"Galois space" is now a domain name: galois.space.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Galois Space
This is a sequel to yesterday's post Cube Space Continued.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Harmonic Analysis and Galois Spaces
The above sketch indicates, in a vague, hand-waving, fashion,
a connection between Galois spaces and harmonic analysis.
For more details of the connection, see (for instance) yesterday
afternoon's post Space Oddity.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Galois Space
The 16-point affine Galois space:
Further properties of this space:
In Configurations and Squares, see the
discusssion of the Kummer 166 configuration.
Some closely related material:
-
Wolfgang Kühnel,
"Minimal Triangulations of Kummer Varieties,"
Abh. Math. Sem. Univ. Hamburg 57, 7-20 (1986).For the first two pages, click here.
-
Jonathan Spreer and Wolfgang Kühnel,
"Combinatorial Properties of the K 3 Surface:
Simplicial Blowups and Slicings,"
preprint, 26 pages. (2009/10) (pdf).
(Published in Experimental Math. 20,
issue 2, 201–216 (2011).)
Monday, March 4, 2013
Occupy Galois Space
Continued from February 27, the day Joseph Frank died…
"Throughout the 1940s, he published essays
and criticism in literary journals, and one,
'Spatial Form in Modern Literature'—
a discussion of experimental treatments
of space and time by Eliot, Joyce, Proust,
Pound and others— published in
The Sewanee Review in 1945, propelled him
to prominence as a theoretician."
— Bruce Weber in this morning's print copy
of The New York Times (p. A15, NY edition)
That essay is reprinted in a 1991 collection
of Frank's work from Rutgers University Press:
See also Galois Space and Occupy Space in this journal.
Frank was best known as a biographer of Dostoevsky.
A very loosely related reference… in a recent Log24 post,
Freeman Dyson's praise of a book on the history of
mathematics and religion in Russia:
"The intellectual drama will attract readers
who are interested in mystical religion
and the foundations of mathematics.
The personal drama will attract readers
who are interested in a human tragedy
with characters who met their fates with
exceptional courage."
Frank is survived by, among others, his wife, a mathematician.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Galois Space
The previous post suggests two sayings:
"There is such a thing as a Galois space."
— Adapted from Madeleine L'Engle
"For every kind of vampire, there is a kind of cross."
Illustrations—
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Galois Space
An example of lines in a Galois space * —
The 35 lines in the 3-dimensional Galois projective space PG(3,2)—
There are 15 different individual linear diagrams in the figure above.
These are the points of the Galois space PG(3,2). Each 3-set of linear diagrams
represents the structure of one of the 35 4×4 arrays and also represents a line
of the projective space.
The symmetry of the linear diagrams accounts for the symmetry of the
840 possible images in the kaleidoscope puzzle.
* For further details on the phrase "Galois space," see
Beniamino Segre's "On Galois Geometries," Proceedings of the
International Congress of Mathematicians, 1958 [Edinburgh].
(Cambridge U. Press, 1960, 488-499.)
(Update of Jan. 5, 2013— This post has been added to finitegeometry.org.)
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Galois’s Space
(A sequel to Foster's Space and Sawyer's Space)
See posts now tagged Galois's Space.
Friday, July 31, 2026
The “Schoolgirl Space”* PG(3.2) . . .
From Fano to Whitehead to Cullinane
260731-Fano-1892-PG(3,2)…AI_Overview.jpg
260731-Square_Model_of_PG(3,2)-by-Cullinane…AI_Overview.jpg
* See Kirkman's schoolgirl problem in Wikipedia, esp.
the sections "Galois Geometry" and "Spreads and Packing."
The geometry of what might be called "Schoolgirl Space"
is, as the above image "Geometry of the Six Element Set"
indicates, the same as the geometry of the "Hexastigm"
described by Richmond (King's College, Cambridge,
March 30, 1899) —
"On the Figure of Six Points in Space of Four Dimensions,"
by H. W. Richmond, Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied
Mathematics, Vol. 31 (1900), pp. 125-160.
This is available on the Web at Scribd.com . . .
https://www.scribd.com/document/424182244/
Richmond-QuarterlyJournal-1900-SixPoints .
Richmond's excellent historical survey, together with the Cullinane
square model of PG(3,2), provide the connection of finite geometry
to earlier, non-finite geometry that is lacking in some later treatments
of the subject . . . in particular, the connection to finite geometry of
studies of the classical sixty Pascal lines of the Hexagrammum.
From Fano to Whitehead to Cullinane
Saturday, May 23, 2026
“Open the Spaceship Domain Doors, HAL”
In related news . . .
" 'Come on, make it an even one hundred thousand dollars,'
he might tease a familiar buyer.
'It’ll sound better when you tell your friends.' "
In related art . . .

