Pencil of conics through four points
ID: pencil-of-conics-through-four-points
Four projective points in general linear position in the complex projective plane impose four independent linear conditions on the six coefficients of a quadratic polynomial. To see independence, put them at the three coordinate points and using a projective frame. The remaining equations are with , a two-dimensional vector space. Projectivizing its nonzero elements gives a pencil. It has nonsingular bases, for example the forms with coefficient triples and , because the determinant of the symmetric coefficient matrix is . Its three singular members are exactly the three pairs of lines obtained by partitioning the four base points into two pairs.
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