[Math] Law of sines: uniform proof of Euclidean, spherical & hyperbolic cases

geometryhyperbolic-geometryspherical-geometry

There is a unified formulation of law of sines which is true in all 3 constant curvature geometries (Euclidean, spherical, hyperbolic):
$$
\frac{l(a)}{\sin\alpha}=
\frac{l(b)}{\sin\beta}=
\frac{l(c)}{\sin\gamma},
$$
where $l(r)$ is the circumference of a circle of radius $r$.

Is there a ‘uniform’ proof that works in all 3 geometries?


Comments and thoughts

  1. Of course, spherical law of sines implies Euclidean law by taking limit $R\to\infty$ and hyperbolic law by analytic continuation. One may argue that this is a unified proof. Still, it would be nice to have one argument applicable in each of 3 geometries.
  2. One approach is to try to find a geometric meaning of this ratio. The answer in the Euclidean case is well-known ($\approx$circumradius), but it seems that there is no simple answer in either hyperbolic or spherical case.
  3. In all 3 geometries the law of sines can be deduced from the law of cosines. Unfortunately (1) I don’t know a nice unified formulation of law of cosines; (2) this deduction uses some not very enlightening computation — that magically fits together with a completely unrelated computation of the circumference of a circle to give the unified formulation mentioned above…

Best Answer

Strictly speaking, there is just one approach to a uniform proof, which is the one given by Elementary Differential Geometry , Christian Bär, pages 201-209. This approach is based on Riemannian geometry.

The impossibility of coming up with a 'rule-and-compass' uniform proof is that the Pythagorean theorem is expressed in essential different ways:

  • Euclidean geometry: $a^2+b^2=c^2$

  • Spherical geometry: $\cos(a)\cos(b)=\cos(c)$

  • Hyperbolic geometry: $\cosh(a)\cosh(b)=\cosh(c)$

It is true that we may derive the following formulae for rectangular triangles:

  • Euclidean geometry: $\sin(\alpha)=\frac{a}{c}$

  • Spherical geometry: $\sin(\alpha)=\frac{\sin(a)}{\sin(c)}$

  • Hyperbolic geometry: $\sin(\alpha)=\frac{\sinh(a)}{\sinh(c)}$

and then the usual proof of the sine rule applies to the other two cases (just dividing a triangle into two rectagle ones by an altitude), but whereas $\sin(\alpha)=\frac{a}{c}$ is a definition, the other two expressions have to be found in a different way.