Hyperbolic blue

Hyperbolic geometry, introduced in the nineteenth century, is a mathematical field that has profoundly transformed the way geometry has been taught since antiquity. In this space with unusual properties, light does not travel in a straight line but along geodesics, the shortest curves between two points, thus altering our visual perception of the world. Scientists have developed an application that simulates in real time what the “inhabitants” of such a universe would see. The image features a three-dimensional, finite volume, hyperbolic manifold, lit by a luminous globe. The ultimate goal of this project is to decipher the properties of such spaces. And to open a window onto an imaginary world sketching out the outlines of a science that can sometimes seem abstract. This image was awarded the Grand Jury Prize in the 2022 La preuve par l’image (LPPI) photography competition.