Beitrage zur Algebra und Geometrie

Contributions to Algebra and Geometry

Volume 40 (1999), No. 1, 261-266.

m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries

Roland Hofer
Mathematisches Seminar der Universitat Hamburg
Bundesstrae 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract. Let V be a nite dimensional vector space over a eld K with a non-
degenerate symmetric, alternating, or hermitian scalar product. We characterize
the orbits of m-tuples of vectors of V under the group of isometries of V by the
Gram matrix and an additional subspace of K m. This characterization will then be
applied to determine all m-point invariants of real euclidean, spherical, hyperbolic,
and de-Sitter geometries.
MSC 1991: 15A63, 51M10, 83A05

1. Introduction
Let P be a set and a group of permutations of P . The pair (P; ) is called a geometry,
the elements of P are called points, the elements of are called motions. Let m be a natural
number. An m-point invariant  of (P; ) maps m-tuples of points to an arbitrary non-empty
set S and satises the functional equation
(x1 ; : : : ; xm ) = ( (x1 ); : : : ; (xm ))
for all x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 P , 2 . Let S0 be the set of orbits of m-tuples of points under .
Let ! : P m ! S0 map any m-tuple of points to its orbit. Let : S0 ! S be an arbitrary
mapping, then  :=  ! : P m ! S is an m-point invariant; on the other hand, for any
m-point invariant  : P m ! S there exists a uniquely determined mapping : S0 ! S such
that  =  !. We are looking for a concrete characterization of the orbits.
W. Blaschke has determined all invariants of m-tuples of vectors in a real nite dimen-
sional orthogonal space in the following way [2, x10]:

