In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry is a
small set of geometries based on axioms closely related to those specifying Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at
the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean geometry arises when
either the metric requirement is relaxed, or the parallel postulate is set aside. In the latter case
one obtains hyperbolic geometry and elliptic geometry, the
traditional non-Euclidean geometries. When the metric requirement is relaxed,
then there are affine planes associated with the planar algebras which give
rise to kinematic geometries that
have also been called non-Euclidean geometry.
The essential difference
between the metric geometries is the nature of parallel lines. Euclid's fifth postulate, the parallel postulate, is equivalent to Playfair's postulate, which
states that, within a two-dimensional plane, for any given line ℓ and a
point A, which is not on ℓ, there is exactly one line through
A that does not intersect ℓ. In hyperbolic geometry, by contrast,
there are infinitely many lines through A not
intersecting ℓ, while in elliptic geometry, any line through A
intersects ℓ (see the entries on hyperbolic geometry, elliptic geometry, and absolute geometry for more information).
Another way to describe
the differences between these geometries is to consider two straight lines
indefinitely extended in a two-dimensional plane that are both perpendicular to a third
line:
- In Euclidean geometry the lines remain at a constant distance from each other even if extended to infinity, and are known as parallels.
- In hyperbolic geometry they "curve away" from each other, increasing in distance as one moves further from the points of intersection with the common perpendicular; these lines are often called ultraparallels.
- In elliptic geometry the lines "curve toward" each other and intersect.
Contents
[hide]History[edit]
Early history[edit]
While Euclidean geometry, named after the Greek mathematician Euclid, includes some of the oldest known
mathematics, non-Euclidean geometries were not widely accepted as legitimate
until the 19th century.
The debate that
eventually led to the discovery of the non-Euclidean geometries began almost as
soon as Euclid's work Elements was written. In the Elements,
Euclid began with a limited number of assumptions (23 definitions, five common
notions, and five postulates) and sought to prove all the other results (propositions) in the work.
The most notorious of the postulates is often referred to as "Euclid's Fifth
Postulate," or simply the "parallel postulate", which in Euclid's original
formulation is:
If a straight line falls on two straight lines in such a manner that the interior angles on the same side are together less than two right angles, then the straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the angles less than the two right angles.
Other mathematicians
have devised simpler forms of this property (see parallel postulate for equivalent statements).
Regardless of the form of the postulate, however, it consistently appears to be
more complicated than Euclid's other postulates (which include, for example,
"Between any two points a straight line may be drawn").
For at least a thousand
years, geometers were troubled by the disparate complexity
of the fifth postulate, and believed it could be proved as a theorem from the
other four. Many attempted to find a proof by contradiction,
including Persian mathematicians Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen,
11th century),[1] Omar Khayyám (12th century)
and Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (13th
century), and the Italian mathematician Giovanni Girolamo Saccheri
(18th century).
The theorems of Ibn
al-Haytham, Khayyam and al-Tusi on quadrilaterals, including the Lambert quadrilateral and Saccheri quadrilateral, were
"the first few theorems of the hyperbolic and the elliptic geometries." These theorems along with
their alternative postulates, such as Playfair's axiom, played an important role in the
later development of non-Euclidean geometry. These early attempts at challenging
the fifth postulate had a considerable influence on its development among later
European geometers, including Witelo, Levi ben Gerson, Alfonso, John Wallis and Saccheri.[2] All of these
early attempts made at trying to formulate non-Euclidean geometry however
provided flawed proofs of the parallel postulate, containing assumptions that
were essentially equivalent to the parallel postulate. These early attempts did,
however, provide some early properties of the hyperbolic and elliptic
geometries.
Khayyam, for example,
tried to derive it from an equivalent postulate he formulated from "the
principles of the Philosopher" (Aristotle): "Two convergent straight lines
intersect and it is impossible for two convergent straight lines to diverge in
the direction in which they converge."[3] Khayyam then
considered the three cases right, obtuse, and acute that the summit angles of a
Saccheri quadrilateral can take and after proving a number of theorems about
them, he correctly refuted the obtuse and acute cases based on his postulate and
hence derived the classic postulate of Euclid which he didn't realize was
equivalent to his own postulate. Another example is al-Tusi's son, Sadr al-Din
(sometimes known as "Pseudo-Tusi"), who wrote a book on the subject in 1298,
based on al-Tusi's later thoughts, which presented another hypothesis equivalent
to the parallel postulate. "He essentially revised both the Euclidean system of
axioms and postulates and the proofs of many propositions from the
Elements."[4][5] His work was
published in Rome in 1594 and was studied
by European geometers, including Saccheri[4] who criticised
this work as well as that of Wallis.[6]
Giordano Vitale, in his book
Euclide restituo (1680, 1686), used the Saccheri quadrilateral to prove
that if three points are equidistant on the base AB and the summit CD, then AB
and CD are everywhere equidistant.
