In geometry, the cross-ratio, also called the double ratio and anharmonic ratio, is a number associated with a list of four

collinear In geometry, collinearity of a set of points is the property of their lying on a single line. A set of points with this property is said to be collinear (sometimes spelled as colinear). In greater generality, the term has been used for aligned o ...

points, particularly points on a

projective line In mathematics, a projective line is, roughly speaking, the extension of a usual line by a point called a ''point at infinity''. The statement and the proof of many theorems of geometry are simplified by the resultant elimination of special cases; ...

. Given four points ''A'', ''B'', ''C'' and ''D'' on a line, their cross ratio is defined as :

(A,B;C,D) = \frac

where an orientation of the line determines the sign of each distance and the distance is measured as projected into Euclidean space. (If one of the four points is the line's point at infinity, then the two distances involving that point are dropped from the formula.) The point ''D'' is the harmonic conjugate of ''C'' with respect to ''A'' and ''B'' precisely if the cross-ratio of the quadruple is −1, called the ''harmonic ratio''. The cross-ratio can therefore be regarded as measuring the quadruple's deviation from this ratio; hence the name ''anharmonic ratio''. The cross-ratio is preserved by linear fractional transformations. It is essentially the only projective invariant of a quadruple of collinear points; this underlies its importance for

projective geometry In mathematics, projective geometry is the study of geometric properties that are invariant with respect to projective transformations. This means that, compared to elementary Euclidean geometry, projective geometry has a different setting, ...

. The cross-ratio had been defined in deep antiquity, possibly already by Euclid, and was considered by Pappus, who noted its key invariance property. It was extensively studied in the 19th century. Variants of this concept exist for a quadruple of concurrent lines on the projective plane and a quadruple of points on the Riemann sphere. In the Cayley–Klein model of

hyperbolic geometry In mathematics, hyperbolic geometry (also called Lobachevskian geometry or Bolyai–Lobachevskian geometry) is a non-Euclidean geometry. The parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry is replaced with: :For any given line ''R'' and point ''P ...

, the distance between points is expressed in terms of a certain cross-ratio.

Terminology and history

Pappus of Alexandria made implicit use of concepts equivalent to the cross-ratio in his ''Collection: Book VII''. Early users of Pappus included Isaac Newton,

Michel Chasles Michel Floréal Chasles (; 15 November 1793 – 18 December 1880) was a French mathematician. Biography He was born at Épernon in France and studied at the École Polytechnique in Paris under Siméon Denis Poisson. In the War of the Sixth Coal ...

, and

Robert Simson Robert Simson (14 October 1687 – 1 October 1768) was a Scottish mathematician and professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow. The Simson line is named after him.Lazare Carnot in 1803 with his book ''Géométrie de Position''. The term used was ''le rapport anharmonique'' (Fr: anharmonic ratio). German geometers call it ''das Doppelverhältnis'' (Ger: double ratio). Given three points on a line, a fourth point that makes the cross ratio equal to minus one is called the projective harmonic conjugate. In 1847

Carl von Staudt Karl Georg Christian von Staudt (24 January 1798 – 1 June 1867) was a German mathematician who used synthetic geometry to provide a foundation for arithmetic. Life and influence Karl was born in the Free Imperial City of Rothenburg, which is n ...

called the construction of the fourth point a throw (Wurf), and used the construction to exhibit arithmetic implicit in geometry. His Algebra of Throws provides an approach to numerical propositions, usually taken as axioms, but proven in projective geometry. The English term "cross-ratio" was introduced in 1878 by William Kingdon Clifford.

Definition

The cross-ratio of a quadruple of distinct points on the

projectively extended real line In real analysis, the projectively extended real line (also called the one-point compactification of the real line), is the extension of the set of the real numbers, \mathbb, by a point denoted . It is thus the set \mathbb\cup\ with the standar ...

with coordinates ''z''₁, ''z''₂, ''z''₃, ''z''₄ is given by :

(z_1,z_2;z_3,z_4) = \frac.

It can also be written as a "double ratio" of two division ratios of triples of points: :

(z_1,z_2;z_3,z_4) = \frac:\frac.

