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- If P and R are two points and v is a vector, then when will ##P + tv## and ##R + sv## coincide? Here t and s are parameters that varies over real number.
I was going through this book called "A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics Volume 1 by Paul Bamberg and Shlomo Sternberg". There in a part they said something like this:
...if we start with a point P and write
##R=P+u##
##Q=P+v##
and
##S=P+(u+v)##
then the four points
##P,Q,S,R##
lie at the four vertices of a parallelogram... The proof of this fact goes as follows. For any vector
##v=(a,b)##
and any real number t defines their product tv by
##tv=(ta,tb)##
if P is any point the set
##l=P+tv##
(as t varies over real number), is a straight line passing through P. If R is some other point, then the line
##m=R+sv##
(as s varies over real number) and l will intersect, i.e., have some point in common, if and only if there are some
##s_1##
and
##t_1##
such that,
##R+s_1v=P+t_1v##
which means that
##R=P+(t_1−s_1)v##
and hence, for every s, that
##R+sv=P+(s+t_1−s_1)v.##
This means that the lines m and l coincide. In other words, either the lines l and m coincide or they do not intersect, i.e., either they are the same or they are parallel...
Now what I don't understand is the last sentence, why m and l coincide? How can they say m and l coincide from the equation,
##R+sv=P+(s+t_1−s_1)v##
?
...if we start with a point P and write
##R=P+u##
##Q=P+v##
and
##S=P+(u+v)##
then the four points
##P,Q,S,R##
lie at the four vertices of a parallelogram... The proof of this fact goes as follows. For any vector
##v=(a,b)##
and any real number t defines their product tv by
##tv=(ta,tb)##
if P is any point the set
##l=P+tv##
(as t varies over real number), is a straight line passing through P. If R is some other point, then the line
##m=R+sv##
(as s varies over real number) and l will intersect, i.e., have some point in common, if and only if there are some
##s_1##
and
##t_1##
such that,
##R+s_1v=P+t_1v##
which means that
##R=P+(t_1−s_1)v##
and hence, for every s, that
##R+sv=P+(s+t_1−s_1)v.##
This means that the lines m and l coincide. In other words, either the lines l and m coincide or they do not intersect, i.e., either they are the same or they are parallel...
Now what I don't understand is the last sentence, why m and l coincide? How can they say m and l coincide from the equation,
##R+sv=P+(s+t_1−s_1)v##
?
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