A new proof of the nonexistence of isometries between higher dimensional Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces (Q5964966): Difference between revisions

This paper starts with the notion of a metric \(n\)-hyperplane, \(n\geq 1\), defined as a subset \(S\subset X\) of a metric space \((X,d)\) such that there exists a bijection \(f:S\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^n\), \(n\geq 1\), such that \(d(x,y)=\|f(x)-f(y)\|\) for all \(x,y\in S\). In particular, metric \(1\)-hyperplanes are usual metric lines. The author then proves that if \(X\) is a Euclidean metric space, then its metric \(n\)-hyperplanes coincide with its usual \(n\)-dimensional planes, and that if \(X\) admits a hyperbolic distance and \(n\geq 2\), then its metric \(n\)-hyperplanes never coincide with its usual \(n\)-dimensional planes. This provides a new proof of the nonexistence of isometries between higher dimensional Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces. The proof of the hyperbolic part uses so-called gyroalgebra, developed by \textit{A. A. Ungar} [A gyrovector space approach to hyperbolic geometry. San Rafael, CA: Morgan \& Claypool Publishers (2009; Zbl 1208.51014)], for example.