Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/ib/paper-4/11e/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 4 11E b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The Poincare disc model isIts geodesics through the origin are the Euclidean diameters. To see directly that the radial segment from to minimizes length, write an arbitrary joining curve as . Its hyperbolic length satisfiesThe radial segment has constant and monotone , so equality holds. Henceand every radial diameter is length minimizing. Rotational symmetry and uniqueness for the geodesic equation show that these are all geodesics through .
Given any geodesic and a point on it, a disc-preserving maptakes to the origin. By part (a), is a hyperbolic isometry and commutes with . The transformed geodesic is a diameter, hence a generalized circle invariant under . Its inverse image is therefore also a Generalized circle under a Möbius transformation invariant under . Thus every hyperbolic geodesic is the part in of a Euclidean line or circle preserved by reflection in the unit circle; equivalently, it is a diameter or a circle orthogonal to the unit circle. This is the Geodesics of the Poincare disc description.
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