scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1277123

Publication date 19 April 1999

incidence groups incidence structures embeddable into projective spaces

Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to geometry (51-02) Incidence structures embeddable into projective geometries (51A45) Kinematic spaces (51J15) Representation by near-fields and near-algebras (51J20)

Review text

An incidence group \({\mathcal I}\) is a linear space \((G,{\mathcal G})\) on a group \(G\) such that the left translations \(G \to G : x \mapsto ax\) are collineations of \((G,{\mathcal G})\). The \textit{incidence group} \({\mathcal I}\) is called two-sided, if also the right translations give rise to collineations of the underlying linear space. If any line of \({\mathcal I}\) is a subgroup of \(G\), the incidence group \({\mathcal I}\) is called fibered. A kinematic space is a two-sided fibered incidence group. This definition is due to \textit{H. Karzel} [see Sympos. Math. 11 (1971/1972), 413-439 (1973; Zbl 0284.50017)]. If an incidence group \((G,{\mathcal G})\) is a Desarguesian projective space, then \(G\) is the multiplicative group of a so-called normal nearfield [see \textit{E. Ellers} and \textit{H. Karzel}, Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamburg 25, 93-104 (1961; Zbl 0100.15801)]. In fact, the beauty of the theory of incidence groups lies in this bilateral influence between geometry and group theory. In the last three decades the investigation of incidence groups was focused on (mostly very special) subgeometries of Desarguesian projective spaces such as the real Euclidean plane, for instance. Referring to this, we will mention \textit{H. Karzel} and \textit{H. Meissner} [Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamburg 31, 69-88 (1967; Zbl 0149.38702)], \textit{I. Pieper} [ibid. 35, 121-130 (1970; Zbl 0206.49503)], \textit{L. Bröcker} [Geom. Dedicata 1, 241-268 (1973; Zbl 0249.50014)], and \textit{G. Kist} [Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamburg 44(1975), 233-248 (1976; Zbl 0317.50021)] to name a few. In the dissertation under review, the author considers incidence groups \({\mathcal I}\) whose geometric structure is an arbitrary subgeometry of some projective space \({\mathcal P}\). The most troublesome fact in this setting is that automorphisms of \({\mathcal I}\) must not necessarily extend to automorphism of the ambient projective space. Thus the author considers \(l\)-embedded incidence groups, where every left translation extends to an automorphism of \({\mathcal P}\). In the first chapter the author studies the extensibility of arbitrary automorphism of \({\mathcal I}\). In the general case he formulates two conditions each of which guarantee that a collineation of \({\mathcal I}\) can be extended. For \(l\)-embedded incidence groups \({\mathcal I}\) with an underlying Desarguesian projective space he proves that there exists a so-called incomplete algebra which can be used to describe \({\mathcal I}\). Results about fibered \(l\)-embedded incidence groups can be found in the second chapter. Under what conditions are such incidence groups two-sided or even \(l\)-\(r\)-embedded, (i.e. the right translations also extend to collineations of the projective space)? The last chapter contains conditions for an incomplete algebra to be extendable. It turns out that the most important condition for two-sided incomplete algebras is that their coordinate fields are commutative. In particular, the author solves the problem of describing two-sided Desarguesian two-slitted incidence groups in purely algebraic terms.

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