In a work titled Euclides ab Omni Naevo Vindicatus (Euclid Freed from All Flaws), published in 1733, Saccheri quickly discarded elliptic geometry as a possibility (some others of Euclid's axioms must be modified for elliptic geometry to work) and set to work proving a great number of results in hyperbolic geometry. He finally reached a point where he believed that his results demonstrated the impossibility of hyperbolic geometry. His claim seems to have been based on Euclidean presuppositions, because no logical contradiction was present. In this attempt to prove Euclidean geometry he instead unintentionally discovered a new viable geometry, but did not realize it.
In 1766 Johann Lambert wrote, but
did not publish, Theorie der Parallellinien in which he attempted, as
Saccheri did, to prove the fifth postulate. He worked with a figure that today
we call a Lambert quadrilateral, a quadrilateral with three right angles
(can be considered half of a Saccheri quadrilateral). He quickly eliminated the
possibility that the fourth angle is obtuse, as had Saccheri and Khayyam, and
then proceeded to prove many theorems under the assumption of an acute angle.
Unlike Saccheri, he never felt that he had reached a contradiction with this
assumption. He had proved the non-Euclidean result that the sum of the angles in
a triangle increases as the area of the triangle decreases, and this led him to
speculate on the possibility of a model of the acute case on a sphere of
imaginary radius. He did not carry this idea any further.[7]
At this time it was
widely believed that the universe worked according to the principles of
Euclidean geometry.[8]
Creation of non-Euclidean geometry[edit]
The beginning of the
19th century would finally witness decisive steps in the creation of
non-Euclidean geometry. Circa 1813, Carl Friedrich Gauss and independently around 1818,
the German professor of law Ferdinand Karl
Schweikart[9] had the
germinal ideas of non-Euclidean geometry worked out, but neither published any
results. Then, around 1830, the Hungarian mathematician János Bolyai and the Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich
Lobachevsky separately published treatises on hyperbolic
geometry. Consequently, hyperbolic geometry is called Bolyai-Lobachevskian
geometry, as both mathematicians, independent of each other, are the basic
authors of non-Euclidean geometry. Gauss mentioned to Bolyai's father, when shown the
younger Bolyai's work, that he had developed such a geometry several years
before,[10] though he did
not publish. While Lobachevsky created a non-Euclidean geometry by negating the
parallel postulate, Bolyai worked out a geometry where both the Euclidean and
the hyperbolic geometry are possible depending on a parameter k. Bolyai ends his
work by mentioning that it is not possible to decide through mathematical
reasoning alone if the geometry of the physical universe is Euclidean or
non-Euclidean; this is a task for the physical sciences.
Bernhard Riemann, in a
famous lecture in 1854, founded the field of Riemannian geometry, discussing in particular the
ideas now called manifolds, Riemannian metric, and curvature. He constructed an infinite family of
geometries which are not Euclidean by giving a formula for a family of
Riemannian metrics on the unit ball in Euclidean space. The simplest of these is called elliptic geometry and it is
considered to be a non-Euclidean geometry due to its lack of parallel lines.[11]
By formulating the
geometry in terms of a curvature tensor, Riemann allowed non-Euclidean geometry to
be applied to higher dimensions.
Terminology[edit]
It was Gauss who coined
the term "non-Euclidean geometry".[12] He was
referring to his own work which today we call hyperbolic geometry.
Several modern authors still consider "non-Euclidean geometry" and "hyperbolic
geometry" to be synonyms. In 1871, Felix Klein, by adapting a metric discussed by Arthur Cayley in 1852, was
able to bring metric properties into a projective setting and was therefore able
to unify the treatments of hyperbolic, euclidean and elliptic geometry under the
umbrella of projective geometry.[13] Klein is
responsible for the terms "hyperbolic" and "elliptic" (in his system he called
Euclidean geometry "parabolic", a term which has not survived the test of time).
