Recall that a space is $\delta$-hyperbolic if there is some number $\delta$ with the property that every point on an edge of a geodesic triangle lies within $\delta$ of another edge. For example a tree is $0$-hyperbolic. One of the basic facts about standard hyperbolic space is that it is $\delta$-hyperbolic for some $\delta$, and I am looking for the smallest delta which makes this true.


Full disclosure: I stole this question from Dima Burago, who brought it up as an example of of a useless problem about which he is nevertheless a little curious. I haven't exactly burned the midnight oil, but I can't solve it.



It is well-known that hyperbolic space is delta-hyperbolic, but what is delta?
We can use the isometry group of $H^n$ to reduce to the case of an ideal triangle in the upper half plane, with vertices at -1, 1, and infinity. We want to find the distance between $i$ and the vertical geodesic with real part 1. To find the shortest geodesic, we reflect $i$ in the vertical line, and take half the distance between $i$ and $i+2$. The [distance formula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poincare_metric) yields $\tanh^{-1}\left(\frac{|(i+2)-i|}{|(i+2) + i|} \right) = \tanh^{-1}(1/\sqrt2)$. This is about 0.8813735.


