F with a 6= 0. The
equation ax + b = 0 has unique solution x = b/a, so Z(f ) = {a/b} is a single point.
Induction step: Let f (x) = an xn + an1 xn1 + ... + a0 with an 6= 0. Suppose that f (x)
has at least one root r F . Then using the Long Division Algorithm we have
f (x) = (x r)h(x)
where h(x) has degree n 1. Thus f (x) = 0 if and only if x = r or h(x) = 0. By
induction, h(x) has at most n 1 roots, so f (x) has at most n roots.
Conversely, note that if
g(x) = (x r1 )(x r2 )...(x rn )
then Z(g(x)) = {r1 , ..., rn }.
Characterization of algebraic sets in F P 1 .
Proposition 5.2. If f (x, y) be a homogeneous polynomial of degree n, then Z(f ) is a set
with at most n points. Conversely, if X F P 1 is a set of n points then there exists a
degree n homogeneous polynomial g(x, y) such that X = Z(g).
Proof. Let f (x, y) = an xn + an1 xn1 y + ...a1 xy n1 + a0 y n . Then
[1 : 0] Z(f ) f (1, 0) = an = 0.
All remaining points in F P 1 have the form [t : 1], and
[t : 1] Z(f ) f (t, 1) = an tn + an1 tn1 + ... + a0 = 0.
If an 6= 0 then f (t, 1) has at most n roots. If an = 0 then f (t, 1) has no more than n 1
roots. In either case Z(f ) consists of at most n points.
Conversely, suppose that [a1 : b1 ], ...., [an : bn ] are a set of points in F P n . Then
f (x, y) = (b1 x a1 y)...(bn x an y)
vanishes if and only if [x : y] = [ai : bi ] for some i = 1, ..., n, so
Z(f ) = {[a1 : b1 ], ...., [an : bn ]}.

64

Linear sets.
Let V be a vector space with basis v1 , ..., vn V . The dual basis x1 , ..., xn V are
the linear maps xi : V F for which xj (vi ) = i,j . Equivalently, the dual basis is defined
by the property that
v = x1 (v)v1 + .... + xn (v)vn
for all v V . The general element of V is a linear combination
f (x1 , ..., xn ) = a1 x1 + .... + an xn .
It follows that V is equal to the set of homogenous polynomials of degree one for V .
Let U V be a vector subspace of dimension n. Choose a basis u1 , ..., uk U and
extend to a basis u1 , ..., uk , vk+1 , ..., vn V and let x1 , ..., xn V be the dual basis. Then
U = Zaf f (xk+1 , ..., xn ) V and P (U ) = Z(xk+1 , ..., xn ) P (V ).
If U1 and U2 are a pair of 2-dimensional subspaces of V , then there exist linear polynomials f1 and f2 such that P (U1 ) = Z(f1 ) and P (U2 ) = Z(f2 ) and thus
Z(f1 f2 ) = P (U1 ) P (U2 )
is a quadric in P (V ).

The hyperbolic plane

The material in this section is not to be tested.

Recall that the Riemann sphere
CP 1 = C {}
is a 2-dimensional sphere. The group GL2 (C) of 2 2 invertible matrices act on CP 1 by
projective transformations. Two matrices determine the same transformation if and only
if they are scalar multiples of each other.
The real projective line
RP 1 = R {}
looks like a circle, and sits inside of CP 1 as the equator (or can be understood that way).
Picture.
The subgroup of GL2 (R) GL2 (C) of real matrices sends RP 1 CP 1 to itself
(i.e. sends the equator to the equator) and acts by projective transformations. If we
restrict to the subgroup GL+
2 (R) GL2 (R) with positive determinant, the corresponding
1
transformations of CP also sends the northern hemisphere H to the northern hemisphere.
In the spirit of Kleins Erlangen program, the hyperbolic plane is defined to be H and
hyperbolic geometry is defined to be all concepts left invariant invariant by GL+
2 (R).
Hyperbolic geometry is distinguished from projective geometry in the following ways:
There is a notion of distance and area
There is a notion of angle for intersecting lines
65

 Distinct lines to not always intersect (but can intersect at most once).
Hyperbolic geometry is distinguished from Euclidean geometry in the following ways:
If L is a line and P is a point not on L, then there are many lines passing through
P that do not intersect L (multiple parallel lines).
The sum of angles in a triangle is strictly less than radians.
There are several different models of the hyperbolic plane.
1. The Poincare half plane model.
In this case we pass to affine C, where lying on the equator, the rest of the
equator passing to R C, and H passing to the upper half plane of C.

Figure 24: Poincare half plane model (blue lines and a tiling by 7-gons).

In this model, lines are represented by half circles centred on the real line, or by
vertical lines (note that distinct lines intersect at most once). Hyperbolic angles are
the same as Euclidean angles in this model.
2. The Poincare disk model.
We can also pass to affine C by choosing the south pole of CP 1 as and sending
the equator RP 1 to the unit circle and H is sent to the unit disk in C.
Hyperbolic angles are the same as Euclidean angles in this model. Lines correspond
to circular arcs that intersect the boundary at right angles, or straight lines that
bisect the disk. You can see why the angles of a triangle add to less than radians,
because triangles are bent in in this geometry.
3. The Klein disk model.
In this version, H is represented by the unit disk in R2 and lines a represented by
straight Euclidean lines.
In this model, the hyperbolic angles are not the same as Euclidean angles, but
distance has a nice interpretation. Given points P, Q in the interior of the disk, they
66

Figure 25: Poincare disk model (lines and a tiling by triangles with vertices on the boundary).

Figure 26: Klein disk model (lines and tiling by 7-gons and triangles).

67

determine a line that intersects the unit circle in two points A, B. The hyperbolic
distance of between P and Q is equal to the logarithm of the cross ratio:
1
d(P, Q) = log(R(A, B; P, Q)).
2
Below, we have an arrangement of lines depicted in the three different models:

Figure 27: Three models at once.

Recall that any three distinct points in RP 1 lie in general position

Ideas for Projects

The octonions and the Fano plane
Projective spaces over finite fields and the Fano plane
Cramers paradox
Cubic curves
Hopf Fibration
Incidence geometries and non-Desarguesian planes
68

 Elliptic curves and group laws

Symmetric bilinear forms in calculus and the Hessian
The Grassmanian and the Plucker embedding for k > 2.
Pascals Theorem, Brianchons Theorem and duality
Rational quadratic forms

69