Virtual points and separating sets in spherical circle planes (Q2381806)

A spherical circle plane \(\mathbb{K}\) consists of a system \(\mathfrak S\) of Jordan curves on the \(2\)-sphere \(S^2\) such that any three different points of \(S^2\) are incident with precisely one curve of \(\mathfrak S\). Using points of the projective space outside of \(S^2\) the authors introduce inner and outer involutions of spherical circle planes which are not automorphisms of \(\mathbb{K}\) but which allow to construct new separating sets of circles. These special sets of circles do not only separate the circles sets \(\mathfrak S\) of the spherical circle planes that they are contained in topologically, but also geometrically: given two spherical circle planes that share such a separating set, it is possible to recombine the separating set and one associated component of circles each taken from the two spherical circle planes, into the circle set of a new spherical circle plane.