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DID LOBACHEVSKY HAVE A MODEL OF HIS "IMAGINARY GEOMETRY"?

Rodin, Andrei (2010) DID LOBACHEVSKY HAVE A MODEL OF HIS "IMAGINARY GEOMETRY"? [Preprint]

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Abstract

The invention of non-Euclidean geometries is often seen through the optics of Hilbertian formal axiomatic method developed later in the 19th century. However such an anachronistic approach fails to provide a sound reading of Lobachevsky's geometrical works. Although the modern notion of model of a given theory has a counterpart in Lobachevsky's writings its role in Lobachevsky's geometrical theory turns to be very unusual. Lobachevsky doesn't consider various models of Hyperbolic geometry, as the modern reader would expect, but uses a non-standard model of Euclidean plane (as a particular surface in the Hyperbolic 3-space). In this paper I consider this Lobachevsky's construction, and show how it can be better analyzed within an alternative non-Hilbertian foundational framework, which relates the history of geometry of the 19th century to some recent developments in the field.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
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Rodin, Andrei
Keywords: Lobachevsky, Hilbert, geometry
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Mathematics
Depositing User: Dr. Andrei Rodin
Date Deposited: 12 Aug 2010
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:14
Item ID: 2883
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Mathematics
Date: July 2010
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2883

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