Linear algebra and projective geometry

PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICSA Series of Monographs and TextbooksEdited byPaul A. Smith and Samuel Eilenberg Columbia University, New YorkIn this book we intend to establish the essential structural identity of projective geometry and linear algebra. It has, of course, long been realized that these two disciplines are identical. The evidence substantiating this statement is contained in a number of theorems showing that certain geometrical concepts may be represented in algebraic fashion. However, it is rather difficult to locate these fundamental existence theorems in the literature in spite of their importance and great usefulness. The core of our discussion will consequently be formed by theorems of just this type. These are concerned with the representation of projective geometries by linear manifolds, of projectivities by semi-linear transformations, of collineations by linear transformations and of dualities by semi-bilinear forms. These theorems will lead us to a reconstruction of the geometry which was the starting point of our discourse within such (apparently) purely algebraic structures as the endomorphism ring of the underlying linear manifold or the full linear group.