His influence has led to the current usage of the term "non-Euclidean geometry"
to mean either "hyperbolic" or "elliptic" geometry.
There are some
mathematicians who would extend the list of geometries that should be called
"non-Euclidean" in various ways.[14] In other
disciplines, most notably mathematical physics, the term "non-Euclidean" is
often taken to mean not Euclidean.
Axiomatic basis of non-Euclidean geometry[edit]
Euclidean geometry can
be axiomatically described in several ways. Unfortunately, Euclid's original
system of five postulates (axioms) is not one of these as his proofs relied on
several unstated assumptions which should also have been taken as axioms. Hilbert's system consisting
of 20 axioms[15] most closely
follows the approach of Euclid and provides the justification for all of
Euclid's proofs. Other systems, using different sets of undefined terms obtain the
same geometry by different paths. In all approaches, however, there is an axiom
which is logically equivalent to Euclid's fifth postulate, the parallel
postulate. Hilbert uses the Playfair axiom form, while Birkhoff, for instance, uses
the axiom which says that "there exists a pair of similar but not congruent
triangles." In any of these systems, removal of the one axiom which is
equivalent to the parallel postulate, in whatever form it takes, and leaving all
the other axioms intact, produces absolute geometry. As the first 28 propositions of
Euclid (in The Elements) do not require the use of the parallel postulate
or anything equivalent to it, they are all true statements in absolute
geometry.[16]
To obtain a
non-Euclidean geometry, the parallel postulate (or its equivalent) must
be replaced by its negation. Negating the Playfair's axiom form, since it is a compound
statement (... there exists one and only one ...), can be done in two ways.
Either there will exist more than one line through the point parallel to the
given line or there will exist no lines through the point parallel to the given
line. In the first case, replacing the parallel postulate (or its equivalent)
with the statement "In a plane, given a point P and a line ℓ not passing
through P, there exist two lines through P which do not meet ℓ" and
keeping all the other axioms, yields hyperbolic geometry.[17] The second
case is not dealt with as easily. Simply replacing the parallel postulate with
the statement, "In a plane, given a point P and a line ℓ not passing
through P, all the lines through P meet ℓ", does not give a consistent
set of axioms. This follows since parallel lines exist in absolute geometry,[18] but this
statement says that there are no parallel lines. This problem was known (in a
different guise) to Khayyam, Saccheri and Lambert and was the basis for their
rejecting what was known as the "obtuse angle case". In order to obtain a
consistent set of axioms which includes this axiom about having no parallel
lines, some of the other axioms must be tweaked. The adjustments to be made
depend upon the axiom system being used. Among others these tweaks will have the
effect of modifying Euclid's second postulate from the statement that line
segments can be extended indefinitely to the statement that lines are unbounded.
Riemann's elliptic geometry emerges as
the most natural geometry satisfying this axiom.
Models of non-Euclidean geometry
For more details on this topic, see Models of non-Euclidean
geometry.
Elliptic geometry[edit]
The simplest model for
elliptic geometry is a sphere, where lines are "great circles" (such as the
equator or the meridians on a globe), and points opposite each other (called antipodal points) are identified (considered to be
the same). This is also one of the standard models of the real projective plane. The difference is that as a
model of elliptic geometry a metric is introduced permitting the measurement of
lengths and angles, while as a model of the projective plane there is no such
metric.
In the elliptic model, for any given line ℓ and a point A,
which is not on ℓ, all lines through A will intersect
ℓ.
Hyperbolic geometry[edit]
Even after the work of
Lobachevsky, Gauss, and Bolyai, the question remained: "Does such a model exist
for hyperbolic geometry?". The model for hyperbolic geometry was answered by Eugenio Beltrami, in 1868,
who first showed that a surface called the pseudosphere has the appropriate curvature to model a portion of hyperbolic space and in a
second paper in the same year, defined the Klein model which models the
entirety of hyperbolic space, and used this to show that Euclidean geometry and
hyperbolic geometry were equiconsistent so that hyperbolic geometry was logically consistent if and only if Euclidean
geometry was. (The reverse implication follows from the horosphere model of Euclidean geometry.)
