Relativistic Frame–Dependent Trisection of an Angle and Triangle in Minkowski SpaceTime

14 April 2026, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed by Cambridge University Press at the time of posting.

Abstract

The classical impossibility of trisecting an arbitrary angle using an unmarked straight- edge and compass, established by Wantzel in 1837, is formulated within Euclidean geometry, which at the time was widely assumed to describe physical space. Modern physics, however, shows that physical reality is governed by Minkowski spacetime, in which spatial geometry is observer-dependent. In this paper, we extend the notion of geometric construction to in- clude transformations between inertial frames in special relativity. We demonstrate that, by passing to a suitable moving frame, an angle or triangle can be exactly trisected using standard Euclidean constructions within that frame. Although the resulting construction does not yield a Euclidean trisector in the original rest frame, it constitutes a valid trisec- tion in Minkowski spacetime. These results suggest that classical impossibility theorems are framework-dependent and that trisection is operationally achievable in the physically relevant setting of spacetime.

Keywords

Trisection Triangle
Minkowski spacetime
special relativity theory
Euclidean space

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting and Discussion Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.