In
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
, hyperbolic angle is a
real number
In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a continuous one- dimensional quantity such as a duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that pairs of values can have arbitrarily small differences. Every re ...
determined by the
area
Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...
of the corresponding
hyperbolic sector
A hyperbolic sector is a region (mathematics), region of the Cartesian plane bounded by a hyperbola and two ray (geometry), rays from the origin to it. For example, the two points and on the Hyperbola#Rectangular hyperbola, rectangular hyperbol ...
of ''xy'' = 1 in Quadrant I of the
Cartesian plane. The hyperbolic angle parametrizes the
unit hyperbola, which has
hyperbolic functions as coordinates. In mathematics, hyperbolic angle is an
invariant measure as it is preserved under
hyperbolic rotation.
The hyperbola ''xy'' = 1 is
rectangular with semi-major axis
, analogous to the circular
angle
In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...
equaling the area of a
circular sector in a circle with radius
.
Hyperbolic angle is used as the
independent variable for the
hyperbolic functions sinh, cosh, and tanh, because these functions may be premised on hyperbolic analogies to the corresponding circular (trigonometric) functions by regarding a hyperbolic angle as defining a
hyperbolic triangle.
The parameter thus becomes one of the most useful in the
calculus
Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations.
Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...
of
real variables.
Definition
Consider the rectangular hyperbola
, and (by convention) pay particular attention to the ''branch''
.
First define:
* The hyperbolic angle in ''standard position'' is the
angle
In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...
at
between the ray to
and the ray to
, where
.
* The magnitude of this angle is the
area
Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...
of the corresponding
hyperbolic sector
A hyperbolic sector is a region (mathematics), region of the Cartesian plane bounded by a hyperbola and two ray (geometry), rays from the origin to it. For example, the two points and on the Hyperbola#Rectangular hyperbola, rectangular hyperbol ...
, which turns out to be
.
Note that, because of the role played by the
natural logarithm
The natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of a logarithm, base of the e (mathematical constant), mathematical constant , which is an Irrational number, irrational and Transcendental number, transcendental number approxima ...
:
* Unlike circular angle, the hyperbolic angle is ''unbounded'' (because
is unbounded); this is related to the fact that the
harmonic series is unbounded.
* The formula for the magnitude of the angle suggests that, for
, the hyperbolic angle should be negative. This reflects the fact that, as defined, the angle is ''directed''.
Finally, extend the definition of ''hyperbolic angle'' to that subtended by any interval on the hyperbola. Suppose
are
positive real numbers such that
and
, so that
and
are points on the hyperbola
and determine an interval on it. Then the
squeeze mapping
In linear algebra, a squeeze mapping, also called a squeeze transformation, is a type of linear map that preserves Euclidean area of regions in the Cartesian plane, but is ''not'' a rotation (mathematics), rotation or shear mapping.
For a fixed p ...
maps the angle
to the ''standard position'' angle
. By the result of
Gregoire de Saint-Vincent, the hyperbolic sectors determined by these angles have the same area, which is taken to be the magnitude of the angle. This magnitude is
.
Comparison with circular angle

A
unit circle
In mathematics, a unit circle is a circle of unit radius—that is, a radius of 1. Frequently, especially in trigonometry, the unit circle is the circle of radius 1 centered at the origin (0, 0) in the Cartesian coordinate system in the Eucli ...
has a
circular sector with an area half of the circular angle in radians. Analogously, a
unit hyperbola has a
hyperbolic sector
A hyperbolic sector is a region (mathematics), region of the Cartesian plane bounded by a hyperbola and two ray (geometry), rays from the origin to it. For example, the two points and on the Hyperbola#Rectangular hyperbola, rectangular hyperbol ...
with an area half of the hyperbolic angle.
There is also a projective resolution between circular and hyperbolic cases: both curves are
conic section
A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a cone's surface intersecting a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, tho ...
s, and hence are treated as
projective ranges in
projective geometry
In mathematics, projective geometry is the study of geometric properties that are invariant with respect to projective transformations. This means that, compared to elementary Euclidean geometry, projective geometry has a different setting (''p ...
. Given an origin point on one of these ranges, other points correspond to angles. The idea of addition of angles, basic to science, corresponds to addition of points on one of these ranges as follows:
Circular angles can be characterized geometrically by the property that if two
chords ''P'P'' and ''P'P'' subtend angles ''L'' and ''L'' at the centre of a circle, their sum is the angle subtended by a chord ''P'Q'', where ''P'Q'' is required to be parallel to ''P'P''.
The same construction can also be applied to the hyperbola. If ''P'' is taken to be the point , ''P'' the point , and ''P'' the point , then the parallel condition requires that ''Q'' be the point . It thus makes sense to define the hyperbolic angle from ''P'' to an arbitrary point on the curve as a logarithmic function of the point's value of ''x''.
Whereas in
Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematics, Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry, ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set ...
moving steadily in an orthogonal direction to a ray from the origin traces out a circle, in a
pseudo-Euclidean plane steadily moving orthogonally to a ray from the origin traces out a hyperbola. In Euclidean space, the multiple of a given angle traces equal distances around a circle while it traces exponential distances upon the hyperbolic line.
Both circular and hyperbolic angle provide instances of an
invariant measure. Arcs with an angular magnitude on a circle generate a
measure on certain
measurable sets on the circle whose magnitude does not vary as the circle turns or
rotates. For the hyperbola the turning is by
squeeze mapping
In linear algebra, a squeeze mapping, also called a squeeze transformation, is a type of linear map that preserves Euclidean area of regions in the Cartesian plane, but is ''not'' a rotation (mathematics), rotation or shear mapping.
For a fixed p ...
, and the hyperbolic angle magnitudes stay the same when the plane is squeezed by a mapping
:(''x'', ''y'') ↦ (''rx'', ''y'' / ''r''), with ''r'' > 0 .
Relation To The Minkowski Line Element
There is also a curious relation to a hyperbolic angle and the metric defined on
Minkowski space. Just as two dimensional Euclidean geometry defines its
line element as
:
the line element on Minkowski space is
:
Consider a curve embedded in two dimensional Euclidean space,
:
Where the parameter
is a real number that runs between
and
(