In the hyperbolic model,
within a two-dimensional plane, for any given line ℓ and a point
A, which is not on ℓ, there are infinitely many lines through A that do not
intersect ℓ.
In these models the concepts of non-Euclidean geometries are being
represented by Euclidean objects in a Euclidean setting. This introduces a
perceptual distortion wherein the straight lines of the non-Euclidean geometry
are being represented by Euclidean curves which visually bend. This "bending" is
not a property of the non-Euclidean lines, only an artifice of the way they are
being represented.
Uncommon properties[edit]
Euclidean and
non-Euclidean geometries naturally have many similar properties, namely those
which do not depend upon the nature of parallelism. This commonality is the
subject of absolute geometry (also called neutral
geometry). However, the properties which distinguish one geometry from the
others are the ones which have historically received the most attention.
Besides the behavior of lines with respect to a common perpendicular,
mentioned in the introduction, we also have the following:
- A Lambert quadrilateral is a quadrilateral which has
three right angles. The fourth angle of a Lambert quadrilateral is acute if the geometry is hyperbolic, a right angle if the geometry
is Euclidean or obtuse if the geometry is elliptic. Consequently,
rectangles exist (a
statement equivalent to the parallel postulate) only in Euclidean geometry.
- A Saccheri quadrilateral is a
quadrilateral which has two sides of equal length, both perpendicular to a side
called the base. The other two angles of a Saccheri quadrilateral are
called the summit angles and they have equal measure. The summit angles
of a Saccheri quadrilateral are acute if the geometry is hyperbolic, right
angles if the geometry is Euclidean and obtuse angles if the geometry is
elliptic.
- The sum of the measures of the angles of any triangle is less than 180° if
the geometry is hyperbolic, equal to 180° if the geometry is Euclidean, and greater than 180° if the geometry is elliptic. The defect
of a triangle is the numerical value (180° - sum of the measures of the angles
of the triangle). This result may also be stated as: the defect of triangles in
hyperbolic geometry is positive, the defect of triangles in Euclidean geometry
is zero, and the defect of triangles in elliptic geometry is negative.
Importance[edit]
Non-Euclidean geometry
is an example of a paradigm shift in the history of science.[19] Before the
models of a non-Euclidean plane were presented by Beltrami, Klein, and Poincaré,
Euclidean geometry stood unchallenged as the mathematical model of space. Furthermore, since the substance of the
subject in synthetic geometry was a chief exhibit of
rationality, the Euclidean point of view represented absolute authority.
The discovery of the
non-Euclidean geometries had a ripple effect which went far beyond the
boundaries of mathematics and science. The philosopher Immanuel Kant's treatment of human knowledge had a
special role for geometry. It was his prime example of synthetic a priori
knowledge; not derived from the senses nor deduced through logic — our knowledge
of space was a truth that we were born with. Unfortunately for Kant, his concept
of this unalterably true geometry was Euclidean. Theology was also affected by
the change from absolute truth to relative truth in mathematics that was a
result of this paradigm shift.[20]
The existence of
non-Euclidean geometries impacted the "intellectual life" of Victorian England in many ways[21] and in
particular was one of the leading factors that caused a re-examination of the
teaching of geometry based on Euclid's Elements. This curriculum issue was hotly
debated at the time and was even the subject of a play, Euclid and his Modern
Rivals, written by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.[22]
Planar algebras[edit]
In analytic geometry a plane is described with Cartesian coordinates : C = {(x,y) :
x, y in R}. The points are sometimes identified with complex
numbers z = x + y ε where the square of ε is in {−1, 0,
+1}. The Euclidean plane corresponds to the case ε2 = −1 since the
modulus of z is given by
-
and this quantity is the
square of the Euclidean distance between z and the origin.
For instance, {z : z z* = 1} is the unit circle.
For planar algebra,
non-Euclidean geometry arises in the other cases. When ,
then z is a split-complex number and conventionally j replaces
epsilon. Then
-
and {z : z
z* = 1} is the unit hyperbola.
When ,
then z is a dual number.[23]
This approach to
non-Euclidean geometry explains the non-Euclidean angles: the parameters of slope in the dual number plane and hyperbolic angle in the
split-complex plane correspond to angle in Euclidean geometry. Indeed, they each
arise in polar decomposition of a
complex number z.[24]
Kinematic geometries[edit]
Hyperbolic geometry
found an application in kinematics with the cosmology introduced by Hermann Minkowski in 1908.
