MATH108A: MODERN

GEOMETRY

MODULE: 5
FINITE GEOMETRIES OF
FANO AND
YOUNG,PAPPUS AND
DESARGUES
CONTENT

References
Objectives Summary

Pappus and Desargues’

Fano and Young’s Finite Geometry
Finite Geometry
Objectives:
At the end of the discussion, students are expected to:

To understand the basic

01 postulates/axioms and theorems of
Fano, Young, Pappus and Desargues;

To prove and illustrate the axioms and

02 theorems of the different finite geometries;
and

03 Apply the different finite geometries in

real-life situation.
Finite Geometry

Finite Geometry is any geometric system that has only a finite number of points. It
followed the axiomatic systems in the late 1800s. It was developed while attempting to prove
the properties of consistency, independence, and completeness of an axiomatic system.

Geometers wanted models that fulfilled specific axioms. Often the models found had
finitely many points which contributed to the name of this branch of geometry.

When it is confined to a plane, all finite geometries are either projective plane geometry
(has no parallel lines) or affine plane geometry (has parallel lines).
FANO’S GEOMETRY
 Gino Fano was an Italian mathematician
whose work was mainly on projective and
algebraic geometry. Fano was a pioneer in
finite people to try to set geometry on an
abstract footing. He is best known as the

Gino Fano (1871-1952) founder of the finite geometry.

 A MODEL FOR FANO’S GEOMETRY

UNDEFINED TERMS: point , line, and incident

 FINITE GEOMETRIES

AXIOMS FOR FANO’S GEOMETRY

AXIOM 1:

AXIOM 2:
There exists at AXIOM 3:
Every line of the
least one line. AXIOM 4:
geometry has
exactly three points Not all points of the For two distinct

on it. geometry are on the points, there exists

same line. exactly one line on
both of them.

AXIOM 5:

Each two lines have at least

one point in common
The number of provable theorems in Fano’s geometry is small

THEOREM FOR FANO’S GEOMETRY

Theorem 1.7: Each two lines exactly one point in common.
Theorem 1.8: Fano's geometry consists of exactly seven
points and seven lines.
Theorem 1.7: Each two lines exactly one point in common.
Proof: By Axiom 5 we know that every two lines have at least one point in
common, so we must show that they cannot have more than one point in common.
Assume that two distinct lines have two distinct points in common. This assumption
violates Axiom 4 since these two points would then be on two distinct lines.
Theorem 1.8: Fano's geometry consists of exactly seven points and seven lines.
Proof:
Assume that there is an 8th point. By axiom 4 it must be on a line
with point 1. By axiom 5 this line must meet the line containing
points 3,4 and 7. But the line cannot meet at one of these points
otherwise axiom 4 is violated. So, the point of intersection would
have to be a fourth point on the line 347 which contradicts axiom 2.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

YOUNG’S GEOMETRY
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

John Wesley Young

Born: November 17, 1879,
Columbus, Ohio
Died: February 17, 1932,
Hanover, New Hampshire

- was a mathematics professor at Dartmouth College

and an editor, textbook author, and leader in
professional mathematics organizations

- he as an American mathematician who, with Oswald Veblen, introduced the axioms of

projective geometry, co-authored a 2-volume work on them, and proved the Veblen–
Young theorem.
- was a proponent of Euclidean geometry and held it to be substantially
"more convenient to employ" than non-Euclidean geometry.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

AXIOMS FOR YOUNG’S GEOMETRY

AXIOM 1:

AXIOM 2:
There exists at AXIOM 3:
Every line of the
least one line. AXIOM 4:
geometry has
exactly three points Not all points of the For two distinct

on it. geometry are on the points, there exists

same line. exactly one line on
both of them.

AXIOM 5:

If a point does not lie on a

given line, then there exists
exactly one line on that point
that does not intersect the
given line.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

THEOREMS OF YOUNG’S GEOMETRY

THEOREM 1:

For every point, THEOREM 2:

there is a line not For every point, THEOREM 3:

on that point. there are exactly
THEOREM 4:

four lines on Each line is parallel

that point. to exactly 2 lines
There are exactly 12
lines.

THEOREM 5:

There are exactly 9 points

 FINITE GEOMETRIES

YOUNG’S GEOMETRY
Theorem 1: For every point, there is a line not on that point

.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

YOUNG’S GEOMETRY
Theorem 2: For every point, there are exactly four lines on that point.

.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

YOUNG’S GEOMETRY

Theorem 3: Each line is parallel to exactly 2 lines

.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

YOUNG’S GEOMETRY
Theorem 4: There are exactly 12 lines.
Theorem 5: There are exactly 9 points
YOUNG’S GEOMETRY

Note:
For you to familiarize
this geometry,
always remember
that, its
representation/
model is like the
picture you see on
the left side which is
like a Rubik’s cube.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

PAPPUS’ GEOMETRY

PPT下 载 http://www.1ppt.com/xiazai/
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

Pappus of Alexandria
- Philosopher
- lived about the time of the Emperor
Theodosius the Elder [379 AD - 395 AD]
- the last of the great Greek geometers and
one of his theorems is cited as the basis of
modern projective geometry.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

AXIOMS FOR PAPPUS’ GEOMETRY

AXIOM 1:
AXIOM 2:

Every line of the AXIOM 3:

AXIOM 4:
There exists at
geometry has
least one line. Not all points of the
exactly three points There is exactly one
geometry are on the line through a point,
on it.
same line. not on a line parallel
to the given line.

