Lines in projective and affine space

491 Views Asked by At

I'm trying to understand lines in affine and projective space in order to solve problems 2.15 and 4.13 in Algebraic Curves by William Fulton: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~wfulton/CurveBook.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiI3drj-NHhAhXJxIsKHQSMC9QQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw0_YBJKOU-rk2J9pX3aCJyF

Fulton defines a line trough points $P=(a_1,...,a_n), Q=(b_1,...,b_n) \in \Bbb{A}^n$ to be {$(a_1+t(b_1-a_1),...,a_n+t(b_n-a_n))| t \in k$},

and a line trough points $P=[a_0:...:a_n], Q=[b_0,...,b_n] \in \Bbb{P}^n$ to be {$[\mu a_0+\lambda b_0:...:\mu a_n+\lambda b_n]| \mu, \lambda \in k$, not both zero}.

In particular I'm trying to show (in both the affine and projective case) that a line corresponds to a linear subvariety of dimension $m=1$, which Fulton defines to be a variety of the form $V=V(F_1,...,F_n)$ ($degF_i=1$) that can be mapped to $V(X_{m+1},...,X_n)$, i.e., to $V(X_2,...,X_n)$ (or ($V(X_1,...,X_n)$ in the projective case) by an affine/projective change of coordinates.

I.e. that any line is such a linear subvariety and vice versa. Note that I'm only familiar with the formalism presented in Fulton, so a more classical approach is preferred.