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Questions tagged [incidence-geometry]

Abstract incidence geometries like projective spaces, polar spaces, generalized polygons, as well as incidence problems in the real or complex Euclidean spaces (eg. Szemerédi–Trotter theorem).

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Minimal number of intersections in a convex $n$-gon?

For a convex polygon $P$, draw all the diagonals of $P$ and consider the intersection points made by those diagonals. Let $f(n)$ be the minimal number of such intersections where $P$ ranges over all ...
Dongryul Kim's user avatar
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14 votes
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552 views

Who conjectured that a transitive projective plane is Desarguesian?

The only known finite projective plane with a transitive automorphism group is the Desarguesian plane $PG(2,q)$ and it seems likely that there are no others, although this is not (quite) proved. ...
Gordon Royle's user avatar
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10 votes
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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 ...
Anton Izosimov's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
284 views

What are $(m,n)$-pseudoplanes?

An incidence geometry is a set $P$ (the "points"), a set $L$ (the "lines"), and a relation $I\subseteq P\times L$ ("incidence"). Equivalently, a bipartite graph with the halves of the partition ...
Alex Kruckman's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
123 views

Points on $k$ Circles

Let $k$ be a fixed positive integer. We want to find the minimum number $f(k)$, such that for a set of finite points in the plane, if any $f(k)$ of them are on $k$ circles, then all of them are on $k$ ...
Morteza's user avatar
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5 votes
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119 views

What (if anything) is the connection between the Feit-Higman Theorem and the regular plane tilings?

Here are two facts that are superficially similar. Tiling Theorem: The only regular tilings of $\mathbb{R}^2$ are achieved by triangles, squares, and hexagons. Feit-Higman Theorem: The only finite ...
GMB's user avatar
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5 votes
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89 views

Lines meeting a given set in a unique point

Let $p$ be a fixed prime, and suppose that $S$ is a subset of the affine plane $\mathbb F_p^2$. If $|S|\le p+1$, then by the pigeonhole principle, through any given point $s\in S$ there is a line $L=L(...
Seva's user avatar
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4 votes
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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): $...
THC's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
102 views

Bounds on k-tuple points for intersections of hyperplanes

Suppose that $H_1$,...,$H_d$ are hyperplanes in $\mathbb P^n$ (over some field -- you can pick). For $k \geq n$, let $t_k$ denote the number of points through which there pass exactly $k$ hyperplanes....
J L's user avatar
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4 votes
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Intersection of pencils in $\mathcal{R}^2$

Consider $9n$ pencils through non-collinear points $p_1, \ldots , p_{9n}$ in $R^2$ each consisting of at most $n$ concurrent lines. Define the intersection $S$ of these pencils to be the set of points ...
Sukhada Fadnavis's user avatar
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 ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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 ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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 ...
THC's user avatar
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3 votes
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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 ...
THC's user avatar
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3 votes
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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 ...
Jeremy Dover's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
137 views

Generic linear subspaces of symmetric matrices

Let $\mathcal{S}_{n}(\mathbb{R})$ be the real vector space of symmetric $n\times n$ traceless matrices with real entries and let $L\subset \mathcal{S}_{n}(\mathbb{R})$ be a linear subspace. Noticing ...
Andy Sanders's user avatar
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2 votes
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72 views

Lexicographically largest incidence matrix

I have simple algorithmic question, but I can't find any source where this algorithm is explained in details. Let's assume that we have incidence (with 0 and 1 values) matrix of size $m\times n$. Let ...
Ihromant's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
165 views

A direct proof that every projectivity between parallel lines is affine

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\...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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 ...
Dac0's user avatar
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2 votes
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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 ...
THC's user avatar
  • 4,595
2 votes
0 answers
92 views

Segre's theorem in $3$ dimensions with a "twist"

As I understand, there is a $3$-dimensional analogue of Segre's theorem stating that the maximum size of a set in ${\bf F}_q^3$ ($q$ odd) with no three points collinear is $q^2+1$. I am trying to ...
Marcel K. Goh's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
169 views

theories where angles exist without a metric

The underlying basic question, which I'm sure I'm not the first to ask, is what are the possible exotic/nonintuitive models of Euclid's axioms/postulates, outside the one where "lines" are interpreted ...
Mircea's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
267 views

On the determinant of incidence matrices (of graphs and other geometries)

Let $\Gamma = (P,L,I)$ be a point-line geometry (here, $P$ is the point set, $L$ the line set, and $I$ is the symmetric incidence relation). (As an example, $\Gamma$ could be a graph.) I suppose $\...
THC's user avatar
  • 4,595
2 votes
0 answers
67 views

Point sets with tangents through every point

Let $D=(P,L)$ be either a $(v,k,\lambda)$-design or a near-linear space (or, more generally, any incidence structure with "points" and sets of points which are called "blocks" or "lines") and let $S \...
Felix Goldberg's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
281 views

Axiomatization of the incidence geometry of the Euclidean plane

There are several well-known axiomatizations of Euclidean plane geometry, the language of which is usually considered to include at least the relations of incidence (point-line, point-segment, or ...
user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
157 views

A relation on triplets of points in the plane

This question is a follow up of my previous one (Planar sets closed under intersection of circles, Planar sets closed under intersection of circles) and is motivated by G. Zaimi's answer https://...
Denis Serre's user avatar
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1 vote
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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 ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
129 views

The number of incidences between points and parabolas on $\mathbb{R}^2$

I was reading Adam Sheffer's book "Polynomial Methods and Incidence Theory" and I tried to solve the following exercise: Exercise 1.1 Construct a set $\mathcal{P}$ of $m$ points and a set $\...
RFZ's user avatar
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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; ...
THC's user avatar
  • 4,595
1 vote
0 answers
100 views

What can be said about a class of incidence structures closed under duals and complements?

Note that I do not work in combinatorics, and so this question might be a bit naive. The question is inspired by some structures that arise in my research within representation theory. Recall that an ...
Isle of sand's user avatar
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 ...
Display name's user avatar