Three-Dimensional Projective Geometry with Geometric Algebra

Abstract

The line geometric model of 3-D projective geometry has the nice property that the Lie algebra sl(4) of 3-D projective transformations is isomorphic to the bivector algebra of CL(3,3), and line geometry is closely related to the classical screw theory for 3-D rigid-body motions. The canonical homomorphism from SL(4) to Spin(3,3) is not satisfying because it is not surjective, and the projective transformations of negative determinant do induce orthogonal transformations in the Plücker coordinate space of lines. This paper presents our contributions in developing a rigorous and convenient algebraic framework for the study of 3-D projective geometry with Clifford algebra. To overcome the unsatisfying defects of the Plücker correspondence, we propose a group Pin^{sp}(3,3) with Pin(3,3) as its normal subgroup, to quadruple-cover the group of 3-D projective transformations and polarities. We construct spinors in factored form that generate 3-D reflections and rigid-body motions, and extend screw algebra from the Lie algebra of rigid-body motions to other 6-D Lie subalgebras of sl(4), and construct the corresponding cross products and virtual works.