Hyperbolic Geometry

Hyperbolic Geometry
Tiffany Choi
Stuyvesant High School

Hyperbolic Geometry

Throughout elementary school, my math teachers forced me to memorize facts such as

the three angles of a triangle adding up to 180. I also learned about Euclids fifth postulate,
which states that through a given line and a point not on that line, one and only one line can be
drawn through that point parallel to the given line. However, after opening up a geometry book, I
realized that my perception of mathematics was not complete. I discovered a new topic that I
never came across before, and that was the topic Non-Euclidean geometry. In hyperbolic
geometry, a type of Non-Euclidean geometry, the sum of the interior angles of a triangle can
equal 170. Infinite parallel lines exist, because they never intersect. Hyperbolic geometry is one
topic in non-Euclidean geometry that provides an interesting and new perspective of looking at
geometry.
When Non-Euclidean geometry was initially introduced, many people refuted these new
ideas. The first person to be condemned for this wistful thinking was the Russian mathematician
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (1792-1856), sometimes called the Copernicus of Geometry.
He worked to show that geometries can vastly differ from that of Euclids, since he was
perplexed with Euclids fifth postulate. The fifth postulate or the parallel postulate states,
If a transversal (line) falls on two lines in such a way that the interior angles on one side
of the transversal are less than two right angles, then the lines meet on that side on which
the angles are less than two right angles.
Many mathematicians tried to show that this postulate was correct; however, it has always
resulted in failures. When mathematicians took a closer look, they discovered that each one of
those proofs required that the fifth postulate to be true in order to be proved. Logically, these
were not considered proofs because one cannot prove a statement true while using the statement
itself to prove the proof. In order to understand Lobachevskys idea, we need to rephrase the fifth
postulate as follows:

Hyperbolic Geometry

Given a line, l, and a point, P, not on l, it is possible to construct exactly one line that
passes through P and is parallel to l.
L2

Lobachesky wrote an alternative solution to the fifth postulate,

P
L1

which goes as follows:

L

Given a line, l, and a point, P, not on l, there exist at

least two straight lines passing through P and parallel to l.

Figure 1 Lobachevskys alternative

to the fifth postulate.

This alternative postulate is shown in Figure 1. As you can see, line 1 and line 2 do not intersect
line l, so they are both parallel with line l. This marked the beginning of non-Euclidean geometry.
In hyperbolic geometry, the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is always less than
180. This geometry is not mathematically incorrect, because the hyperbolic triangle is viewed
upon from a different perspective. In hyperbolic geometry,
the infinite plane is curved. In this case, the originally straight
lines are curved. Therefore, the sum of the interior angles in a
triangle is less than 180. The amount less than 180 is called
the defect. In hyperbolic geometry, every triangle has a
positive defect. However, in Euclidean geometry, every
Figure 2 Hyperbolic Triangle.

triangle has a defect of zero. The angle sum does not have a
defined number of degrees for each hyperbolic triangle, so all

the angles have different measures. Figure 2 is an example of a hyperbolic triangle. There are
two major differences between hyperbolic triangles and Euclidean triangles. One distinction is
while the sides of hyperbolic triangles approach the end of the plane, the angle sum of any
triangle gets lesser and lesser than 180. The second is that there is no such thing as similar
triangles. If two triangles have the same angles, then they are congruent. Since this is true, in
1794, Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) discovered the formula for the hyperbolic triangle:

Hyperbolic Geometry

area ( ABC ) = (
)idefect ( ABC ) . Therefore, the area is proportional to the defect. Since the
180
angle sum can never be less than 0, the defect can never go below 180. Thus, the area of the
hyperbolic triangle ABC is area = (A + B + C ) .
As mentioned before, parallel lines are infinite lines
on the same plane that do not intersect. In Figure 3, the



hyperbolic lines AB and BC represent infinite lines on the
same plane that intersect at the point B, so they are not


parallel to each other. However, DE and AB never


intersect, so DE is parallel to AB . Using similar logic,



DE is parallel to BC . However, in Euclidean geometry, the
Figure 3 Hyperbolic lines.

following postulate, the transitive property of parallelism, is

true:
If two lines are parallel to a third line, then the two lines are parallel to each other.



Although this is true in Euclidean geometry, it is not in hyperbolic geometry. Both AB and BC



are parallel to DE , but AB is not parallel to BC . This shows that a hyperbolic line is not the
same as a Euclidean line. However, both of these lines do share some of the same properties. In
Euclidean geometry, there is one and only one path between any two points. Also, when you are
given two points, there can only be one line that passes through these points. Just like these lines
have the same properties, they also have differing properties. These properties are true in
Euclidean geometry, but false in hyperbolic. If two lines are parallel, then the two lines are

Hyperbolic Geometry

equidistant. Furthermore, lines that do not have an end or infinite lines also do not have a
boundary.
After you reviewed these properties of the
Euclidean and hyperbolic lines, we can talk about the
hyperbolic triangle. We can assure that the hyperbolic
triangle does not equal to 180. First, we start off with the

Figure 4 Proof that interior angles are

equal to 180 in Euclidean Geometry.

proof that proved that the sum of the interior angles of a Euclidean triangle equals to 180. In
Figure 4, two parallel lines are cut by a transversal, so the alternate interior angles are equal
( AB ABC and MAC ACB ). The sum of the interior angles of the triangle, therefore,
equals BA + BAC + CAM . These angles taken together form the straight angle NAM.