Minkowski introduced terms like worldline and proper time into mathematical physics. He realized that the submanifold, of events one
moment of proper time into the future, could be considered a hyperbolic space of three
dimensions.[25][26] Already in the
1890s Alexander Macfarlane was charting this submanifold
through his Algebra of Physics and hyperbolic quaternions, though Macfarlane didn’t
use cosmological language as Minkowski did in 1908. The relevant structure is
now called the hyperboloid model of hyperbolic geometry.
The non-Euclidean planar
algebras support kinematic geometries in the plane. For instance, the split-complex number z =
eaj can represent a spacetime event one moment into the future
of a frame of reference of rapidity a. Furthermore, multiplication by z
amounts to a Lorentz boost mapping the frame with rapidity zero
to that with rapidity a.
Kinematic study makes
use of the dual numbers
to represent the classical description of motion in absolute time and space: The
equations
are equivalent to a shear mapping in linear algebra:
-
With dual numbers the
mapping is [27]
Another view of special relativity as a non-Euclidean geometry was
advanced by E. B. Wilson and Gilbert Lewis in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1912. They revamped the analytic geometry
implicit in the split-complex number algebra into synthetic geometry of premises and deductions.[28][29]
Fiction[edit]
Non-Euclidean geometry
often makes appearances in works of science fiction and fantasy.
In 1895 H. G. Wells published the
short story "The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes". To appreciate this story
one should know how antipodal points on a sphere are identified in a
model of the elliptic plane. In the story, in the midst of a thunderstorm,
Sidney Davidson sees "Waves and a remarkably neat schooner" while working in an
electrical laboratory at Harlow Technical College. At the story’s close Davidson
proves to have witnessed H.M.S. Fulmar off Antipodes Island.
Non-Euclidean geometry
is sometimes connected with the influence of the 20th century horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. In his
works, many unnatural things follow their own unique laws of geometry: In
Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, the sunken city of R'lyeh is characterized by
its non-Euclidean geometry. It is heavily implied this is achieved as a side
effect of not following the natural laws of this universe rather than simply
using an alternate geometric model, as the sheer innate wrongness of it is said
to be capable of driving those who look upon it insane.[30]
The main character in Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance mentioned Riemannian Geometry on multiple
occasions.
In The Brothers Karamazov,
Dostoevsky discusses non-Euclidean geometry through his main character Ivan.
Christopher Priest's
novel Inverted World describes
the struggle of living on a planet with the form of a rotating pseudosphere.
Robert Heinlein's The Number of the Beast
utilizes non-Euclidean geometry to explain instantaneous transport through space
and time and between parallel and fictional universes.
Alexander Bruce's Antichamber uses non-Euclidean geometry to
create a brilliant, minimal, Escher-like world, where geometry and space follow
unfamiliar rules.
In the Renegade Legion science fiction setting for
FASA's wargame, role-playing-game and
fiction, faster-than-light travel and
communications is possible through the use of Hsieh Ho's Polydimensional
Non-Euclidean Geometry, published sometime in the middle of the twenty-second
century.
Wikipedia
Importance[edit]
Non-Euclidean geometry
is an example of a paradigm shift in the history of science.[19] Before the
models of a non-Euclidean plane were presented by Beltrami, Klein, and Poincaré,
Euclidean geometry stood unchallenged as the mathematical model of space. Furthermore, since the substance of the
subject in synthetic geometry was a chief exhibit of
rationality, the Euclidean point of view represented absolute authority.
The discovery of the
non-Euclidean geometries had a ripple effect which went far beyond the
boundaries of mathematics and science. The philosopher Immanuel Kant's treatment of human knowledge had a
special role for geometry. It was his prime example of synthetic a priori
knowledge; not derived from the senses nor deduced through logic — our knowledge
of space was a truth that we were born with. Unfortunately for Kant, his concept
of this unalterably true geometry was Euclidean. Theology was also affected by
the change from absolute truth to relative truth in mathematics that was a
result of this paradigm shift.[20]
The existence of
non-Euclidean geometries impacted the "intellectual life" of Victorian England in many ways[21] and in
particular was one of the leading factors that caused a re-examination of the
teaching of geometry based on Euclid's Elements. This curriculum issue was hotly
debated at the time and was even the subject of a play, Euclid and his Modern
Rivals, written by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.[22]
Planar algebras[edit]
In analytic geometry a plane is described with Cartesian coordinates : C = {(x,y) :
x, y in R}. The points are sometimes identified with complex
numbers z = x + y ε where the square of ε is in {−1, 0,
+1}. The Euclidean plane corresponds to the case ε2 = −1 since the
modulus of z is given by
and this quantity is the
square of the Euclidean distance between z and the origin.
