Homogeneous coordinates

In mathematics, homogeneous coordinates, introduced by August Ferdinand Möbius, allow affine transformations to be easily represented by a matrix. Also they make calculations possible in projective space just as Cartesian coordinates do in Euclidean space. The homogeneous coordinates of a point of projective space of dimension n are usually written as (x : y : z : ... : w), a row vector of length n + 1, other than (0 : 0 : 0 : ... : 0). Two sets of coordinates that are proportional denote the same point of projective space: for any non-zero scalar c from the underlying field K, (cx : cy : cz : ... : cw) denotes the same point. Therefore this system of coordinates can be explained as follows: if the projective space is constructed from a vector space V of dimension n + 1, introduce coordinates in V by choosing a basis, and use these in P(V), the equivalence classes of proportional non-zero vectors in V.

Related Topics:
Mathematics - August Ferdinand Möbius - Affine transformation - Projective space - Cartesian coordinates - Euclidean space

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Taking the example of projective space of dimension three, there will be homogeneous coordinates (x : y : z : w). The plane at infinity is usually identified with the set of points with w = 0. Away from this plane we can use (x/w, y/w, z/w) as an ordinary Cartesian system; therefore the affine space complementary to the plane at infinity is coordinatised in a familiar way, with a basis corresponding to (1 : 0 : 0 : 1), (0 : 1 : 0 : 1), (0 : 0 : 1 : 1).

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If we try to intersect the two planes defined by equations x = w and x = 2w then we clearly will derive first w = 0 and then x = 0. That tells us that the intersection is contained in the plane at infinity, and consists of all points with coordinates (0 : y : z : 0). It is a line, and in fact the line joining (0 : 1 : 0 : 0) and (0 : 0 : 1 : 0). The line is given by the equation

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: (0:y:z:0) = mu (1 - lambda) (0:1:0:0) + mu lambda (0:0:1:0)

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where μ is a scaling factor. The scaling factor can be adjusted to normalize the coordinates (0 : y : z : 0), thereby eliminating one of the two degrees of freedom. The result is a set of points with only one degree of freedom, as is expected for a line.

Related Topics:
Normalize - Degrees of freedom

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