In mathematics, the inverse hyperbolic functions are the inverse functions of the hyperbolic functions.
For a given value of a hyperbolic function, the corresponding inverse hyperbolic function provides a so-called hyperbolic angle. The size of the hyperbolic angle is equal to the area of the corresponding hyperbolic sector of the hyperbola xy = 1, or twice the area of the corresponding sector of the unit hyperbola x2 − y2 = 1, just as a circular angle is twice the area of the circular sector of the unit circle. Some authors have called inverse hyperbolic functions "area functions" to realize the hyperbolic angles.
Hyperbolic functions and their inversers occur in many linear differential equations, for example the equation defining a catenary, of some cubic equations, in calculations of angles and distances in hyperbolic geometry and of Laplace's equation in Cartesian coordinates. Laplace's equations are important in many areas of physics, including electromagnetic theory, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and special relativity.