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Harmonic Conjugate Points

\begin{figure}\begin{center}\BoxedEPSF{HarmonicRatio.epsf scaled 1000}\end{center}\end{figure}

Given Collinear points $W$, $X$, $Y$, and $Z$, $Y$ and $Z$ are harmonic conjugates with respect to $W$ and $X$ if

\begin{displaymath}
{\vert WY\vert\over \vert YX\vert} = {\vert WZ\vert\over \vert ZX\vert}.
\end{displaymath}

The distances between such points are said to be in Harmonic Ratio, and the Line Segment depicted above is called a Harmonic Segment.


Harmonic conjugate points are also defined for a Triangle. If $W$ and $X$ have Trilinear Coordinates $\alpha:\beta:\gamma$ and $\alpha':\beta':\gamma'$, then the Trilinear Coordinates of the harmonic conjugates are

\begin{eqnarray*}
Y&=&\alpha+\alpha':\beta+\beta':\gamma+\gamma'\\
Z&=&\alpha-\alpha':\beta-\beta':\gamma-\gamma'
\end{eqnarray*}



(Kimberling 1994).

See also Harmonic Range, Harmonic Ratio


References

Kimberling, C. ``Central Points and Central Lines in the Plane of a Triangle.'' Math. Mag. 67, 163-187, 1994.

Ogilvy, C. S. Excursions in Geometry. New York: Dover, pp. 13-14, 1990.

Phillips, A. W. and Fisher, I. Elements of Geometry. New York: American Book Co., 1896.

Wells, D. The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Geometry. New York: Viking Penguin, p. 92, 1992.




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-25