0138-4821/93 $ 2.50
c 1999 Heldermann Verlag
262 Roland Hofer: m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries
\Man bestimme zuerst die hochstmogliche Zahl r von linear unabhangigen Vektoren unter
den gegebenen. Dann greife man irgendein System von r linear unabhangigen `Grundvekto-
ren' aus ihnen heraus und kombiniere alle ubrigen aus diesen linear. Das vollstandige System
der unabhangigen Invarianten ist dann gegeben durch die Skalarprodukte der Grundvektoren
und die Koezienten der gebildeten Linearkombinationen."
A similar result for more general spaces is obtained in Theorem 1. The orbit of m vectors is
characterized by their Gram matrix and an additional subspace. Of course, if the vectors are
linearly dependent, then the components of their Gram matrix are dependent; in Theorem 2
we determine all possible Gram matrices and related subspaces in an important case.
The 2- and 3-point invariants of some real geometries have been examined in [1]. Theorem 1
and 2 are applied to give all m-point invariants of real euclidean, spherical, hyperbolic, and
de-Sitter geometries.
2. Transitivity properties
In this section let V be a nite dimensional left- vector space over a (skew-) eld K and let
 be an automorphism of K . Let (
;
) : V  V ! K be an -scalar product (i.e. for all
a1 ; a2; a3 2 K , v1; v2 ; v3 2 V ,
(a1 v1 + a2 v2; v3 ) = a1 (v1; v3 ) + a2 (v2 ; v3);
(v1; a2 v2 + a3 v3 ) = (a2) (v1; v2) + (a3 ) (v1; v3) );
which is non-degenerate and which is symmetric, alternating, or hermitian; we assume
char K 6= 2, if (
;
) is symmetric.
Theorem 1. Let m 2 N and x1 ; : : : ; xm, x01 ; : : : ; x0m 2 V . There is an isometry of (V; (
;
))
which takes xi to x0i , i = 1; : : : ; m, i the Gram matrices of x1 ; : : : ; xm and x01 ; : : : ; x0m are
equal,
(xi ; xj ) = (x0i ; x0j ); (1)
and
X x = 0
m
i i ,
X x = 0
m
0
i i (2)
i=1 i=1
)2K .
for all  = (1 ; : : : ; m m
In order to prove Theorem 1 we need a theorem of Witt (see e.g. [3]):
Let U1 ; U2 be subspaces of V and let ' : U1 ! U2 be an isometry, i.e. ' is a linear isomorphism
which is metric, ('(x); '(y)) = (x; y) for all x; y 2 U1 . Then ' can be extended to an isometry
f of (V; (
;
)), f jU1 = '.
Proof of Theorem 1. If there is an isometry f which takes xi to x0i , i = 1; : : : ; m, then the
conditions (1) and (2) are satised. Now let x1 ; : : : ; xm and x01 ; : : : ; x0m satisfy (1) and (2).
To x1; : : : ; xm corresponds a linear map g : K m ! V ,
g() =
X x :
m
i i (3)
i=1
 Roland Hofer: m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries 263
To x01; : : : ; x0m we dene g0 : K m ! V analogously. Then
(g(); g()) = (g0(); g0()) for all ;  2 U; (1')
ker g = ker g0: (2')
Let v1 ; : : : ; vr be a basis of im g. Take u1; : : : ; ur 2 U with g(ui) = vi, i = 1; : : : ; r. Then
u1; : : : ; ur are linearly independent and U = spanfu1; : : : ; ur g ker g. From (2') follows that
the images v10 ; : : : ; vr0 of u1; : : : ; ur under g0 are a basis of im g0. The linear map ' : im g !
im g0 dened by '(vi) = vi0 , i = 1; : : : ; r, is an isometry because of (1'). From Witt's theorem
there is an isometry f : V ! V which satises f jim g = ', thus g0 = '  g = f  g, and
x0i = f (xi), i = 1; : : : ; m.
3. A characterization of the orbits
Let G be an m  m matrix and let W be a subspace of K m . In view of Theorem 1 we may
ask: Are there x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V such that
G is the Gram matrix of x1 ; : : : ; xm (4)
and such that, for all  2 K m ,
X x = 0
m
i i , (1; : : : ; m) 2 W (5)
i=1
is satised? We give necessary and sucient conditions in an important case:
Theorem 2. Let K be an ordered commutative eld whose positive numbers are squares. Let
m; n 2 N and k 2 f0; : : : ; ng. Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over K with a non-
degenerate, symmetric bilinear form (
;
)V and signature (k; n k). Let G be a symmetric
m  m-matrix with entries in K and with s positive and t negative eigenvalues, s + t  m.
Let W be a subspace of K m and let  := m s t dim W . There are x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V with
(4) and (5) i
s +   k; t +   n k; WG := fwG j w 2 W g = 0: (6)
Proof. We dene a symmetric bilinear form (
;
)K m on K m by (; )K m := GT 2 K . The
signature of (K m ; (
;
)K m ) is (s; t), and the radical of K m is
rad K m := f 2 K m j (; )K m = 0 8 2 K m g
= f 2 K m j G = 0g:
We take an orthogonal basis u1; : : : ; um of K m such that (ui; ui)K m = 1 if i  s, (ui; ui)K m =
1 if s < i  s + t, and such that us+t+1; : : : ; um is a basis of the radical of K m .
Let x1; : : : ; xm 2 V satisfy (4) and (5). The linear map g : K m ! V dened by (3) is metric,
and W = ker g < rad K m. The space V1 spanned by g(u1); : : : ; g(us+t) is a regular subspace
of V with signature (s; t). The space V1? orthogonal to V1 is a regular subspace of V and has
264 Roland Hofer: m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries
