Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/ib/paper-1/2e/solution

After the sides are identified in pairs, the polygonal-schema Euler count gives one face, edges and some number of vertices. The Euler characteristic of a closed orientable genus- surface is , so
For genus two, take a regular octagon in the Poincare disc model and identify each side with its opposite side, with the orientation reversed along the boundary. One cyclic labelling is
The quotient has , , and , hence Euler characteristic and genus two. All eight vertices become one point, so smoothness requires their angles to sum to . Each interior angle is consequently
Equivalently, the hyperbolic polygon area formula shows that the regular hyperbolic octagon fundamental polygon has area
as required by the Gauss-Bonnet theorem for a genus-two surface of curvature .

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