Reference frames

Cartesian frames and coordinates

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 1 / 16

 Reference frames
Cartesian frames and coordinates

Definition
Let An be a finite-dimensional affine space, with director space
dir (A) = Ln . If O ∈ An , and B = (v1 , . . . , vn ) is a basis of Ln , the pair
F = (O; B) is called a cartesian frame of reference of An , with origin at
the point O.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 1 / 16

 Reference frames
Cartesian frames and coordinates

Definition
Let An be a finite-dimensional affine space, with director space
dir (A) = Ln . If O ∈ An , and B = (v1 , . . . , vn ) is a basis of Ln , the pair
F = (O; B) is called a cartesian frame of reference of An , with origin at
the point O.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 1 / 16

Proposition
For any cartesian frame F = (O; B) of An there is a bijection

fF : An −→ Kn : P 7−→ (x1 , . . . , xn ) .

The system of scalars (x1 , . . . , xn ) is called system of cartesian coordinates

of the point P with respect to the reference frame F.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 2 / 16

Definition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of An . We say that F2 is determined with respect to F1
if one knows the coordinates of O2 with respect to F1 and the
coordinates of the vectors wj with respect to the basis B1 :

O1 O2 = p10 v1 + p20 v2 + · · · + pn0 vn

wj = p1j v1 + p2j v2 + · · · + pnj vj , j = 1, n .

The matrix
 
1 0 0 ... 0
p10 p11 p12 ... p1n   

  1 01×n
TFF12 = p20 p21 p22 ... p2n =
   

 .. .. .. .. ..   
O1 O2 B PBB12
 . . . . .  1
pn0 pn1 pn2 ... pnn

is called the transition matrix from the reference frame F1 to the

reference frame F2 .
Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 3 / 16
Proposition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of reference of the affine space An . The two transition
matrices TFF12 and TFF21 are then inverse to each other.

Proposition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of reference of the affine space An , and P ∈ An a point
of the affine space, having coordinates (xi )i=1,n and (yj )j=1,n with respect
to F1 and F2 . Then
n
X
xi = pi0 + pij yj , (∀)i = 1, n .
j=1

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 4 / 16

Proposition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of reference of the affine space An . The two transition
matrices TFF12 and TFF21 are then inverse to each other.

Proposition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of reference of the affine space An , and P ∈ An a point
of the affine space, having coordinates (xi )i=1,n and (yj )j=1,n with respect
to F1 and F2 . Then
n
X
xi = pi0 + pij yj , (∀)i = 1, n .
j=1

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 4 / 16

Remark
The equations above can be written as

[O1 P]B1 = [O1 O2 ]B1 + PBB12 · [O2 P]B2 .

Denoting X = [O1 P]B1 , Y = [O2 P]B2 , P0 = [O1 O2 ]B1 , and P = PBB12 , we

can write X = P0 + P · Y , or equivalently,
       
1 1 01×n 1 F2 1
= · = TF1 · .
X P0 P Y Y

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 5 / 16

Definition
Let F1 = (O1 ; B1 = (vi )i=1,n ) and F2 = (O2 ; B2 = (wj )j=1,n ) be two
cartesian frames of reference of the affine space An . We call F1 and F2
likewise oriented if det(TFF12 )(= det(PBB12 )) > 0. Otherwise, we say that
F1 and F2 are inverse oriented.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 6 / 16

 Affine frames and coordinates

Definition
An affine frame of reference of the finite-dimensional affine space An is
an ordered system of n + 1 affine independent points (A0 , A1 , . . . , An ).

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 7 / 16

Proposition
Let R = (A0 , A1 , . . . , An ) be an affine frame of reference of the affine
space An . For each point P ∈ An there is a unique ordered system of
scalars (α0 , α1 , . . . , αn ) ∈ Kn+1 such that α0 + α1 + · · · + αn = 1, and

P = α0 A0 + α1 A1 + · · · + αn An .

The system of scalars (α0 , α1 , . . . , αn ) is called affine coordinates system

of the point P or baricentric coordinates system of P with respect to the
affine frame R.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 8 / 16

Remark
There is a bijection between the set of all cartesian frames of reference
and the set of all affine frames of reference of a finite-dimensional affine
space.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 9 / 16

Proposition
Let A, B be two different points of an affine line A1 . For any point
P ∈ A1 \ {B} there is then a unique scalar k ∈ K such that

AP = k · PB .

Definition
The scalar k ∈ K such that AP = k · PB is called the ratio in which the
point P divides the bipoint (A, B) and is denoted (A, B|P).

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 10 / 16

Proposition
Let A, B be two different points of an affine line A1 . For any point
P ∈ A1 \ {B} there is then a unique scalar k ∈ K such that

AP = k · PB .

Definition
The scalar k ∈ K such that AP = k · PB is called the ratio in which the
point P divides the bipoint (A, B) and is denoted (A, B|P).

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 10 / 16

Remark
If A1 is a real affine line, and (A, B) an affine frame of reference on A1 ,
the bijection
R 3 x 7−→ P = (1 − x)A + xB ∈ A1
induces an order relation on A1 : We say that P1 (x1 ) precedes P2 (x2 ) if
x1 < x2 .
x
For P(x) ∈ A1 \ {B} one finds that k(x) = (A, B|P(x)) = 1−x . The
point P(x) lies then between A and B if and only if k(x) > 0.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 11 / 16

Proposition
Let R = (A0 , A1 , . . . , An ) be an affine frame of reference of the affine
space An , and P ∈ An \ {A1 , . . . , An }. Then there is a unique system of
scalars (k1 , . . . , kn ) ∈ Kn such that

A0 P = k1 PA1 + k2 PA2 + · · · + kn PAn .

(k1 , . . . , kn ) is called system of inhomogenous affine coordinates with

respect to R.

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 12 / 16

 Ratio and cross-ratio of collinear points

Proposition
If A, B, C are 3 distinct collinear points in an affine space, such that
(A, B|C ) = k, then
1 1
(B, A|C ) = k , (A, C |B) = −(1 + k) , (C , A|B) = − 1+k ,

k
(C , B|A) = − 1+k , (B, C |A) = − 1+k
k .

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 13 / 16

Definition
Let A, B, P, Q be 4 distinct collinear points in an affine space. The
cross-ratio of the ordered system (A, B, P, Q) is the scalar

(A, B|P)
(A, B|P, Q) := .
(A, B|Q)

Proposition
Let A, B, P, Q be 4 distinct collinear points in an affine space. Then

(A, B|P, Q) = (B, A|Q, P) = (P, Q|A, B) = (Q, P|B, A) .

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 14 / 16

Proposition
Let A, B, P, Q be 4 distinct collinear points in an affine space. If
(A, B|P, Q) = λ, then
1
(A, B|Q, P) = λ ,

1
(A, P|B, Q) = 1 − λ , (A, P|Q, B) = 1−λ ,

1 λ
(A, Q|B, P) = 1 − λ , (A, Q|P, B) = − 1−λ .

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 15 / 16

Definition
Let A, B, P, Q be 4 distinct collinear points in an affine space. We say
that the points P, Q divide harmonically the bipoint (A, B) if
(A, B|P, Q) = −1(or, equivalently (A, B|P) = −(A, B|Q)).

Lect.dr. M.Chiş () Lecture 5 17.III.2009 16 / 16