# projection of a quadric surface

Consider the quadric surface $X = \{ xy = zw \} \subset \mathbb{P}^3$ and pick a point $x \in X$. I think it is true that if we think of $\mathbb{P}^2$ as the space of lines through $x$ in $\mathbb{P}^3$, then the morphism $X \setminus \{ x \} \to \mathbb{P}^2$ which sends $y \mapsto \overline{xy}$ represents a birational map $X \to \mathbb{P}^2$. But I do not understand the geometry of $X$ well enough to prove this. Certainly this morphism fails to be injective along the two obvious lines in $X$ through $x$, but how do I see that the map is an isomorphism elsewhere? I would like to avoid computing in coordinates if at all possible.

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2022-07-25 20:40:49
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As a concrete example of this problem, consider the projection of $X$ through the point $[0:0:0:1]$ onto the plane $w=0$. Show this is a birational map (consider the Segre embedding above, where is it not defined?) and agrees with your construction above. I know this uses coordinates, but it is actually not too messy.
Edit: Let me elaborate a little bit. If you consider the affine patch where $w=1$ we get the equation $z=xy.$ The point mentioned above maps to $(0,0,0).$ This only contains the two families of lines mentioned in the previous post, so away from these two lines at the origin (namely the $x,y$ axes), the map to $\mathbb{P}^2$ is an isomorpism. Namely, send a point in $X$ to the the approriate line, and send a line to the associate intersection with $X.$