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In mathematics, the Hjelmslev transformation is an effective method for mapping an entire hyperbolic plane into a circle with a finite radius. The transformation was invented by Danish mathematician Johannes Hjelmslev. It utilizes Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky's 23rd theorem from his work Geometrical Investigations on the Theory of Parallels.
Lobachevsky observes, using a combination of his 16th and 23rd theorems, that it is a fundamental characteristic of hyperbolic geometry that there must exist a distinct angle of parallelism for any given line length. Let us say for the length AE, its angle of parallelism is angle BAF. This being the case, line AH and EJ will be hyperparallel, and therefore will never meet. Consequently, any line drawn perpendicular to base AE between A and E must necessarily cross line AH at some finite distance. Johannes Hjelmslev discovered from this a method of compressing an entire hyperbolic plane into a finite circle. The method is as follows: for any angle of parallelism, draw from its line AE a perpendicular to the other ray; using that cutoff length, e.g., AH, as the radius of a circle, "map" the point H onto the line AE. This point H thus mapped must fall between A and E. By applying this process for every line within the plane, the infinite hyperbolic space thus becomes contained and planar. Hjelmslev's transformation does not yield a proper circle however. The circumference of the circle created does not have a corresponding location within the plane, and therefore, the product of a Hjelmslev transformation is more aptly called a Hjelmslev Disk. Likewise, when this transformation is extended in all three dimensions, it is referred to as a Hjelmslev Ball.
There are a few properties that are retained through the transformation which enable valuable information to be ascertained therefrom, namely: