Klein geometry

noun

A type of geometry (mathematical object representing a space and its spatial relationships); a homogeneous space X together with a symmetry group which represents the group action on X of some Lie group;

“Given a Klein geometry (G,H), the group G is called the principal group and G#47;H is called the space of the geometry.”

Meanings

nounKlein geometry (plural Klein geometries)

plural Klein geometries

  1. differential geometryA type of geometry (mathematical object representing a space and its spatial relationships); a homogeneous space X together with a symmetry group which represents the group action on X of some Lie group;

    Given a Klein geometry (G,H), the group G is called the principal group and G#47;H is called the space of the geometry.

    4 more examples

    The space of a Klein geometry is a smooth manifold of dimension #92;operatorname#123;dim#125;G-#92;operatorname#123;dim#125;H.

    The present paper develops the general theory of non-holonomic geometries as generalizations of Klein geometries starting from a set of fundamental assumptions presented in the form of postulates.

    1934, American Journal of Mathematics, volume 56, Johns Hopkins University Press, page 153

    The kernel of a Klein geometry (G,H) is the largest subgroup K of H that is normal in G. A Klein geometry (G,H) is effective if K#61;1 and locally effective if K is discrete. A Klein geometry is geometrically oriented if G is connected.

    2006, Luciano Boi, “The Aleph of Space”, in Giandomenico Sica, editor, What is Geometry?, Polimetrica, page 91

    A careful geometric study of Klein geometries is available in [Sh97, Chapter 4]. Given a Klein geometry (G,H) we may first ask whether all of G is “visible” on G#47;H, i.e. whether the action #92;mathcal#123;l#125; of G on G#47;H is effective. In this case, we call the Klein geometry effective.

    2009, Andreas Čap, Jan Slovák, Parabolic Geometries I, American Mathematical Society, page 49
  2. A type of geometry (mathematical object representing a space and its spatial relationships); a homogeneous space X together with a symmetry group which represents the group action on X of some Lie group; (more formally) an ordered pair (G, H), where G is a Lie group and H a closed Lie subgroup of G such that the left coset space G / H is connected.
    1. differential geometry; more formallyan ordered pair (G, H), where G is a Lie group and H a closed Lie subgroup of G such that the left coset space G / H is connected.
  3. broadlyThe coset space G / H.

Origin

Named after German mathematician Christian Felix Klein (1849—1925). The concept arose from Klein's Erlangen program (published 1872).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Kleinsche Geometrie
  • Kleinsche Geometrietype of geometry
Cite this entry
APA

Klein geometry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Klein%20geometry

MLA

“Klein geometry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Klein%20geometry. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Klein geometry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Klein%20geometry.

Source: Klein geometry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.