Contemporary geometry
Euclidean geometry
Main article: Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry is geometry in its classical sense.[90] As it models the space of the physical world, it is
used in many scientific areas, such as mechanics, astronomy, crystallography,[91] and many technical
fields, such as engineering,[92] architecture,[93] geodesy,[94] aerodynamics,[95] and navigation.[96] The
mandatory educational curriculum of the majority of nations includes the study of Euclidean concepts such
as points, lines, planes, angles, triangles, congruence, similarity, solid figures, circles, and analytic
geometry.[38]
Differential geometry
Differential geometry uses tools from calculus to study problems involving curvature.
Main article: Differential geometry
Differential geometry uses techniques of calculus and linear algebra to study problems in geometry.[97] It
has applications in physics,[98] econometrics,[99] and bioinformatics,[100] among others.
In particular, differential geometry is of importance to mathematical physics due to Albert Einstein's general
relativity postulation that the universe is curved.[101] Differential geometry can either be intrinsic (meaning
that the spaces it considers are smooth manifolds whose geometric structure is governed by a Riemannian
metric, which determines how distances are measured near each point) or extrinsic (where the object
under study is a part of some ambient flat Euclidean space). [102]
Non-Euclidean geometry
Main article: Non-Euclidean geometry
Euclidean geometry was not the only historical form of geometry studied. Spherical geometry has long
been used by astronomers, astrologers, and navigators.[103]
Immanuel Kant argued that there is only one, absolute, geometry, which is known to be true a priori by an
inner faculty of mind: Euclidean geometry was synthetic a priori.[104] This view was at first somewhat
challenged by thinkers such as Saccheri, then finally overturned by the revolutionary discovery of non-
Euclidean geometry in the works of Bolyai, Lobachevsky, and Gauss (who never published his theory).
[105] They demonstrated that ordinary Euclidean space is only one possibility for development of geometry.
A broad vision of the subject of geometry was then expressed by Riemann in his 1867 inauguration
lecture Über die Hypothesen, welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen (On the hypotheses on which
geometry is based),[106] published only after his death. Riemann's new idea of space proved crucial
in Albert Einstein's general relativity theory. Riemannian geometry, which considers very general spaces in
which the notion of length is defined, is a mainstay of modern geometry. [83]
Topology
Main article: Topology
A thickening of the trefoil knot
Topology is the field concerned with the properties of continuous mappings,[107] and can be considered a
generalization of Euclidean geometry.[108] In practice, topology often means dealing with large-scale
properties of spaces, such as connectedness and compactness.[52]
The field of topology, which saw massive development in the 20th century, is in a technical sense a type
of transformation geometry, in which transformations are homeomorphisms.[109] This has often been
expressed in the form of the saying 'topology is rubber-sheet geometry'. Subfields of topology
include geometric topology, differential topology, algebraic topology and general topology.[110]
Algebraic geometry
Main article: Algebraic geometry
Quintic Calabi–Yau threefold
The field of algebraic geometry developed from the Cartesian geometry of co-ordinates.[111] It underwent
periodic periods of growth, accompanied by the creation and study of projective geometry, birational
geometry, algebraic varieties, and commutative algebra, among other topics.[112] From the late 1950s
through the mid-1970s it had undergone major foundational development, largely due to work of Jean-
Pierre Serre and Alexander Grothendieck.[112] This led to the introduction of schemes and greater
emphasis on topological methods, including various cohomology theories. One of seven Millennium Prize
problems, the Hodge conjecture, is a question in algebraic geometry.[113] Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last
Theorem uses advanced methods of algebraic geometry for solving a long-standing problem of number
theory.
In general, algebraic geometry studies geometry through the use of concepts in commutative algebra such
as multivariate polynomials.[114] It has applications in many areas, including cryptography[115] and string
theory.[116]
Complex geometry
Main article: Complex geometry
Complex geometry studies the nature of geometric structures modelled on, or arising out of, the complex
plane.[117][118][119] Complex geometry lies at the intersection of differential geometry, algebraic
geometry, and analysis of several complex variables, and has found applications to string theory and mirror
symmetry.[120]
Complex geometry first appeared as a distinct area of study in the work of Bernhard Riemann in his study
of Riemann surfaces.[121][122][123] Work in the spirit of Riemann was carried out by the Italian school of
algebraic geometry in the early 1900s. Contemporary treatment of complex geometry began with the work
of Jean-Pierre Serre, who introduced the concept of sheaves to the subject, and illuminated the relations
between complex geometry and algebraic geometry.[124][125] The primary objects of study in complex
geometry are complex manifolds, complex algebraic varieties, and complex analytic varieties,
and holomorphic vector bundles and coherent sheaves over these spaces. Special examples of spaces
studied in complex geometry include Riemann surfaces, and Calabi-Yau manifolds, and these spaces find
uses in string theory. In particular, worldsheets of strings are modelled by Riemann surfaces,
and superstring theory predicts that the extra 6 dimensions of 10 dimensional spacetime may be modelled
by Calabi-Yau manifolds.
Discrete geometry
Main article: Discrete geometry
Discrete geometry includes the study of various sphere packings.
Discrete geometry is a subject that has close connections with convex geometry.[126][127][128] It is
concerned mainly with questions of relative position of simple geometric objects, such as points, lines and
circles. Examples include the study of sphere packings, triangulations, the Kneser-Poulsen conjecture, etc.
[129][130] It shares many methods and principles with combinatorics.
Computational geometry
Main article: Computational geometry
Computational geometry deals with algorithms and their implementations for manipulating geometrical
objects. Important problems historically have included the travelling salesman problem, minimum spanning
trees, hidden-line removal, and linear programming.[131]
Although being a young area of geometry, it has many applications in computer vision, image
processing, computer-aided design, medical imaging, etc.[132]
Geometric group theory
Main article: Geometric group theory
The Cayley graph of the free group on two generators a and b
Geometric group theory uses large-scale geometric techniques to study finitely generated groups.[133] It is
closely connected to low-dimensional topology, such as in Grigori Perelman's proof of the Geometrization
conjecture, which included the proof of the Poincaré conjecture, a Millennium Prize Problem.[134]
Geometric group theory often revolves around the Cayley graph, which is a geometric representation of a
group. Other important topics include quasi-isometries, Gromov-hyperbolic groups, and right angled Artin
groups.[133][135]
Convex geometry
Main article: Convex geometry
Convex geometry investigates convex shapes in the Euclidean space and its more abstract analogues,
often using techniques of real analysis and discrete mathematics.[136] It has close connections to convex
analysis, optimization and functional analysis and important applications in number theory.
Convex geometry dates back to antiquity.[136] Archimedes gave the first known precise definition of
convexity. The isoperimetric problem, a recurring concept in convex geometry, was studied by the Greeks
as well, including Zenodorus. Archimedes, Plato, Euclid, and later Kepler and Coxeter all studied convex
polytopes and their properties. From the 19th century on, mathematicians have studied other areas of
convex mathematics, including higher-dimensional polytopes, volume and surface area of convex
bodies, Gaussian curvature, algorithms, tilings and lattices.
