On the Aleksandrov Problem of Conservative Distances (Q4027744)

The theorem of Beckman/Quarles [\textit{F. S. Beckman} and \textit{D. A. Quarles, jun.}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 4, 810-815 (1953; Zbl 0052.182)] says that in a euclidean \(E^ n\), \(1 < n < \infty\), any map \(E^ n \to E^ n\) preserving the unit distance is an isometry. By the second author an example is given that this theorem does not hold for infinite \(n\) [see also \textit{W. Benz}, Geometrische Transformationen, Part (1992; Zbl 0754.51005), part 1.6]. The authors show that for the infinite case any homeomorphism conserving a non trivial distance is an isometry. Motivated by investigations in theoretical physics the same result is proved for a homeomorphism of the unit sphere in a real Hilbert space preserving the angular distance \(\pi/2\).