However, in hyperbolic geometry, there are infinite numbers of lines that are parallel to BC and
pass through point A, but there is no line that shows that
K
A

AB ABC and MAC ACB . Therefore, the proof

that proves the sum of the interior angles in a Euclidean
E

triangle equals 180 is refuted. To formally prove that the sum

of angles of any triangle is less than two right angles or 180,
we need to consider the following: the triangle cannot have

Figure 5

two angles that are right or obtuse or in other words, at least

two of the three angles must be acute. The proof below refers to Figure 5. It will prove that the
angle-sum of the ABC is less than 180.

Statements
1. ABC, Acute angles A and B,
Points I and J are midpoints

Reasons
Given.

Hyperbolic Geometry



 
of BC and AC , Draw AD , BE ,
 
and CF IJ
2. ADJ and CFJ are right
angles.
3. ADJ CFJ
 
4. AJ CJ
5. Right ADJ and CFJ are
congruent.
  
6. AD CF BE
7.

ACB JCF + FCI

JAD + EBI
BAC + ACB + CBA
8. BAJ + JAD + EBI
+IBA BAD + EBA

If a line to perpendicular to another line,

then they form right angles.
Right angles are congruent.
When a midpoint divides a line segment,
it breaks it into two congruent parts.
Hypotenuse Leg Theorem.
Congruent parts of congruent triangles
are congruent.
Congruent parts of congruent triangles
are congruent.
Substitution Postulate.

In hyperbolic geometry, rectangles and squares do not exist. However, there are two
polygons that are similar to rectangles: the Saccheri and Lambert Quadrilateral. Just like how a
hyperbolic triangle has interior angles less than 180, a hyperbolic quadrilateral has interior
angles less than 360. Girolamo Saccheri (1667-1733) discovered the Saccheri Quadrilateral. In
this quadrilateral, two of the angles are 90 or right angles,
A

and the other two are acute angles or summit angles. Two
opposite sides are congruent and the two adjacent angles on
the base of the figure are right angles. We can prove that

 
 
this is true by proving that AB EF and CD EF . The

Figure 6 The Saccheri Quadrilateral

following proof is based on Figure 6.

Statements
1. ABCD, Point E and F are

Reasons
Given.

Hyperbolic Geometry



midpoints of AB and CD , Draw


AF and BF .
   
2. AE BE , DF CF
 
3. EF EF
4. ADF = BCF
 
5. AF BF , AFD BFC

6. AEF = BEF
7. AEF BEF , AFE BFE
8. EFD EFC
   
9. AB EF , CD EF

When a midpoint divides a line segment,

it breaks it into two congruent parts.
Reflexive Postulate.
SAS Postulate.
Congruent parts of congruent triangles are
congruent.
SSS Postulate.
Congruent parts of congruent triangles are
congruent.
Addition Property.
If two lines form adjacent congruent
angles, then they are perpendicular.

In the Lambert Quadrilateral, three angles of the quadrilateral are right angles. When this
is the case, the fourth angle is acute. The discovery of the
Lambert quadrilateral is credited to Johann Lambert (1728
1777), who made an indirect argument for this quadrilateral.



As you can see in Figure 7, AD is greater than BC and


CD is greater than AB .

Figure 7 The Lambert Quadrilateral

The following seven points gives a brief overview of hyperbolic geometry:

1. Given a line l and a point P not on l , there are at least two distinct lines through P
parallel to l .
2. Every triangle has angle sum less than 180.
3. If two triangles are similar, then the triangles are congruent.
4. There exist an infinite number of lines through a given point P parallel to a given line l .
5. In the Saccheri quadrilateral, the summit angles are congruent and less than 90.

Hyperbolic Geometry

6. In the Lambert quadrilateral, the fourth angle is less than 90.

7. Rectangles do not exist.
After writing this research paper, I had many questions have arisen to my mind. One question
that remains ambiguous is what exactly is a hyperbolic plane? However, to answer this
question, one is forced to think abstractly, as opposed to geometrically. After learning about
hyperbolic geometry, I was able to discover the world of abstract topics. Yet, there are many
more concepts in hyperbolic geometry to explore. What will happen if the triangle has one
obtuse angle? Is that even possible? Maybe one day we will wake up and find the normally
straight fence curved or find out that walking on the walls without falling is possible. Who
knows if the world will become hyperbolic; as there are countless possibilities and connections
with the earth and hyperbolic geometry.

Hyperbolic Geometry

References
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Cheong, Jensen. (2007). Hyperbolic Geometry. New York: Stuyvesant High School.
Cherowitzo, Bill. (November 29, 1999). Lecture Notes 6. Retrieved June 1, 2008, from
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