Thursday, November 20, 2025
On Brick Space
A question suggested by NotebookLM in the "Diamond Theory" notebook,
and its answer today by NotebookLM —
|
How are algebraic, combinatorial, and geometric structures unified within the Brick Space model? The unification of algebraic, combinatorial, and geometric structures within the Brick Space model is achieved through its role as a graphic, isomorphic representation of key finite geometries, particularly the projective spaces PG(5,2) and PG(3,2), and their fundamental relationship via the Klein correspondence
.
The term "Brick Space" originates from the arrays, or "bricks," coined by R. T. Curtis as component parts of his Miracle Octad Generator (MOG)
. These physical or graphic arrangements serve as a concrete visualization (or model) of highly abstract mathematical structures
.
1. Geometric Unification
The Brick Space model provides a geometric foundation for combinatorial objects through direct visualization of finite geometries defined over the two-element field, GF(2)
.
• Modeling Projective Space: The Brick Space model is the natural geometric setting for the MOG's components, which may be regarded as forming both the 5-dimensional projective space and the 3-dimensional projective space
.
• Visualizing PG(5,2) and the Klein Quadric: The model visually represents the space, which has 63 points, by partitioning these points into 28 points lying off the Klein quadric and 35 points lying on the Klein quadric
. The geometry of is linked to the concept of the 8-set
.
• The Klein Correspondence: The geometric relationship between and is formalized by the Klein correspondence
. The model, developed as a brick space, is analogous to the "line diagrams" construction of found in the Cullinane diamond theorem
.
• Lines and Points: The Brick Space implicitly models how the 35 lines of correspond to the 35 points on the Klein quadric in
.
2. Combinatorial Unification
Combinatorial structures, primarily partitions of sets and block designs, are mapped directly onto geometric entities within the Brick Space framework
.
• Partitions and Lines: The central combinatorial equivalence involves mapping partitions of sets to geometric objects
. The 35 combinatorial structures arising from permutations of diamond tiles (related to the bricks) are isomorphic to the 35 lines of . These 35 structures also mirror the 35 square patterns within the original MOG
.
• Partitions of the 8-Set: The lines correspond to the 35 partitions of an 8-set into two 4-sets
. This same framework connects to the 105 partitions of an 8-set into four 2-sets, which are essentially the same as the 105 lines contained in the Klein quadric
.
• Latin Squares: The combinatorial property of orthogonality of Latin squares (specifically, order-4 Latin squares) is unified geometrically by corresponding exactly to the property of skewness of lines (non-intersecting lines) in
. This provides a geometric dictionary for abstract algebraic combinatorics
.
3. Algebraic Unification
Algebraic structures, rooted in finite field theory and group theory, govern the behavior and symmetries observed in the combinatorial and geometric models
.
• Binary Field : The foundation of the geometry is the Galois field of two elements, (binary arithmetic: )
. The algebraic rules of dictate the structure of the affine and projective spaces represented by the bricks
.
• Binary Addition (XOR): The line diagrams used to formalize the patterns (related to the bricks) can be "added" via component-wise binary addition (XOR)
. The closure property of lines in is represented algebraically by the fact that the three line diagrams corresponding to a pattern always sum to zero ()
.
• Group Theory and Symmetry: The massive permutation group (of order 322,560) that transforms the visual patterns is isomorphic to the affine group
. This group, which explains the pervasive symmetry found in all -images, is the automorphism group of the underlying finite geometry, establishing the algebraic control over the system's geometric and combinatorial properties
.
• Ring Theory: The patterns can be endowed with algebraic structure to generate an ideal within a ring of symmetric patterns, leading to an infinite family of "diamond rings" isomorphic to rings of matrices over
. This links the geometry to the machinery of abstract algebra
.
• M24 Connection: The affine group is identified as the octad stabilizer subgroup of the Mathieu group
, linking the visual patterns and the underlying geometries to the abstract world of sporadic simple groups, coding theory (Golay code), and lattice theory (Leech lattice)
.
The Brick Space model, therefore, functions as a visual tapestry where graphic arrangements (geometry/visualization) encode set partitions (combinatorics) that behave according to the rules of binary algebra ( and affine groups)
. The entire structure is unified by powerful isomorphisms relating these three mathematical domains through finite geometries like and . |
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Prime-Power Space
The number of subsquares in each large square
below is a prime power. Therefore each large square
is a Galois space.
Related material at NotebookLM —
http://log24.com/log25/
250917-'Diamond_Theory-NotebookLM'-notebooklm.google.com.pdf
Monday, February 10, 2025
Brick Space: Points with Parts
This post's "Points with Parts" title may serve as an introduction to
what has been called "the most powerful diagram in mathematics" —
the "Miracle Octad Generator" (MOG) of Robert T. Curtis.
Curtis himself has apparently not written on the geometric background
of his diagram — the finite projective spaces PG(5,2) and PG(3,2), of
five and of three dimensions over the two-element Galois field GF(2).
