HPS 0410 | Einstein for Everyone |
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John D. Norton
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Pittsburgh
The five postulates on which Euclid based his geometry are:
1. To draw a straight line from any point to
any point.
2. To produce a finite straight line
continuously in a straight line.
3. To describe a circle with any center
and distance.
4. That all right angles are equal to one
another.
5. That, if a straight line falling on
two straight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two
right angles,
the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which
are the angles less than the two right angles.
5ONE. Through any given point can be drawn exactly one straightline parallel to a given line.
In trying to demonstrate that the fifth postulate had to hold, geometers
considered the other possible postulates that might replace 5'. The two
alternatives as given by Playfair are:
5MORE. Through any given point MORE than
one straight line can be drawn parallel to a given line.
5NONE. Through any given point NO straight lines can be drawn
parallel to a given line.
Once you see that this is the geometry of great circles on spheres, you also
see that postulate 5NONE cannot live happily with the first four
postulates after all. They need some minor adjustment:
1'. Two distinct points determine at least one straight
line.
2'. A straight line is boundless (i.e. has no end).
Each of the three alternative forms of the fifth postulate are associated with
a distinct geometry:
Spherical Geometry Positive curvature Postulate 5NONE |
Euclidean Geometry Flat Euclid's Postulate 5 |
Hyperbolic Geometry Negative Curvature Postulate 5MORE |
|
Straight lines | Finite length; connect back onto themselves |
Infinite length | Infinite length |
Sum of angles of a triangle | More than 2 right angles | 2 right angles | Less than 2 right angles |
Circumference of a circle | Less than 2π times radius | 2π times radius | More than 2π times radius |
Area of a circle | Less than π(radius)2 | π(radius)2 | More than π(radius)2 |
Surface area of a sphere | Less than 4π(radius)2 | 4π(radius)2 | More than 4π(radius)2 |
Volume of a sphere | Less than 4π/3(radius)3 | 4π/3(radius)3 | More than 4π/3(radius)3 |
In very small regions of space, the three geometries are indistinguishable.
For small triangles, the sum of the angles is very close to 2 right angles in
both spherical and hyperbolic geometries.
For convenience of reference, here is the summary of geodesic deviation, developed in the chapter "Spaces of Variable Curvature"
The effect of geodesic deviations enables us to determine the curvature of space by experiments done locally within the space and without need to think about a higher dimensioned space into which our space may (or may not) curve.
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geodesics converge | positive curvature |
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geodesics retain constant spacing |
zero curvature flat (Euclidean) |
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geodesics diverge | negative curvature |
Copyright John D. Norton. December 28, 2006.