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Quasiprojective Variety


A quasiprojective variety over a field k is an algebraic variety isomorphic to a locally closed subscheme of some projective space P_k^n. Equivalently, it is an open set in an algebraic set in projective space, with the induced algebraic structure (The Stacks Project Authors 2026).

Every affine variety is quasiprojective, because affine space A_k^n is the complement of a hyperplane in projective space P_k^n. Algebraic sets in projective space are also quasiprojective. Thus quasiprojectivity allows both closed sets that are varieties and their open sets. The topology here is the Zariski topology.

For example, P_k^1\{0,1,infty} is a quasiprojective algebraic curve. A chosen embedding of a quasiprojective variety into projective space need not have closed image.


See also

Affine Variety, Algebraic Variety, Bertini's Theorem, Locally Closed Subscheme, Projective Space, Zariski Topology

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References

The Stacks Project Authors. "Quasi-Projective Morphisms." §29.41 in The Stacks Project, Tag 01VV, 2026. https://stacks.math.columbia.edu/tag/01VV.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Quasiprojective Variety." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/QuasiprojectiveVariety.html

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