The cross-ratio is normally extended to the case when one of ''z''₁, ''z''₂, ''z''₃, ''z''₄ is infinity

(\infty);

this is done by removing the corresponding two differences from the formula. For example: :

(\infty,z_2;z_3,z_4) = \frac=\frac .

In the notation of

Euclidean geometry Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the '' Elements''. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms ...

, if ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', ''D'' are collinear points, their cross ratio is: :

(A,B;C,D) = \frac  ,

where each of the distances is signed according to a consistent orientation of the line. The same formulas can be applied to four different complex numbers or, more generally, to elements of any field, and can also be extended as above to the case when one of them is the symbol ∞.

Properties

The cross ratio of the four collinear points ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', ''D'' can be written as :

(A,B;C,D) = \frac :\frac

where

\frac

describes the ratio with which the point ''C'' divides the line segment ''AB'', and

\frac

describes the ratio with which the point ''D'' divides that same line segment. The cross ratio then appears as a ratio of ratios, describing how the two points ''C'', ''D'' are situated with respect to the line segment ''AB''. As long as the points ''A'', ''B'', ''C'' and ''D'' are distinct, the cross ratio (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''D'') will be a non-zero real number. We can easily deduce that * (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''D'') < 0 if and only if one of the points ''C'', ''D'' lies between the points ''A'', ''B'' and the other does not * (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''D'') = 1 / (''A'', ''B''; ''D'', ''C'') * (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''D'') = (''C'', ''D''; ''A'', ''B'') * (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''D'') ≠ (''A'', ''B''; ''C'', ''E'') ↔ ''D'' ≠ ''E''

Six cross-ratios

Four points can be ordered in ways, but there are only six ways for partitioning them into two unordered pairs. Thus, four points can have only six different cross-ratios, which are related as: :

& (A,D;C,B) = (B,C;D,A) = (C,B;A,D) = (D,A;B,C) = \frac \lambda . \end

See '' Anharmonic group'' below.

Projective geometry

The cross-ratio is a projective invariant in the sense that it is preserved by the

projective transformation In projective geometry, a homography is an isomorphism of projective spaces, induced by an isomorphism of the vector spaces from which the projective spaces derive. It is a bijection that maps lines to lines, and thus a collineation. In general, ...

s of a projective line. In particular, if four points lie on a straight line ''L'' in R² then their cross-ratio is a well-defined quantity, because any choice of the origin and even of the scale on the line will yield the same value of the cross-ratio. Furthermore, let be four distinct lines in the plane passing through the same point ''Q''. Then any line ''L'' not passing through ''Q'' intersects these lines in four distinct points ''P''_''i'' (if ''L'' is parallel to ''L''_''i'' then the corresponding intersection point is "at infinity"). It turns out that the cross-ratio of these points (taken in a fixed order) does not depend on the choice of a line ''L'', and hence it is an invariant of the 4-tuple of lines . This can be understood as follows: if ''L'' and ''L''′ are two lines not passing through ''Q'' then the perspective transformation from ''L'' to ''L''′ with the center ''Q'' is a projective transformation that takes the quadruple of points on ''L'' into the quadruple of points on ''L''′. Therefore, the invariance of the cross-ratio under projective automorphisms of the line implies (in fact, is equivalent to) the independence of the cross-ratio of the four

points on the lines from the choice of the line that contains them.

Definition in homogeneous coordinates

If four collinear points are represented in homogeneous coordinates by vectors ''a'', ''b'', ''c'', ''d'' such that and , then their cross-ratio is ''k''.

Role in non-Euclidean geometry

Arthur Cayley and

Felix Klein Christian Felix Klein (; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work with group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the associations between geometry and grou ...

found an application of the cross-ratio to

non-Euclidean geometry In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean g ...

. Given a nonsingular

conic In mathematics, a conic section, quadratic curve or conic is a curve obtained as the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a specia ...

''C'' in the real

projective plane In mathematics, a projective plane is a geometric structure that extends the concept of a plane. In the ordinary Euclidean plane, two lines typically intersect in a single point, but there are some pairs of lines (namely, parallel lines) that d ...

, its stabilizer ''G_C'' in the projective group

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

transitively on the points in the interior of ''C''. However, there is an invariant for the action of ''G_C'' on ''pairs'' of points. In fact, every such invariant is expressible as a function of the appropriate cross ratio.

