Projective space

Real projective space

The 𝑛-dimensional real projective space P𝑛ℝ =P(ℝ𝑛+1) is a compact πΆπœ”-manifold extending Euclidean space such that parallel lines intersect at infinity. It is equivalently characterized as #m/def/geo/diff

Intuition

Consider lines in ℝ3 intersecting the origin. By selecting some β€œprojecting plane” above the origin, one may label almost all such lines by their unique intersection point. What remains are lines parallel to the plane, so P2ℝ ≅ℝ2 β¨ΏP2ℝ where the latter component are called the β€œpoints at infinity”

Now in the other direction, a line in the projective plane P2ℝ corresponds to a plane in ℝ3.


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