Planar subspaces are intrinsically CAT(0) (Q1998646)

Let \(M_{\kappa}^{2}\) be a complete, simply connected, Riemannian 2-manifold of constant curvature \(\kappa \leq0.\) The following theorem is proven. Theorem. Let \(E\) be a closed, simply connected subspace of \(M_{\kappa}^{2}\) with the property that every pair of points in \(E\) is connected by a rectifiable path in \(E\). Then \(E,\) under the induced path metric, is a complete \(\operatorname{CAT}(\kappa)\) space. The method of proof is based on some angle calculations. Among others, there are two natural notions of angles for triangles in \(E\). The first one comes from the subspace metric and is referred to as the extrinsic angle and the second one is the well-known Alexandrov angle which comes from the induced path metric. In the proof of the theorem above the following result is essential and it is also proven in the paper: For every geodesic triangle in \(E\) (under the induced path metric), the extrinsic and Alexandrov angles are equal.