signature (k s; n k t). The space V2 spanned by g(us+t+1); : : : ; g(um) is an isotropic
subspace of V1?. Hence  = dim V2  minfk s; n k tg, and (6) is satised.
We now assume that (6) is satised. Let v1 ; : : : ; vn 2 V be an orthogonal basis of V such
that (vi; vi)V = 1 if i  k and (vi ; vi)V = 1 if i > k. Take a basis w1; : : : ; wm s t of rad K m
such that w+1 ; : : : ; wm s t is a basis of W . We dene the linear map g : K m ! V by
ui 7! vi; i = 1; : : : ; s;
us+i 7! vk+i; i = 1; : : : ; t;
wi 7! vs+i + vk+t+i; i = 1; : : : ; ;
w+i 7! 0; i = 1; : : : ; m s t :
g is metric, its kernel is W . Hence the vectors x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V dened by (3) satisfy (4) and
(5).
Corollary 1. The pairs (G; W ) in Theorem 2 which satisfy (6) correspond to the orbits of
m-tuples of vectors of V under the isometries of (V; (
;
)V ).
Corollary 2. Let K be an ordered commutative eld whose positive numbers are squares.
Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over K with a symmetric bilinear form (
;
) and
signature (k; n k). Let G be the Gram matrix of x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V and let s and t be the
numbers of positive and negative eigenvalues of G, respectively.
a) G alone characterizes the orbit of (x1 ; : : : ; xm ) under the isometries of (V; (
;
)) (i.e.,
whenever G is the Gram matrix of x01 ; : : : ; x0m 2 V , then there is an isometry which
takes xi to x0i , i = 1; : : : ; m) if, and only if, det G 6= 0 or s = k or t = n k.
b) G and the maximal number r of independent vectors in fx1 ; : : : ; xm g characterize the
orbit of (x1 ; : : : ; xm) if and only if r = m or r = rank G.
Proof. Let  := f 2 R m j G = 0g.
a) If m s t = 0, then W = f0g is the only subspace of R m with (6). If s = k or t = n k,
then W =  is the only subspace of R m with (6). If m s t > 0 and s < k and t < n k,
then any (m s t )-dimensional subspace W of  satises (6),  2 f0; 1g.
b) Let W be dened by (5). Then W is a subspace of . There is no other subspace of 
which has the same dimension as W , i m r = dim W 2 f0; m s tg.
In the case K = R , Corollary 2b) is stated in [2, x32], the right side of the equivalence is:
r = n or r = m or r = rank G. We note that r = n implies r = rank G.
4. Euclidean vector spaces
Let m; n 2 N . Let (V; (
;
)) be an n-dimensional real euclidean vector space. Its signature is
(n; 0). The Gram matrix of m vectors x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V satises
G = GT is positive semi-denite, rank G  n: (7)
On the other hand, any real m  m matrix which satises (7) is the Gram matrix of m vectors
of V . Thus all m  m matrices with (7) correspond to the orbits of m-tuples of vectors under
the isometries of V ; cf. e.g. [3, xII.12].
 Roland Hofer: m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries 265
A motion of n-dimensional euclidean geometry En = V is a mapping En ! En , x 7!
g(x) + t where g is an isometry of (V; (
;
)) and t 2 V . It is trivial that the orbit of m + 1
vectors x0 ; : : : ; xm 2 En under the group of motions of En corresponds to the Gram matrix
G of x1 x0 ; : : : ; xm x0 , which satises (7).1
Let n  2. The set of points of (n 1)-dimensional spherical geometry is Sn 1 := fx 2
V j (x; x) = 1g. The spherical motions are the restrictions of the isometries of (V; (
;
)) to
Sn 1. The spherical distance between x; y 2 Sn 1 is d(x; y ) = arccos(x; y ). The orbit of m
points x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 Sn 1 corresponds to their Gram matrix G = (gij ) = (cos d(xi ; xj )), which
satises (7) and
g11 = : : : = gmm = 1: (8)
If a real m  m matrix G = (gij ) satises (7) and (8), then it is the Gram matrix of m
spherical points.
5. Minkowski vector spaces
Let m; n 2 N , n  2. Let (V; (
;
)) be an n-dimensional real vector space whose signature
is (n 1; 1). A vector v 2 V n f0g is called timelike, lightlike, spacelike if (v; v) < 0, = 0,
> 0, respectively. By L we denote the set of all subspaces of V which contain lightlike,
but no timelike vectors. According to Theorem 1 and 2, the pairs (G; W ) which satisfy
(6) correspond to the orbits of m-tuples of vectors under the isometries of V ; we now have
 2 f0; 1g. Let  := f 2 R m j G = 0g. Let x1 ; : : : ; xm be vectors with (4) and (5), and let
X < V be the subspace spanned by x1; : : : ; xm . In the case  = 0 we have X 62 L, and W = 
is determined by G. In the case  = 1 we have X 2 L, and W is a hyperplane of . The orbit
of (x1 ; : : : ; xm) may likewise be characterized by the pair (G; W 0) where W 0 = R  2 P() is
dened by WT = 0. For all  2 R m ,
X x = 0
m
i i , G = 0 and T = 0 (5')
i=1
Let t 2 V be a xed timelike vector. The set of points of (n 1)-dimensional hyperbolic
geometry in Weierstra's model is (cf. e.g. [1])
W n 1 := fx 2 V j (x; x) = 1 ^ (x; t) < 0g:
A hyperbolic motion is the restriction f jW n of an isometry f of (V; (
;
)) which is or-
1

