On Chasles' Quadrilateral Theorem

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Berman, Leah Wrenn, Richter-Gebert, Jürgen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Berman, Leah Wrenn
Richter-Gebert, Jürgen
author_facet Berman, Leah Wrenn
Richter-Gebert, Jürgen
contents Chasles' Quadrilateral Theorem is a classical statement about four tangents to a conic that simultaneously circumscribe a circle. In its various formulations, it relates the concurrence of certain lines to the existence of confocal conics or inscribed circles. We show that several classical and modern versions of this theorem are affected by subtle ambiguities arising from multiple solutions in the underlying geometric constructions. These ambiguities often enter through seemingly natural extensions of otherwise correct statements. We provide a systematic analysis of these issues and present coherent formulations of the theorem that avoid these inconsistencies. In particular, we interpret the theorem in a projective framework and relate it to the Cayley-Bacharach theorem, which explains the underlying incidence structure.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_27587
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On Chasles' Quadrilateral Theorem
Berman, Leah Wrenn
Richter-Gebert, Jürgen
Algebraic Geometry
51A20, 51N35, 14N05
Chasles' Quadrilateral Theorem is a classical statement about four tangents to a conic that simultaneously circumscribe a circle. In its various formulations, it relates the concurrence of certain lines to the existence of confocal conics or inscribed circles. We show that several classical and modern versions of this theorem are affected by subtle ambiguities arising from multiple solutions in the underlying geometric constructions. These ambiguities often enter through seemingly natural extensions of otherwise correct statements. We provide a systematic analysis of these issues and present coherent formulations of the theorem that avoid these inconsistencies. In particular, we interpret the theorem in a projective framework and relate it to the Cayley-Bacharach theorem, which explains the underlying incidence structure.
title On Chasles' Quadrilateral Theorem
topic Algebraic Geometry
51A20, 51N35, 14N05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.27587