The component parts of the MOG diagram, the 2×4 Curtis "bricks,"
may be regarded* as forming both PG(5,2) and PG(3,2) . . .
Pace Euclid, points with parts. For more on the MOG's geometric
background, see the Klein correspondence in the previous post.
For a simpler example of "points with parts, see
http://m759.net/wordpress/?s=200229.
* Use the notions of Galois (XOR, or "symmetric-difference") addition
of even subsets, and such addition "modulo complementation," to
decrease the number of dimensions of the spaces involved.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Coordinatizing Brick Space
Exercise: The eight-part diagrams in the graphic "brick space"
model of PG(5,2) below need to be suitably labeled with six-part
GF(2) coordinates to help illustrate the Klein correspondence that
underlies the large Mathieu group M24.
A possible approach: The lines separating dark squares from light
(i.e., blue from white or yellow) in the figure above may be added
in XOR fashion (as if they were diamond theorem line diagrams)
to form a six dimensional vector space, which, after a suitable basis
is chosen, may be represented by six-tuples of 0's and 1's.
Related reading —
log24.com/log24/241221-'Brick Space « Log24' – m759.net.pdf .
This is a large (15.1 MB) file. The Foxit PDF reader is recommended.
The PDF is from a search for Brick Space in this journal.
Some context: http://m759.net/wordpress/?s=Weyl+Coordinatization.
Monday, August 19, 2024
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Space Odyssey . . . 2001 to 2024
As for what Polster called "God's fingerprint" . . .
A version for Hollywood —

Thursday, April 25, 2024
Space Trace
The title "Space Trace" was suggested yesterday by Claude.ai.
How classical space leaves a Galois trace:
Sunday, June 4, 2023
The Galois Core
Friday, April 28, 2023
The Small Space Model
From the previous post, "The Large Language Model,"
a passage from Wikipedia —
"… sometimes large models undergo a 'discontinuous phase shift'
where the model suddenly acquires substantial abilities not seen
in smaller models. These are known as 'emergent abilities,' and
have been the subject of substantial study." — Wikipedia
Compare and contrast
this with the change undergone by a "small space model,"
that of the finite affine 4-space A with 16 points (a Galois tesseract ),
when it is augmented by an eight-point "octad." The 30 eight-point
hyperplanes of A then have a natural extension within the new
24-point set to 759 eight-point octads, and the 322,560 affine
automorphisms of the space expand to the 244,823,040 Mathieu
automorphisms of the 759-octad set — a (5, 8, 24) Steiner system.
For a visual analogue of the enlarged 24-point space and some remarks
on analogy by Simone Weil's brother, a mathematician, see this journal
on September 8 and 9, 2022.
Monday, April 10, 2023
Space
(Perspective Not as Symbolic Form)
From a post of June 8, 2014 —
See August 6, 2013 — Desargues via Galois.
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Châtelet on Weil — A “Space of Gestures”
|
From Gilles Châtelet, Introduction to Figuring Space Metaphysics does have a catalytic effect, which has been described in a very beautiful text by the mathematician André Weil: Nothing is more fertile, all mathematicians know, than these obscure analogies, these murky reflections of one theory in another, these furtive caresses, these inexplicable tiffs; also nothing gives as much pleasure to the researcher. A day comes when the illusion vanishes: presentiment turns into certainty … Luckily for researchers, as the fogs clear at one point, they form again at another.4 André Weil cuts to the quick here: he conjures these 'murky reflections', these 'furtive caresses', the 'theory of Galois that Lagrange touches … with his finger through a screen that he does not manage to pierce.' He is a connoisseur of these metaphysical 'fogs' whose dissipation at one point heralds their reforming at another. It would be better to talk here of a horizon that tilts thereby revealing a new space of gestures which has not as yet been elucidated and cut out as structure. 4 A. Weil, 'De la métaphysique aux mathématiques', (Oeuvres, vol. II, p. 408.) |
For gestures as fogs, see the oeuvre of Guerino Mazzola.
For some clearer remarks, see . . .
Illustrations of object and gestures
from finitegeometry.org/sc/ —
Object
Gestures
An earlier presentation
of the above seven partitions
of the eightfold cube:
|
|
Related material: Galois.space .
