Classification of Geometries with Projective Metric

Abstract

In the Cayley-Klein projective metric it is ordinarily assumed that the measure of angles, plane and dihedral, is always elliptic, i.e. in a sheaf of planes or lines there is no actual plane or line which makes an infinite angle with the others. With this restriction there are only three kinds of geometry—Parabolic, Hyperbolic and Elliptic, i.e. the geometries of Euclid, Lobachevskij and Riemann ; and the form of the absolute is also limited. Thus in plane geometry the only degenerate form of the absolute which is possible is two coincident straight lines and a pair of imaginary points ; in three dimensions the absolute cannot be a ruled quadric, other than two coincident planes. If, however, this restriction as to angular measurement is removed, there are 9 systems of plane geometry and 27 in three dimensions; for the measure of distance, plane angle and dihedral angle may be parabolic, hyperbolic, or elliptic.