A geometric approach to Wigner-type theorems

Abstract

Let $H$ be a complex Hilbert space and let ${\mathcal P}(H)$ be the associated projective space (the set of rank-one projections). Suppose that $\dim H\ge 3$. We prove the following Wigner-type theorem: if $H$ is finite-dimensional, then every orthogonality preserving transformation of ${\mathcal P}(H)$ is induced by a unitary or anti-unitary operator. This statement will be obtained as a consequence of the following result: every orthogonality preserving lineation of ${\mathcal P}(H)$ to itself is induced by a linear or conjugate-linear isometry ($H$ is not assumed to be finite-dimensional). As an application, we describe (not necessarily injective) transformations of Grassmannians preserving some types of principal angles.