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3 votes
0 answers
87 views

Is every finite plane with a characteristic Desarguesian?

By a projective plane I understand a mathematical structure $(X,\mathcal L)$ consisting of a set $X$ of points and a family $\mathcal L$ of subsets of $X$, called lines such that the following four ...
1 vote
1 answer
52 views

Exceptional Lenz-Barlotti classes IVa.3 and IVb.3

On this web-site, devoted to the Lenz-Barlotti classification of projective planes, it is written that the class IVa.3 (and its dual IVb.3) is somewhat exceptional, because it contains exactly one ...
1 vote
0 answers
35 views

An algebraic characterization of dual translation projective planes

It is well-known that translation projective planes are coordinatized by quasifields. More precisely, a projective plane is translation if and only if it has a ternary-ring $R$ which is linear, the ...
3 votes
0 answers
97 views

Are quadruples $abcd$ and $dcba$ always projectively equivalent in any projective plane?

It is well-known that for every line $L$ in a Pappian projective plane (i.e., a projective plane over a field) and any distinct points $a,b,c,d\in L$ the quadruples $(a,b,c,d)$ and $(d,c,b,a)$ are ...
23 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why do all incidence theorems follow from Pappus' theorem?

In Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen's ``Geometry and the Imagination," they state in the last paragraph of Chapter 20 that "Any theorems concerned solely with incidence relations in the [Euclidean projective]...
9 votes
2 answers
383 views

Does the Affine Pappus Axiom imply the Affine Desargues Axiom in affine planes?

I am interested in the affine version of the well-known Hessenberg's Theorem (saying that Pappian projective planes are Desarguesian). First I introduce all necessary definitions. Definition L. A ...
7 votes
1 answer
347 views

A corollary of the affine Desargues axiom

Definition 1. An affine plane is a pair $(X,\mathcal L)$ consisting of a set $X$ and a family $\mathcal L$ of subsets of $X$ called lines which satisfy the following axioms: Any distinct points $x,y\...
41 votes
2 answers
5k views

Projective Plane of Order 12

I asked this question on the new Theoretical Computer Science "overflow" site, and commenters suggested I ask it here. That question is here, and it contains additional links, which I doubt I can ...
0 votes
0 answers
89 views

What is $(C, D, \delta, \gamma)$ and $(C, \delta; D, \gamma)$ Desarguesian?

A projective plane is $(C, \gamma)$-Desarguesian if for any 2 triangles $A_1 B_1 C_1, A_2 B_2 C_2$ in perspective from $C$ (which means $C \in A_1 A_2, B_1 B_2, C_1 C_2$) such that $A_1 B_1 \cap A_2 ...
5 votes
1 answer
341 views

Which finite projective planes can have a symmetric incidence matrix?

As the title says. Which finite projective planes admit a symmetric incidence matrix? I am not an expert in the field at all, but I consulted with one. He claimed that $PG(2, \mathbb F_q)$ can always ...
3 votes
0 answers
37 views

Baer involutions fixing the same plane

Let $\mathbf{PG}(2,q^2)$ be the finite projective plane defined over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q^2}$. Then for each quadrangle, there is precisely one involution fixing it pointwise, and hence ...
2 votes
0 answers
56 views

Classification of Moufang planes of real dimension 16

Incidence geometry is not really area of expertise so I'm asking here: are all Moufang planes of 16 dimension already classified? I'm not just interested in the compact ones. Is there already a ...
3 votes
0 answers
40 views

Anti-flag transitive affine planes

Let $\mathcal{A}$ be an axiomatic affine plane. First let $\mathcal{A}$ be finite. Suppose that the automorphism group of $\mathcal{A}$ acts transitively on nonincident point-line pairs (that is, on ...
2 votes
0 answers
76 views

Anti-flag transitive projective planes

Let $\Gamma$ be an axiomatic projective plane, and suppose its automorphism group acts transitively on the anti-flags (the point-line pairs $(u,V)$ such that $u$ is not incident with $V$). In the ...
16 votes
3 answers
2k views

Fano plane drawings: embedding PG(2,2) into the real plane

By a drawing of the Fano plane I mean a system of seven simple curves and seven points in the real plane such that every point lies on exactly three curves, and every curve contains exactly three ...
10 votes
1 answer
516 views

Subplanes of Finite Projective Planes

If a finite projective plane $\pi_1$ of order $m$ contains, as a sub plane, a finite projective plane $\pi_2$ of order $n$, then $m \geq n^2$ with equality holding only in the case of a Baer sub plane....
4 votes
0 answers
115 views

Projective planes over algebraically closed fields

Suppose I am given a projective plane $P \cong \mathbb{P}^2(k)$ over a (commutative) field $k$. With "projective plane," I mean the point-line geometry (and not, for instance, the scheme): $...
1 vote
0 answers
124 views

Combinatorics of projective planes over commutative rings

An axiomatic projective plane is a point-line incidence structure with the following axioms: any two distinct points are collinear (via a unique line); any two distinct lines meet in a unique point; ...
10 votes
0 answers
245 views

Projective planes over non-division rings

Is there a "right" notion of a projective plane over a general (unital, non-division) ring? Let me explain what type of object I am looking for. Let $R$ be an arbitrary (not necessarily ...
3 votes
0 answers
81 views

Infinite-dimensional quasifields

In their seminal paper on translation planes (The Construction of Translation Planes from Projective Spaces, Journal of Algebra 1:85-102, 1964, https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-8693(64)90010-9), Bruck and ...
6 votes
1 answer
295 views

Does any real projective plane incidence theorem follow from axioms?

Is it known whether any projective geometry statement that holds true in the real projective plane (equivalently, can be deduced from Hilbert axioms) follows from the standard projective axiomatics? ...
2 votes
1 answer
153 views

Very symmetric quadrangle in $\Bbb CP^2$

Is there a quadrangle $Q \subset \Bbb CP^2$, namely $Q$ is a set of four points, such that every permutation of $Q$ can be realizad by an isometric projectivity of $\Bbb CP^2$? Clearly the analogous ...
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

Is the theory of incidence geometry complete?

Consider the basic axioms of planar incidence geometry, which allow us to speak of in-betweeness, collinearity and concurrency. These axioms per se are not complete, since for example, Desargues ...
7 votes
1 answer
348 views

Can one axiomatize projective lines using the cross-ratio?

I known axiomatizations of projective spaces of dimension > 2 and also of projective planes (either those obeying the axiom of Pappus, which come from fields, or those obeying the axiom of Desargues, ...
15 votes
4 answers
966 views

Synthetic projective lines

The classical synthetic notion of projective plane consists of a set of points, a set of lines, and a relation of incidence between the two, such that any two distinct points lie on a unique line and ...
9 votes
1 answer
372 views

Generalized geometries

Let $S$ be a non-empty set. A geometry of type $n$ for $n\geq 1$ on $S$ (consisting of at least $n$ elements) is a set ${\mathfrak P}\subseteq {\mathcal P}(S)$ such that all members of $\mathfrak P$ ...
6 votes
2 answers
713 views

Reference on the Veblen-Young characterization of projective spaces

Can someone point me to a modern treatment of the Veblen-Young characterization of projective spaces of dimension greater than $2$ as $P(V)$ for some vector space $V$? [Added: see here for a ...