Simpler foundations for the hyperbolic plane
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Simpler foundations for the hyperbolic plane
zbMATH Open document ID: 1523.51004
author: John Bamberg
author: Tim Penttila
published in: Forum Mathematicum
publication date: 2023-09-18T00:00:00Z
full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.05933
review text: \textit{K. Menger} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris 207, 458--460 (1938; Zbl 0019.36305); Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 24, 486--490 (1938; Zbl 0020.15802); Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 44, 821--824 (1938; Zbl 0020.15801)] pointed out that point-line incidence suffices to define the basic notions of plane hyperbolic geometry and thus it suffices as single primitive notion for plane hyperbolic geometry. This raised the question of a simple, readable axiom system in terms of point-line incidence alone. This task was taken up by Menger's students at the University of Notre Dame, J. C. Abbott, F. P. Jenks, and H. F. De Baggis, who published a series of papers between 1939 and 1948 in the Rep. Math. Colloq., II. Ser, to which a paper by Menger himself must be mentioned. A particularly simple axiom system came to light in that sequence of papers, through a sustained collective effort. There was just one blemish, namely the need for a special case of the Fundamental Law of Projectivities, which didn't quite fit into the first-order framework of the axiom system, and which could not be eliminated even in the survey by \textit{K. Menger} [in: A spectrum of mathematics. Essays presented to H. G. Forder. Auckland: Auckland University Press; Oxford University Press. 86--97 (1971; Zbl 0237.50002)]. The only other significant mention of the results of Menger and of his students during his lifetime, 1902--1985, was in pages 301--311 of \textit{W. Schwabhäuser}, \textit{W. Szmielew}, \textit{A. Tarski} [Metamathematische Methoden in der Geometrie. Teil I: Ein axiomatischer Aufbau der euklidischen Geometrie. Teil II: Metamathematische Betrachtungen. Berlin: Springer-Verlag (1983; Zbl 0564.51001)]. Later on, \textit{H. L. Skala}, a Ph. D. student of Menger, revived the subject in an admirable way, providing the first elementary (i.e., first-order) axiom system for hyperbolic geometry in [Geom. Dedicata 44, No. 3, 255--272 (1992; Zbl 0780.51015)]. It contained the configuration theorems of Desargues, Pa…
reviewed by: Victor V. Pambuccian
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 51A20
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 51A30
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 51A45
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 51G05
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 51M10
zbMATH DE Number: 7739177
zbMATH Keywords: hyperbolic plane
zbMATH Keywords: metric plane
zbMATH Keywords: first-order axiomatisation
zbMATH Keywords: abstract oval
MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile
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DOI: 10.1515/FORUM-2022-0268
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 7739177