AXIOM 5:
AXIOM 6:

If P is on a point not on a line,

there exists exactly one point P’ With the exception of Axiom 5, if
on the line such that no lines join P and Q are distinct points, then
P and P’. exactly one line contains both of
them.
Theorem 1.9: Theorem of Pappus

If A, B, and C are three distinct

points on one line and A’, B’, and C’
are three different distinct points on
a second line, then the intersections
of line AC’ and line CA’, line AB’
and line BA’, and line BC’ and line
If points A, B, And C are on one line and A’,
B’, and C’ are on the other line, then the CB’ are collinear.
points of intersections of the lines AB’ and
BA’, AC’ and CA’, and BC’ and CB’ lie on the
common line called the Pappus Line of the
configuration.
Theorem 1.10
Each point in the geometry of Pappus lies on exactly three lines.

Sample Proof in Euclidean Geometry

Point/Line Duality

If you have any diagram of points and lines, you can replace every
point with coordinates (a, b, c) with the line coordinates (a, b, c) and vice-
versa, and you still have a valid diagram.
If you do this in Pappus Theorem, you will get another version
of Pappus’ theorem, called the “Dual” version.
Pappus’ Theorem: Dual Formulation

A Pick any two points. Through it, draw

blue lines, green lines, and red lines.

B Find the intersection of the line

of different colors.

C Draw the lines that connect the two

blue-green crossings, green-red
crossings, and red-blue crossings.
 DESARGUES’
.
GEOMETRY
Girard Desargues
Born: February, 21, 1591 in Lylon, France
Died: September 1661

● Father of projective geometry

● French mathematician and engineer,
● One of the founders of projective geometry,founded
the Desargues' theorem and the Desargues graph
● His work centred on the theory of conic sections
and perspective.
Desargues Theorem

Two triangles are perspective from a point (the center of

perspectivity), if their vertices can be put into a one-to-one
correspondence in such a way that the center of
perspectivity is collinear with each pair of corresponding
vertices. In the picture below, the triangles ABC and A'B'C'
are perspective from the point O.
Two triangles are perspective from a line (the axis of
perspectivity), if their sides can be put into a one-to-one
correspondence in such a way that the axis of perspectivity
is concurrent with each pair of corresponding sides. In the
picture below the triangles ABC and A'B'C' are perspective
from the line l. Corresponding sides are AB and A'B', AC
and A'C', BC and B'C', and we can see that each pair of
corresponding sides are indeed concurrent with the line l .

Once we have these two theorems we can now state

Desargues theorem.

Desargues Theorem: If two triangles are perspective from a

point, they are perspective from a line, and conversely.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

AXIOMS FOR DESARGUES’ GEOMETRY

AXIOM 1:

AXIOM 2:
There exists at AXIOM 3:
Each point has at
least one point. AXIOM 4:
least one polar.
Every line has at Two distinct points
most one pole. are on at most one
. line.

AXIOM 5:

If a line does not contain a

point P, then there is a point on
both the line and any polar of
P.
 FINITE GEOMETRIES

THEOREM 1.1 THEOREM 1.2

Every line in the Every point in the

geometry of Desargues geometry of Desargues
has exactly one pole. has exactly one polar.

PROPOSITION

If P is on the polar of Q then Q is

on the polar of P.
Summary

Fano’s Geometry Pappus’ Theorem

7 points 9 points
7 lines 9 lines
FINITE
GEOMETR
Y Desargues’ Theorem
Young’s Geometry
10 points
9 points
10 lines
12 lines
References:
Biographies Alphabetical Index - MacTutor History of Mathematics https://mathshistory.st-
andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/

John Wesley Young

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Young

Lecture Notes 2 - Math 3210

http://math.ucdenver.edu/~wcherowi/courses/m3210/hg3lc2.html
The Story of Mathematics - A History of Mathematical Thought from Ancient Times to the Modern Day -
Girard Desargues’ Phenomenal Contributions To Geometry
https://www.storyofmathematics.com/girard-desargues/

Young's Geometry -- from Wolfram MathWorld

https://mathworld.wolfram.com/YoungsGeometry.html

Young's Finite Geometry

https://prezi.com/cwbezo7ix91d/youngs-finite-geometry/

The Mactutor History of Mathematics Achive is website maintained by John J. O'Connor and
Edmund F. Robertson and hosted by the University of the Andrews in Scotland . Retrived from
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Fano/

https://www.uobabylon.edu.iq/eprints/publication_11_3501_6154.pdf