Pasch's axiom

Not to be confused with Pasch's theorem

regarding points on a line

In geometry, Pasch's axiom is a statement

in plane geometry, used implicitly by
Euclid, which cannot be derived from the
postulates as Euclid gave them. Its
essential role was discovered by Moritz
Pasch in 1882.[1]

Statement
Two lines (in black) meeting a triangle side internally
and meeting the other sides internally and externally

The axiom states that,[2]

Pasch's axiom  —  Let A, B, C

be three points that do not
lie on a line and let a be a
line in the plane ABC which
does not meet any of the
points A, B, C. If the line a
 passes through a point of
the segment AB, it also
passes through a point of
the segment AC, or through
a point of segment BC.

The fact that segments AC and BC are not

both intersected by the line a is proved in
Supplement I,1, which was written by P.
Bernays.[3]

A more modern version of this axiom is as

follows:[4]

A more modern version of

 Pasch's axiom  —  In the
plane, if a line intersects one
side of a triangle internally
then it intersects precisely
one other side internally and
the third side externally, if it
does not pass through a
vertex of the triangle.

(In case the third side is parallel to our line,

we count an "intersection at infinity" as
external.) A more informal version of the
axiom is often seen:

A more informal version of

 Pasch's axiom — If a line, not
passing through any vertex
of a triangle, meets one side
of the triangle then it meets
another side.

History
Pasch published this axiom in 1882,[1] and
showed that Euclid's axioms were
incomplete. The axiom was part of
Pasch's approach to introducing the
concept of order into plane geometry.

Equivalences
In other treatments of elementary
geometry, using different sets of axioms,
Pasch's axiom can be proved as a
theorem;[5] it is a consequence of the
plane separation axiom when that is taken
as one of the axioms. Hilbert uses Pasch's
axiom in his axiomatic treatment of
Euclidean geometry.[6] Given the remaining
axioms in Hilbert's system, it can be
shown that Pasch's axiom is logically
equivalent to the plane separation
axiom.[7]

Hilbert's use of Pasch's axiom

David Hilbert uses Pasch's axiom in his
book Foundations of Geometry which
provides an axiomatic basis for Euclidean
geometry. Depending upon the edition, it is
numbered either II.4 or II.5.[6] His
statement is given above.

In Hilbert's treatment, this axiom appears

in the section concerning axioms of order
and is referred to as a plane axiom of
order. Since he does not phrase the axiom
in terms of the sides of a triangle
(considered as lines rather than line
segments) there is no need to talk about
internal and external intersections of the
line a with the sides of the triangle ABC.
Caveats
Pasch's axiom is distinct from Pasch's
theorem which is a statement about the
order of four points on a line. However, in
literature there are many instances where
Pasch's axiom is referred to as Pasch's
theorem. A notable instance of this is
Greenberg (1974, p. 67).

Pasch's axiom should not be confused

with the Veblen-Young axiom for
projective geometry,[8] which may be
stated as:

Veblen-Young axiom for

 projective geometry  —  If a
line intersects two sides of a
triangle, then it also
intersects the third side.

There is no mention of internal and

external intersections in the statement of
the Veblen-Young axiom which is only
concerned with the incidence property of
the lines meeting. In projective geometry
the concept of betweeness (required to
define internal and external) is not valid
and all lines meet (so the issue of parallel
lines does not arise).
Notes
1. Pasch 1912, p. 21
2. This is taken from the Unger
translation of the 10th edition of
Hilbert's Foundations of Geometry
and is numbered II.4.
3. Hilbert 1999, p. 200, the Unger
translation.
4. Beutelspacher & Rosenbaum 1998,
p. 7
5. Wylie,Jr. 1964, p. 100
6. axiom II.5 in Hilbert's Foundations of
Geometry (Townsend translation
referenced below), in the authorized
 English translation of the 10th edition
translated by L. Unger (also published
by Open Court) it is numbered II.4.
There are several differences between
these translations.
7. only Hilbert's axioms I.1,2,3 and
II.1,2,3 are needed for this. Proof is
given in Faber (1983, pp. 116-117).
8. Beutelspacher & Rosenbaum 1998,
p. 6

References
Beutelspacher, Albrecht; Rosenbaum,
Ute (1998), Projective geometry: from
foundations to applications, Cambridge
University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-48364-
3, MR 1629468
Faber, Richard L. (1983), Foundations of
Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry,
New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.,
ISBN 978-0-8247-1748-3
Greenberg, Marvin Jay (1974), Euclidean
and Non-Euclidean Geometries:
Development and History (1st ed.), San
Francisco: W.H. Freeman, ISBN 978-0-
7167-0454-6
Greenberg, Marvin Jay (2007),
Euclidean and Non-Euclidean
Geometries: Development and
History (4th ed.), San Francisco:
W.H. Freeman, ISBN 978-0-7167-
 9948-1
Hilbert, David (1903), Grundlagen der
Geometrie (in German), Leipzig: B.G.
Teubner
Hilbert, David (1950) [1902], The
Foundations of Geometry (PDF),
translated by Townsend, E. J.,
LaSalle, IL: Open Court Publishing
Hilbert, David (1999) [1971],
Foundations of Geometry,
translated by Unger, Leo (2nd ed.),
LaSalle, IL: Open Court Publishing,
ISBN 978-0-87548-164-7
Moise, Edwin (1990), Elementary
Geometry from an Advanced Standpoint
(Third ed.), Addison-Wesley, Reading,
MA, p. 74, ISBN 978-0-201-50867-3
Pambuccian, Victor (2011), "The
axiomatics of ordered geometry: I.
Ordered incidence spaces.",
Expositiones Mathematicae (29): 24–66,
doi:10.1016/j.exmath.2010.09.004
Pasch, Moritz (1912) [first edition 1882],
Vorlesungen uber neuere Geometrie (in
German) (2nd ed.), Leipzig: B.G. Teubner
Wylie,Jr., Clarence Raymond (1964),
Foundations of Geometry, New York:
McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-070-72191-3
Wylie,Jr., C.R. (2009) [1964],
Foundations of Geometry, Mineola,
 New York: Dover Publications,
ISBN 978-0-486-47214-0

External links
Weisstein, Eric W. "Pasch's Axiom" .
MathWorld.

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