Circular inversion is a transformation of mapping points within a unit circle to points outside along the same rays. If r is the distance from the center of a point inside then the distance from the center of a point outside is 1/r. Note that as r gets closer to the center, 1/r gets farther. In the event that r is zero then 1/r is infinite.
There is a tendency to define this as a point at infinity, which is the image of the center under inversion. However, this is not a point at all in the ordinary sense since it has no definite position or location on the plane in question. On the other hand, if the center coincides with the center of an 8x8 checker or chess board of 64 unit squares then outer space is mapped into a finite region with approximate radius of ¼. For a 6x6 board the radius is ⅓. For a 4x4 board the radius is ½. For a 2x2 the radius is the square root of (p+2)/2p. If the circumscribed polygon is a hexagon then the finite radius of the image of outer space is the square root of (2p+Ö3)/8p.


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