Projective spaces on partially ordered sets and Desargues' postulate (Q2640874)

The paper mainly concerns Desargues' Postulate in linear spaces. A linear space is considered as a partially ordered set \({\mathcal M}\) with a distinguished set E of ``point'', such that any two points have a least upper bound (a ``joining line''), and every element of \({\mathcal M}\) is such a line. There are formulated three properties, which are counterparts in the language of linear spaces, of Veblen Condition, projectivity of the space, and of Desargues' Axiom. The family of linear subspaces of \({\mathcal M}\) is a complete lattice; every linear space can be obtained from a complete lattice with a distinguished base. Then the author examines conditions which force a lattice to contain a base determining Veblen, projective, or Desarguesian linear space. It is relatively easy to characterize the first two types of lattices. Two important theorems of the paper state conditions which assure that certain families of elements of a modular algebraic lattice form bases determining a Desarguesian linear space.