The projective geometry of a group

We show that the pair given by the power set and by the ``Grassmannian'' (set of all subgroups) of an arbitrary group behaves very much like the pair given by a projective space and its dual projective space. More precisely, we generalize several results obtained in joint work with M. Kinyon for abelian groups (cf. preprint 271 on this server) to the case of a general group. Most notably, pairs of subgroups (a,b) parametrize torsor and semitorsor structures on the power set. The rôle of associative algebras and -pairs from loc. cit. is now taken by analogs of near-rings.

(Remark on terminology : we have changed the term "groud", used in the above mentioned paper, to the more commonly used and more fashionable "torsor".)


Wolfgang Bertram < bertram@iecn.u-nancy.fr >