Construction of cubic curves with a node (Q2334487)

The article under consideration provides an algorithm for constructing irreducible cubic curves in the projective plane with node singularities. The input of the algorithm consists of \(\{O,V,P,Q,H,\tilde{k}\}\), where \(V\), \(P\), \(O\) and \(Q\) are four collinear real points in the projective plane such that \(V\neq O\), \(V\neq P\) and the cross-ratio between these points is not equal to \(-1\), \(\tilde{k}\) is a line that passes through \(O\), and \(H\) is a point distinct from \(O\) such that the line spanned by \(H\) and \(O\) is not equal to \(\tilde{k}\). The output of the algorithm is a cubic curve \(\sigma\) in the projective plane that has a node at \(O\). Moreover, the cubic \(\sigma\) passes through \(V\) and \(H\) and is tangent to \(\tilde{k}\) at \(O\). The author shows that for each irreducible nodal cubic curve \(\sigma\) in the projective plane, there exists a two-dimensional choice for input \(\{O,V,P,Q,H,\tilde{k}\}\) such that the output of the algorithm is exactly \(\sigma\). As an application of the algorithm the geometry of each of the following cubic curves is clarified: strophoids, trisectrix of Maclaurin, Tschirnhausen cubic and Folium of Descartes.