Chow's theorem and projective polarities (Q1768265): Difference between revisions

Let \(V\) (resp. \(V'\)) be an \(n\)-dimensional left vector space over the division ring \(F\) (resp. \(F'\)). For any \(k\) let \(G_k(V)\) denote the Grassmannian of all \(k\)-dimensional linear subspaces of \(V\). For any \(m\)-dimensional linear subspace \(U\) of \(V\) let \(G_k(U)\) denote the \(k\)-dimensional linear subspaces of \(V\) incident to \(U\), i.e. contained in \(U\) if \(k\leq m\) and containing \(U\) if \(k>m\); similarly for \(V'\). A bijection \(f\) of \(G_k(V)\) onto \(G_k(V')\) is said to induce a bijection \(g\) of \(G_m(V)\) onto \(G_m(V')\) if \(f(G_k(U)) = G_k(g(U))\) for all \(U\in G_m(V)\). Here the author proves the following generalization of a theorem of Chow. Assume \(n \geq 3\). Let \(f\) be a bijection of \(G_k(V)\) onto \(G_k(V')\) (resp. \(G_{n-k}(V')\)) inducing a bijection of \(G_m(V)\) onto \(G_m(V')\) (resp. \(G_{n-m}(V')\)), \(m \neq k\). Then \(f\) is induced by a semilinear isomorphism \(f \to F'\) (resp. \(f\) is the restriction of a duality).