thochronous, (t; f (t)) < 0. The hyperbolic distance between x; y 2 W n 1 is d(x; y) :=

arch( (x; y)). Let x1 ; : : : ; xm be m hyperbolic points. Their Gram matrix G = (gij ) =
(ch d(xi; xj )) satises
G = GT ; G has exactly one negative eigenvalue; (9)
rank G  n; gij  1 = gii for all i; j = 1; : : : ; m:
1If (V; (
;
)) has signature (k; n k), then the orbits of (m + 1)-tuples of vectors in the corresponding
inhomogeneous orthogonal geometry are obtained analogously, by Theorem 1 and 2.
266 Roland Hofer: m-Point Invariants of Real Geometries
If x01 ; : : : ; x0m 2 W n 1 have the same Gram matrix G, then there is an isometry of (V; (
;
))
which takes xi to x0i , i = 1; : : : ; m and which is orthochronous. On the other hand, let G be
a real m  m matrix with (9) and let W := f 2 R m j G = 0g. From Theorem 2 there are
x1 ; : : : ; xm 2 V with (4) and (5). Without loss of generality we may assume that (x1 ; t) < 0.
Then (x1; xi ) < 0 implies (xi ; t) < 0 and xi 2 W n 1 , i = 1; : : : ; m. Hence the orbits of
m-tuples of points correspond to the m  m-matrices G which satisfy (9).
The set of points of (n 1)-dimensional de-Sitter geometry is
S n 1 := fx 2 V j (x; x) = 1g:
The motions are restrictions of the isometries of (V; (
;
)) to S n 1 . Let x1; : : : ; xm be m
points of S n 1 with Gram matrix G and subspace W < R m dened by (5). If the space
X < V spanned by x1; : : : ; xm is not in L, then W = f 2 R m j G = 0g, and the orbit of
(x1 ; : : : ; xm ) corresponds to the matrix G with
G = GT ; g11 = : : : = gmm = 1;
G has at most one negative and at most n 1 positive eigenvalues.
If X 2 L, then there is a uniquely determined projective point R  2 P(V ) with (5'). The
orbit of (x1; : : : ; xm) corresponds to the pair (G; R) where
G = GT ; g11 = : : : = gmm = 1;
G is positive semi-denite, rank G < n 1; G = 0:
References
[1] Benz, W.: Real Geometries. BI Wissenschaftsverlag, Mannheim Leipzig Wien Zurich
1994.
[2] Blaschke, W.: Vorlesungen uber Dierentialgeometrie III. Verlag von Julius Springer,
Berlin 1929.
[3] Huppert, B.: Angewandte Lineare Algebra. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin NewYork 1990.

Received March 3, 1998