Hyperbolic geometry

Explicitly, let the conic be the unit circle. For any two points ''P'', ''Q'', inside the unit circle . If the line connecting them intersects the circle in two points, ''X'' and ''Y'' and the points are, in order, . Then the hyperbolic distance between ''P'' and ''Q'' in the Cayley–Klein model of the hyperbolic plane can be expressed as :

d_h(P,Q)=\frac \left,  \log \frac \

(the factor one half is needed to make the curvature −1). Since the cross-ratio is invariant under projective transformations, it follows that the hyperbolic distance is invariant under the projective transformations that preserve the conic ''C''. Conversely, the group ''G'' acts transitively on the set of pairs of points in the unit disk at a fixed hyperbolic distance. Later, partly through the influence of Henri Poincaré, the cross ratio of four complex numbers on a circle was used for hyperbolic metrics. Being on a circle means the four points are the image of four real points under a Möbius transformation, and hence the cross ratio is a real number. The Poincaré half-plane model and Poincaré disk model are two models of hyperbolic geometry in the

complex projective line In mathematics, the Riemann sphere, named after Bernhard Riemann, is a model of the extended complex plane: the complex plane plus one point at infinity. This extended plane represents the extended complex numbers, that is, the complex numbers p ...

. These models are instances of Cayley–Klein metrics.

Anharmonic group and Klein four-group

The cross-ratio may be defined by any of these four expressions: :

(A,B;C,D) = (B,A;D,C) = (C,D;A,B) = (D,C;B,A). \,

These differ by the following permutations of the variables (in

cycle notation In mathematics, a permutation of a set is, loosely speaking, an arrangement of its members into a sequence or linear order, or if the set is already ordered, a rearrangement of its elements. The word "permutation" also refers to the act or p ...

): :

1, \ (A, B) (C, D), \ 
(A, C) (B, D), \ 
(A, D) (B, C) .

We may consider the permutations of the four variables as an

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

of the

symmetric group In abstract algebra, the symmetric group defined over any set is the group whose elements are all the bijections from the set to itself, and whose group operation is the composition of functions. In particular, the finite symmetric group ...

S₄ on functions of the four variables. Since the above four permutations leave the cross ratio unaltered, they form the stabilizer ''K'' of the cross-ratio under this action, and this induces an effective action of the quotient group

S_4/K

on the orbit of the cross-ratio. The four permutations in ''K'' make a realization of the Klein four-group in S₄, and the quotient

S_4/K

is isomorphic to the symmetric group S₃. Thus, the other permutations of the four variables alter the cross-ratio to give the following six values, which are the orbit of the six-element group

S_4/K\cong S_3

: :

(A, D; C, B) & = \frac \lambda & (A, D; B, C) & = \frac \lambda. \end

As functions of ''λ'', these are examples of Möbius transformations, which under composition of functions form the Mobius group . The six transformations form a subgroup known as the anharmonic group, again isomorphic to S₃. They are the torsion elements ( elliptic transforms) in . Namely,

\tfrac

1-\lambda\,

, and

\tfrac

are of order 2 with respective fixed points −1, 1/2, and 2 (namely, the orbit of the harmonic cross-ratio). Meanwhile, the elements

\tfrac

and

\tfrac

are of order 3 in , and each fixes both values

e^

of the "most symmetric" cross-ratio. The anharmonic group is generated by and . Its action on gives an isomorphism with S₃. It may also be realised as the six Möbius transformations mentioned, which yields a projective representation of S₃ over any field (since it is defined with integer entries), and is always faithful/injective (since no two terms differ only by 1/−1). Over the field with two elements, the projective line only has three points, so this representation is an isomorphism, and is the

exceptional isomorphism In mathematics, an exceptional isomorphism, also called an accidental isomorphism, is an isomorphism between members ''a'i'' and ''b'j'' of two families, usually infinite, of mathematical objects, that is not an example of a pattern of such is ...

