Identities Generalizing the Theorems of Pappus and Desargues

Abstract

The Theorems of Pappus and Desargues (for the projective plane over a field) are generalized here by two identities involving determinants and cross products. These identities are proved to hold in the three-dimensional vector space over a field. They are closely related to the Arguesian identity in lattice theory and to Cayley-Grassmann identities in invariant theory.