Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/ib/paper-3/14b/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 ib Paper 3 14B b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
If two hyperbolic lines intersect, move their intersection to the centre of the Poincaré disk model. Lines through the centre are diameters. Reflection in a diameter making Euclidean angle with the real axis is . The composition of two such reflections is the rotation . The Poincaré disk model is conformal, so the Euclidean angle difference is the hyperbolic intersection angle , up to sign and replacing it by , neither of which changes rationality of .
The rotation has finite order exactly when for some positive integer , equivalently . If in lowest terms, its order is . Conversely, the nonintersecting cases in part(a) have infinite order. Therefore
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