For instance, {z : z z* = 1} is the unit circle.
For planar algebra,
non-Euclidean geometry arises in the other cases. When ,
then z is a split-complex number and conventionally j replaces
epsilon. Then
and {z : z
z* = 1} is the unit hyperbola.
When ,
then z is a dual number.[23]
This approach to
non-Euclidean geometry explains the non-Euclidean angles: the parameters of slope in the dual number plane and hyperbolic angle in the
split-complex plane correspond to angle in Euclidean geometry. Indeed, they each
arise in polar decomposition of a
complex number z.[24]
Kinematic geometries[edit]
Hyperbolic geometry
found an application in kinematics with the cosmology introduced by Hermann Minkowski in 1908.
Minkowski introduced terms like worldline and proper time into mathematical physics. He realized that the submanifold, of events one
moment of proper time into the future, could be considered a hyperbolic space of three
dimensions.[25][26] Already in the
1890s Alexander Macfarlane was charting this submanifold
through his Algebra of Physics and hyperbolic quaternions, though Macfarlane didn’t
use cosmological language as Minkowski did in 1908. The relevant structure is
now called the hyperboloid model of hyperbolic geometry.
The non-Euclidean planar
algebras support kinematic geometries in the plane. For instance, the split-complex number z =
eaj can represent a spacetime event one moment into the future
of a frame of reference of rapidity a. Furthermore, multiplication by z
amounts to a Lorentz boost mapping the frame with rapidity zero
to that with rapidity a.
Kinematic study makes
use of the dual numbers
to represent the classical description of motion in absolute time and space: The
equations
are equivalent to a shear mapping in linear algebra:
With dual numbers the
mapping is [27]
Another view of special relativity as a non-Euclidean geometry was
advanced by E. B. Wilson and Gilbert Lewis in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1912. They revamped the analytic geometry
implicit in the split-complex number algebra into synthetic geometry of premises and deductions.[28][29]
Fiction[edit]
Non-Euclidean geometry
often makes appearances in works of science fiction and fantasy.
In 1895 H. G. Wells published the
short story "The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes". To appreciate this story
one should know how antipodal points on a sphere are identified in a
model of the elliptic plane. In the story, in the midst of a thunderstorm,
Sidney Davidson sees "Waves and a remarkably neat schooner" while working in an
electrical laboratory at Harlow Technical College. At the story’s close Davidson
proves to have witnessed H.M.S. Fulmar off Antipodes Island.
Non-Euclidean geometry
is sometimes connected with the influence of the 20th century horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. In his
works, many unnatural things follow their own unique laws of geometry: In
Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, the sunken city of R'lyeh is characterized by
its non-Euclidean geometry. It is heavily implied this is achieved as a side
effect of not following the natural laws of this universe rather than simply
using an alternate geometric model, as the sheer innate wrongness of it is said
to be capable of driving those who look upon it insane.[30]
The main character in Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance mentioned Riemannian Geometry on multiple
occasions.
In The Brothers Karamazov,
Dostoevsky discusses non-Euclidean geometry through his main character Ivan.
Christopher Priest's
novel Inverted World describes
the struggle of living on a planet with the form of a rotating pseudosphere.
Robert Heinlein's The Number of the Beast
utilizes non-Euclidean geometry to explain instantaneous transport through space
and time and between parallel and fictional universes.
Alexander Bruce's Antichamber uses non-Euclidean geometry to
create a brilliant, minimal, Escher-like world, where geometry and space follow
unfamiliar rules.
In the Renegade Legion science fiction setting for
FASA's wargame, role-playing-game and
fiction, faster-than-light travel and
communications is possible through the use of Hsieh Ho's Polydimensional
Non-Euclidean Geometry, published sometime in the middle of the twenty-second
century.
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