\mathrm_3 \approx \mathrm(2, 2)

. In characteristic 3, this stabilizes the point

-1 = 1:1 /math>, which corresponds to the orbit of the harmonic cross-ratio being only a single point, since 2 = 1/2 = -1 . Over the field with 3 elements, the projective line has only 4 points and \mathrm_4 \approx \mathrm(2, 3), and thus the representation is exactly the stabilizer of the harmonic cross-ratio, yielding an embedding \mathrm_3 \hookrightarrow \mathrm_4 equals the stabilizer of the point -1 .

Exceptional orbits

For certain values of ''λ'' there will be greater symmetry and therefore fewer than six possible values for the cross-ratio. These values of ''λ'' correspond to fixed points of the action of S₃ on the Riemann sphere (given by the above six functions); or, equivalently, those points with a non-trivial stabilizer in this permutation group. The first set of fixed points is However, the cross-ratio can never take on these values if the points ''A'', ''B'', ''C'' and ''D'' are all distinct. These values are limit values as one pair of coordinates approach each other: :

(Z,B;Z,D) = (A,Z;C,Z) = 0

(Z,Z;C,D) = (A,B;Z,Z) = 1

(Z,B;C,Z) = (A,Z;Z,D) = \infty.

The second set of fixed points is This situation is what is classically called the , and arises in projective harmonic conjugates. In the real case, there are no other exceptional orbits. In the complex case, the most symmetric cross-ratio occurs when

\lambda = e^

. These are then the only two values of the cross-ratio, and these are acted on according to the sign of the permutation.

Transformational approach

The cross-ratio is invariant under the

s of the line. In the case of a

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

projective line, or the Riemann sphere, these transformations are known as Möbius transformations. A general Möbius transformation has the form :

f(z) = \frac\;,\quad \mbox a,b,c,d\in\mathbb \mbox ad-bc \ne 0.

These transformations form a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

acting on the Riemann sphere, the Möbius group. The projective invariance of the cross-ratio means that :

(f(z_1), f(z_2); f(z_3), f(z_4)) = (z_1, z_2; z_3, z_4).\

The cross-ratio is

real Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

if and only if the four points are either

or concyclic, reflecting the fact that every Möbius transformation maps generalized circles to generalized circles. The action of the Möbius group is

simply transitive In mathematics, a group action on a space is a group homomorphism of a given group into the group of transformations of the space. Similarly, a group action on a mathematical structure is a group homomorphism of a group into the automorphism g ...

on the set of triples of distinct points of the Riemann sphere: given any ordered triple of distinct points, , there is a unique Möbius transformation ''f''(''z'') that maps it to the triple . This transformation can be conveniently described using the cross-ratio: since must equal , which in turn equals ''f''(''z''), we obtain :

f(z)=(z, z_2; z_3, z_4) .

An alternative explanation for the invariance of the cross-ratio is based on the fact that the group of projective transformations of a line is generated by the translations, the homotheties, and the multiplicative inversion. The differences are invariant under the

translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

z \mapsto z + a

where ''a'' is a constant in the ground field ''F''. Furthermore, the division ratios are invariant under a

homothety In mathematics, a homothety (or homothecy, or homogeneous dilation) is a transformation of an affine space determined by a point ''S'' called its ''center'' and a nonzero number ''k'' called its ''ratio'', which sends point X to a point X' by th ...

z \mapsto b z

for a non-zero constant ''b'' in ''F''. Therefore, the cross-ratio is invariant under the affine transformations. In order to obtain a well-defined inversion mapping :

T : z \mapsto z^,

the affine line needs to be augmented by the point at infinity, denoted ∞, forming the projective line ''P''¹(''F''). Each affine mapping can be uniquely extended to a mapping of ''P''¹(''F'') into itself that fixes the point at infinity. The map ''T'' swaps 0 and ∞. The projective group is generated by ''T'' and the affine mappings extended to ''P''¹(''F''). In the case , the complex plane, this results in the Möbius group. Since the cross-ratio is also invariant under ''T'', it is invariant under any projective mapping of ''P''¹(''F'') into itself.