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Box Geometry: Space, Group, Art (Work in Progress)
| Name Tag | .Space | .Group | .Art |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box4 |
2×2 square representing the four-point finite affine geometry AG(2,2). (Box4.space) |
S4 = AGL(2,2) (Box4.group) |
(Box4.art) |
| Box6 |
3×2 (3-row, 2-column) rectangular array representing the elements of an arbitrary 6-set. |
S6 | |
| Box8 | 2x2x2 cube or 4×2 (4-row, 2-column) array. | S8 or A8 or AGL(3,2) of order 1344, or GL(3,2) of order 168 | |
| Box9 | The 3×3 square. | AGL(2,3) or GL(2,3) | |
| Box12 | The 12 edges of a cube, or a 4×3 array for picturing the actions of the Mathieu group M12. | Symmetries of the cube or elements of the group M12 | |
| Box13 | The 13 symmetry axes of the cube. | Symmetries of the cube. | |
| Box15 |
The 15 points of PG(3,2), the projective geometry of 3 dimensions over the 2-element Galois field. |
Collineations of PG(3,2) | |
| Box16 |
The 16 points of AG(4,2), the affine geometry of 4 dimensions over the 2-element Galois field. |
AGL(4,2), the affine group of |
|
| Box20 | The configuration representing Desargues's theorem. | ||
| Box21 | The 21 points and 21 lines of PG(2,4). | ||
| Box24 | The 24 points of the Steiner system S(5, 8, 24). | ||
| Box25 | A 5×5 array representing PG(2,5). | ||
| Box27 |
The 3-dimensional Galois affine space over the 3-element Galois field GF(3). |
||
| Box28 | The 28 bitangents of a plane quartic curve. | ||
| Box32 |
Pair of 4×4 arrays representing orthogonal Latin squares. |
Used to represent elements of AGL(4,2) |
|
| Box35 |
A 5-row-by-7-column array representing the 35 lines in the finite projective space PG(3,2) |
PGL(3,2), order 20,160 | |
| Box36 | Eurler's 36-officer problem. | ||
| Box45 | The 45 Pascal points of the Pascal configuration. | ||
| Box48 | The 48 elements of the group AGL(2,3). | AGL(2,3). | |
| Box56 |
The 56 three-sets within an 8-set or |
||
| Box60 | The Klein configuration. | ||
| Box64 | Solomon's cube. |
— Steven H. Cullinane, March 26-27, 2022
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Space Memorial
"FILE – Retired Sandinista Gen. Hugo Torres poses for portrait
at his home, in Managua, Nicaragua, May 2, 2018."
— Photo caption from a Feb. 12 Washington Post obituary
Also on May 2, 2018 —
Related theology —
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
|
Saturday, October 24, 2020
The Galois Tesseract
Stanley E. Payne and J. A. Thas in 1983* (previous post) —
“… a 4×4 grid together with
the affine lines on it is AG(2,4).”
Payne and Thas of course use their own definition
of affine lines on a grid.
Actually, a 4×4 grid together with the affine lines on it
is, viewed in a different way, not AG(2,4) but rather AG(4,2).
For AG(4,2) in the proper context, see
Affine Groups on Small Binary Spaces and
The Galois Tesseract.
* And 26 years later, in 2009.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Introduction to Cyberspace
Or approaching.
On the Threshold:
Click the search result above for the July 1982 Omni
story that introduced into fiction the term "cyberspace."
Part of a page from the original Omni version —
For some other kinds of space, see my notes from the 1980's.
Some related remarks on space (and illustrated clams) —
— George Steiner, "A Death of Kings," The New Yorker ,
September 7, 1968, pp. 130 ff. The above is from p. 133.
See also Steiner on space, algebra, and Galois.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Quaternions in a Small Space
The previous post, on the 3×3 square in ancient China,
suggests a review of group actions on that square
that include the quaternion group.
Click to enlarge —
Three links from the above finitegeometry.org webpage on the
quaternion group —
-
Visualizing GL(2,p) — A 1985 note illustrating group actions
on the 3×3 (ninefold) square. -
Another 1985 note showing group actions on the 3×3 square
transferred to the 2x2x2 (eightfold) cube. - Quaternions in an Affine Galois Plane — A webpage from 2010.
Related material —
See as well the two Log24 posts of December 1st, 2018 —
Character and In Memoriam.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Galois Imaginary
|
" Lying at the axis of everything, zero is both real and imaginary. Lovelace was fascinated by zero; as was Gottfried Leibniz, for whom, like mathematics itself, it had a spiritual dimension. It was this that let him to imagine the binary numbers that now lie at the heart of computers: 'the creation of all things out of nothing through God's omnipotence, it might be said that nothing is a better analogy to, or even demonstration of such creation than the origin of numbers as here represented, using only unity and zero or nothing.' He also wrote, 'The imaginary number is a fine and wonderful recourse of the divine spirit, almost an amphibian between being and nonbeing.' "
— A footnote from page 229 of Sydney Padua's |
A related passage —
|
From The French Mathematician 0
I had foreseen it all in precise detail. i = an imaginary being
Here, on this complex space, |






_lines_as_arrays-500w.jpg)
...AI_Overview.jpg)

-by-Cullinane...AI_Overview.jpg)
.gif)


-Representations-Wikipedia.jpg)













