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Self-Dual Configuration


A self-dual configuration is a configuration that is isomorphic to its dual, with the roles of points and lines interchanged. Equivalently, its Levi graph has a graph automorphism that interchanges the two classes of its bipartition.

More explicitly, a duality pairs every point p with a line p^* and every line l with a point l^* so that p lies on l if and only if l^* lies on p^*. Thus the pairing reverses the roles of points and lines while preserving the incidence relation.

Some self-dual configurations are summarized below (Coxeter 1950, Grünbaum 2009).

For example, realize the points of the Desargues configuration as the two-element subsets of {1,2,3,4,5} and its lines as the three-element subsets, with incidence given by containment. Sending each subset to its complement exchanges points and lines and gives an explicit self-duality.


See also

Configuration, Desargues Configuration, Duality Principle, Fano Plane, Georges Configuration, Levi Graph, Möbius-Kantor Configuration, Pappus Configuration, Self-Dual

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References

Coxeter, H. S. M. "Self-Dual Configurations and Regular Graphs." Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 56, 413-455, 1950.Grünbaum, B. Configurations of Points and Lines. Providence, RI: Amer. Math. Soc., pp. 310-317, 2009.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Self-Dual Configuration." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Self-DualConfiguration.html

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