Projective geometry (simplest cases)
Projective geometry contains a number of intuitively obvious statements that can be
effectively used to solve some Olympiad mathematical problems. We explore only
central projection.
Useful simplified information
Let two planes and and a point not lying in them be defined in space. To
each point of plane we assign the point of plane at which the line
intersects this plane. We want to find a one-to-one mapping of plane onto
plane using such a projection.
We are faced with the following problem. Let us construct a plane containing a
point and parallel to the plane Let us denote the line along which it intersects
the plane as No point of the line has an image in the plane Such new
points are called points at infinity.
To solve it, we turn the ordinary Euclidean plane into a projective plane. We consider
that the set of all points at infinity of each plane forms a line. This line is called the
line at infinity. The plane supplemented by such line is called the projective plane,
and the line for which the central projection is not defined is called (in Russian
tradition) the exceptional line of the transformation. We define the central projection
as follows.
Let us define two projective planes and and a point
For each point of plane we assign either:
- the point of plane at which line intersects
- or a point at infinity if line does not intersect plane
We define the inverse transformation similarly.
A mapping of a plane onto a plane is called a projective transformation if it is a
composition of central projections and affine transformations.
Properties of a projective transformation
1. A projective transformation is a one-to-one mapping of a set of points of a
projective plane, and is also a one-to-one mapping of a set of lines.
2. The inverse of a projective transformation is projective transformation. The
composition of projective transformations is a projective transformation.
3. Let two quadruples of points and be given. In each
quadruple no three points lie on the same line: Then there exists a unique projective
transformation that maps to to to to
4. There is a central projection that maps vertices of any quadrilateral to vertices of
the square.
5. There is a central projection that maps a circle to a circle, and a chosen interior
point of the first circle to the center of the second circle. This central projection maps
the polar of the chosen point to the line at infinity.
6. The relationships of segments belonging to lines parallel to the exceptional line
are the same for images and preimages.
7. The double (anharmonic) ratio for given four points on a line (or on a
circle) is a number It is the only projective invariant of a
quadruple of such points.
Contents
1 Projection of a circle into a circle
2 Butterfly theorem
3 Sharygin’s Butterfly theorem
4 Semi-inscribed circle
5 Fixed point
6 Set of lines
7 Set of lines in circle and triangle
8 Projection of any triangle into regular one
9 Some properties of an equilateral triangle
10 Invariant for points on circles
11 Two generated triangles
12 Sphere and two points
13 Projecting non-convex quadrilateral into rectangle
14 Projecting convex quadrilateral into square
15 Two lines and two points
16 Crossing lines
17 Convex quadrilateral and point
18 Theorem on doubly perspective triangles
19 Complete quadrilateral theorem
20 Medians crosspoint
21 Six segments
22 Sines of the angles of a quadrilateral
23 Triangle and line
24 Polar and point
Projection of a circle into a circle
Let a circle with diameter and a point on this diameter be
given.
Find the prospector of the central projection that maps the circle into the circle
and the point into point - the center of
Solution
Let be the center of transformation (perspector) which is located on the
perpendicular through the point to the plane containing Let
be the diameter of and plane is perpendicular to
Spheres with diameter and with diameter contain a point , so they
intersect along a circle
Therefore the circle is a stereographic projection of the circle from the point
That is, if the point lies on , there is a point on the circle along which the
be the center of
We make the central projection that maps the circle into the circle and the
point into the center of
Let's designate the images points with the same letters as the preimages points.
Chords and maps into diameters, so maps into rectangle and in
this plane is the midpoint of
The exceptional line of the transformation is perpendicular to so parallel
to
The relationships of segments belonging to lines parallel to the exceptional line are
the same for images and preimages. We're done! .