 Projective geometry formalizes one of

the central principles of perspective art:

that parallel lines meet at infinity and
therefore to be drawn that way.
 It is based on the observer’s sight.
 In ordinary analytic geometry, the
projection of a segment onto an axis is
used.
 AB is projected onto the axis by
dropping perpendiculars AA’ and BB’.
 Although the lengths of AB and A’B’ are
not the same, in general, there is a one-
to-one correspondence established by
the projection between points on the
two segments.
 Artists talk about centers of perspectivity
to show that the lines in a painting
converge at a particular point that
becomes the center of attention.
 A famous example is the painting of the
Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.
 Famous painters during the period of the
Renaissance attempted to use the
concept of perspectivity to make their
paintings look more realistic.
 For example, if you observe a
rectangular table top from a position to
one side of the table, the top no longer
looks rectangular.
 Similarly, a circle viewed from an angle
no longer looks circular.
 Projective geometry has been studied
on the basis of its invariant properties
under a group of transformations.
 The figure shows several perspectivities in
the same drawing.
 The points on l1 and l2 are perspective,
with A the center of perspectivity. The
points on l2 and l3 are perspective, with
point B the center of perspectivity, and
the points on l3 and l4 are perspective,
with point C the center of perspectivity.
 In general, the points on l1 and l4 are not
perspective. Instead, they are defined to
be projective.
 From this point of view, a projectivity is
considered a chain of perspectivities.
 DEFINITION. A projectivity is a finite
sequence of perspectivities.
 In projective geometry, the invariant
properties for a projectivity are studied.
 While it is not obvious which properties may
be preserved, it should be evident that
there is a one-to-one correspondence and
that collinear points remain collinear even
though distances and relative distances
may change.
 The first real text in projective geometry,
Traite des proprietes des figures by J. V.
Poncelet (1788 – 1867), was published in
1822.
 Other advances were made during the
nineteenth century. Karl von Staudt
showed how projective geometry could
be developed without the use of any
metrical basis for measurement.
 Felix Klein gave projective geometry the
prominent place it deserves in the
classification of geometries in his Erlanger
program of 1872.
 The set of axioms is based on the
undefined terms of point, line, and
incidence.
 The intuitive meaning of incidence is
simply the idea of lying on or containing.
Axioms for Projective Geometry
1. There exist a point and a line not
incident.
2. Every line is incident with at least three
distinct points.
3. Each two distinct points are incident
with exactly one line.
4. If A, B, C, D are four distinct points such
that AB meets CD, then AC meets BD.
Axioms for Projective Geometry
5. If ABC is a plane, there exists at least
one point not in the plane ABC.
6. Each two distinct planes have at least
two common points.
7. The three diagonal points of a complete
quadrangle cannot be collinear.
8. If a projectivity leaves invariant each of
three distinct points on a line, it leaves
invariant every point on the line.
 Axiom 1 means that the point does not
lie on the line and the line does not
contain the point.
 Axiom 2 means that every line contains
at least three distinct points, or has three
points on it.
 Axiom 3 means that two distinct points lie
on just one line.
 DEFINITION. In projective geometry, a
triangle consists of the three noncollinear
points called vertices and the three lines
(not segments) joining these vertices in
pairs.
 It is necessary in projective geometry
because the concept of line segment
involves the idea of betweenness, which
does not appear in the axioms of
projective geometry.
 DEFINITION. A complete quadrangle is a
set of four points (vertices) in a plane, no
three collinear, and the lines joining
these vertices in pairs.
 A complete quadrangle is shown in the
figure. Complete quadrangle ABCD has
three pairs of opposite sides, AB and CD,
AD and BC, and AC and BD. Note that
opposite sides will intersect.
 Opposite sides are two lines, one
determined by any two vertices and the
other determined by the remaining
vertices of a complete quadrangle. For
example, vertices A and C determine
one side, so the opposite side is the line
determined by the two remaining
vertices, B and D.
 The opposite sides of a complete
quadrangle meet by twos in three points
other than vertices (points E, F, G of the
figure).
 These three points E, F, G are the
diagonal points of the complete
quadrangle, as used in Axiom 7.
 The dotted lines in the figure are the
sides of the diagonal triangle, whose
vertices are the diagonal points.
 Many of the axioms for projective
geometry seem the same as those for
Euclidean geometry, and this is correct.
 One that is not the same, however is
Axiom 4.
 It is assumed in the drawing that the
intersection of AB and CD is not empty.
Axiom 4 guarantees as a result that the
intersection of AC and BD is not empty.
 Since AB and CD determine a unique
plane, the consequence of the axiom is
that any two lines of a plane meet in a
point.
 That is, there are no parallel lines in
projective geometry. Each pair of lines in
the plane determines a unique point.
 REMEMBER: The axioms of
projective geometry apply to
points in the projective plane
and in projective space.