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Pencil (mathematics)
A pencil in projective geometry is a family of geometric objects with a common property, for example the set of lines that pass through a given point in a projective plane.
More generally, a pencil is the special case of a linear system of divisors in which the parameter space is a projective line. Typical pencils of curves in the projective plane, for example, are written as
λC + μC′ = 0
where
C = 0, C′ = 0
are plane curves.
A pencil of planes, the family of planes through a given straight line, is sometimes referred to as a fan or a sheaf.
See also
Pencil beam
Pencil of circles
Lefschetz pencil
Matrix pencil
References
Weisstein, Eric W., "Pencil", MathWorld.
Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics
Graduate Studies in Mathematics
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