Duality (projective Geometry) - Geometric Construction of A Reciprocity

Geometric Construction of A Reciprocity

The reciprocity of PG(2,K), with K a field, given by homogeneous coordinates can also be described geometrically. This uses the model of the real projective plane which is a "unit sphere with antipodes identified", or equivalently, the model of lines and planes through the origin of the vector space K3. Associate a line through the origin with the unique plane through the origin which is perpendicular (orthogonal) to the line. When, in the model, these lines are considered to be the points and the planes the lines of the projective plane PG(2,K), this association becomes a reciprocity (actually a polarity) of the projective plane. The sphere model is obtained by intersecting the lines and planes through the origin with a unit sphere centered at the origin. The lines meet the sphere in antipodal points which must then be identified to obtain a point of the projective plane, and the planes meet the sphere in great circles which are thus the lines of the projective plane.

That this association "preserves" incidence is most easily seen from the lines and planes model. A point incident with a line in the projective plane corresponds to a line lying in a plane in the model. Applying the association, the plane becomes a line through the origin perpendicular to the plane it is associated with. This image line is perpendicular to every line of the plane which passes through the origin, in particular the original line (point of the projective plane). All lines that are perpendicular to the original line at the origin lie in the unique plane which is orthogonal to the original line, that is, the image plane under the association. Thus, the image line lies in the image plane and the association preserves incidence.