In the theory of Riemann surfaces and hyperbolic geometry, the triangle group (2,3,7) is particularly important. This importance stems from its connection to Hurwitz surfaces, namely Riemann surfaces of genus g with the largest possible order, 84(g − 1), of its automorphism group.
A note on terminology – the "(2,3,7) triangle group" most often refers, not to the full triangle group Δ(2,3,7) (the Coxeter group with Schwarz triangle (2,3,7) or a realization as a hyperbolic reflection group), but rather to the ordinary triangle group (the von Dyck group) D(2,3,7) of orientation-preserving maps (the rotation group), which is index 2.
Torsion-free normal subgroups of the (2,3,7) triangle group are Fuchsian groups associated with Hurwitz surfaces, such as the Klein quartic, Macbeath surface and First Hurwitz triplet.
To construct the triangle group, start with a hyperbolic triangle with angles π/2, π/3, π/7. This triangle, the smallest hyperbolic Schwarz triangle, tiles the plane by reflections in its sides. Consider then the group generated by reflections in the sides of the triangle, which (since the triangle tiles) is a non-Euclidean crystallographic group (discrete subgroup of hyperbolic isometries) with this triangle for fundamental domain; the associated tiling is the order-3 bisected heptagonal tiling. The (2,3,7) triangle group is defined as the index 2 subgroup consisting of the orientation-preserving isometries, which is a Fuchsian group (orientation-preserving NEC group).