Co-ordinate description

If we write the complex points as vectors

\overrightarrow_n = Re(z_n),\Im(z_n)

and define

x_=x_n-x_m

, and let

(a,b)

be the dot product of

a

with

b

, then the real part of the cross ratio is given by: ::

C_1 = \frac

This is an invariant of the 2D

special conformal transformation In projective geometry, a special conformal transformation is a linear fractional transformation that is ''not'' an affine transformation. Thus the generation of a special conformal transformation involves use of multiplicative inversion, which ...

such as inversion

x^\mu \rightarrow \frac

. The imaginary part must make use of the 2-dimensional cross product

a\times b =,b = a_2 b_1 - a_1 b_2

C_2 = \frac

Ring homography

The concept of cross ratio only depends on the ring operations of addition, multiplication, and inversion (though inversion of a given element is not certain in a ring). One approach to cross ratio interprets it as a homography that takes three designated points to 0, 1, and infinity. Under restrictions having to do with inverses, it is possible to generate such a mapping with ring operations in the

projective line over a ring In mathematics, the projective line over a ring is an extension of the concept of projective line over a field. Given a ring ''A'' with 1, the projective line P(''A'') over ''A'' consists of points identified by projective coordinates. Let ''U ...

. The cross ratio of four points is the evaluation of this homography at the fourth point.

Differential-geometric point of view

The theory takes on a differential calculus aspect as the four points are brought into proximity. This leads to the theory of the

Schwarzian derivative In mathematics, the Schwarzian derivative is an operator similar to the derivative which is invariant under Möbius transformations. Thus, it occurs in the theory of the complex projective line, and in particular, in the theory of modular forms an ...

, and more generally of projective connections.

Higher-dimensional generalizations

The cross-ratio does not generalize in a simple manner to higher dimensions, due to other geometric properties of configurations of points, notably collinearity – configuration spaces are more complicated, and distinct ''k''-tuples of points are not in

general position In algebraic geometry and computational geometry, general position is a notion of genericity for a set of points, or other geometric objects. It means the ''general case'' situation, as opposed to some more special or coincidental cases that are ...

. While the projective linear group of the projective line is 3-transitive (any three distinct points can be mapped to any other three points), and indeed simply 3-transitive (there is a ''unique'' projective map taking any triple to another triple), with the cross ratio thus being the unique projective invariant of a set of four points, there are basic geometric invariants in higher dimension. The projective linear group of ''n''-space

\mathbf^n=\mathbf(K^)

has (''n'' + 1)² − 1 dimensions (because it is

\mathrm(n,K) = \mathbf(\mathrm(n+1,K)),

projectivization removing one dimension), but in other dimensions the projective linear group is only 2-transitive – because three collinear points must be mapped to three collinear points (which is not a restriction in the projective line) – and thus there is not a "generalized cross ratio" providing the unique invariant of ''n''² points. Collinearity is not the only geometric property of configurations of points that must be maintained – for example,

five points determine a conic In Euclidean and projective geometry, just as two (distinct) points determine a line (a degree-1 plane curve), five points determine a conic (a degree-2 plane curve). There are additional subtleties for conics that do not exist for lines, and thu ...

, but six general points do not lie on a conic, so whether any 6-tuple of points lies on a conic is also a projective invariant. One can study orbits of points in

– in the line "general position" is equivalent to being distinct, while in higher dimensions it requires geometric considerations, as discussed – but, as the above indicates, this is more complicated and less informative. However, a generalization to Riemann surfaces of positive genus exists, using the Abel–Jacobi map and theta functions.

Notes

References

* Lars Ahlfors (1953,1966,1979) ''Complex Analysis'', 1st edition, page 25; 2nd & 3rd editions, page 78, McGraw-Hill . * Viktor Blåsjö (2009)
Jakob Steiner’s Systematische Entwickelung: The Culmination of Classical Geometry
, Mathematical Intelligencer 31(1): 21–9. * John J. Milne (1911
An Elementary Treatise on Cross-Ratio Geometry with Historical Notes
Cambridge University Press. * Dirk Struik (1953) ''Lectures on Analytic and Projective Geometry'', page 7, Addison-Wesley. * I. R. Shafarevich & A. O. Remizov (2012) ''Linear Algebra and Geometry'',

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

External links

MathPages – Kevin Brown explains the cross-ratio in his article about ''Pascal's Mystic Hexagram''

Cross-Ratio
at cut-the-knot * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross-Ratio Projective geometry Ratios