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Math 6350 Homework #4 Solutions

1. Ahlfors pg. 88 #1: Find the fixed points of the linear transformations
z
2z
,
w=
.
3z 1
2z
Is any of these transformations elliptic, hyperbolic, or parabolic?
w=

Solution: For the first one, we find the fixed points by solving z(3z 1) = 2z, or
3z 2 3z = 0, so we get z = 1 and z = 0. Now express
w0
=
w1

2z
3z1
2z

3z1

2z
2z
=
.
2z (3z 1)
z1

Hence k = 2 and this transformation is not any of the three types.


For the second one, we get z(2 z) = z which gives z = 0 and z = 1. We write
w1
=
w0

z
2z

z
2z

2(z 1)
z (2 z)
=
,
z
z

so that k = 2 and this transformation is hyperbolic.


2. Ahlfors pg. 88 #2: Suppose that the coefficients of the transformation
az + b
cz + d
are normalized by ad bc = 1. Show that S is elliptic if and only if 2 < a + d < 2,
parabolic if a + d = 2, and hyperbolic if a + d < 2 or > 2.
Sz =

Solution: Observe first that we can compute k as S 0 (z ) where z is either fixed point.
This is because if we write w = S(z) when there are two distinct fixed points and ,
we get
z
S(z)
=k
,
S(z)
z
and thus



S 0 (z) S(z)
S 0 (z)
1
z

.
2 = k
S(z)
z (z )2
S(z)
Hence plugging in z = gives S 0 () = k. Similarly we get S 0 () = 1/k.
Now lets compute those fixed points; we obviously have az + b = (cz + d)z with
solutions
p
a d (d a)2 + 4bc

,
z =
2c
assuming that c 6= 0.
First of all, if c = 0 then the fixed points are and z =

b
,
da

and we have


b
a(d a)z + b(d a) bd
a(d a)z ba
a
b
az + b

wz =

=
=
=
z
,
d
da
d(d a)
d(d a)
d
da
so that k = a/d. Now ad = 1 by the normalization assumption, so that k = a2 .
1

Hyperbolic: k is real and positive if and only if a is real and then a + d = a + 1/a
which is either larger than 2 (if a > 0) or smaller than 2 (if a < 0).
Elliptic: k has unit modulus if and only if a does, and therefore a = ei for some
, which means we have a + d = a + 1/a = 2 cos , which is in (2, 2). Note that
the only way |a + 1/a| = 2 is if a = 1 or a = 1, but in either case we have d = a
and thus the transformation is parabolic.
Parabolic: the fixed points are equal if and only if a = d (so that they are both
infinity), and since d = 1/a we must have a = 1 so that a + d = 2.
Next consider the case when c 6= 0. We then have (using the normalization adbc = 1)
that
p
p
2 + 4(ad 1)
(d

a)
a

(a + d)2 4
a

=
.
z =
2c
2c
Now S 0 (z) = 1/(cz + d)2 so that
k 1 = S 0 (z ) = 
d+

ad

(a+d)2 4
2

2 =

4
1

,
p
2 =
( 2 1)2
a + d (a + d)2 4

where = (a + d)/2. Note that the conditions of being hyperbolic or elliptic (depending on k) are symmetric with respect to k 7 1/k, so we can consider whichever is
convenient. For me 1/k will be more convenient. Notice that the fixed points are equal
if and only if = 1, which is the parabolic case; we will therefore assume 6= 1.

Hyperbolic: ( + 2 1)2 is real and positive if and only if + 2 1 is some


real number x, and in that case we have 2 1 = (x )2 which means
=

x2 + 1
.
2x

The inequality 2|x| x2 + 1 implies that || 1, and we must have || > 1 to


avoid the parabolic case.

Elliptic: ( + 2 1)2 hasmagnitude 1 if and only if + 2 1 does, and in


that case we can write + 2 1 = ei for some R. Using the same trick
we have 2 1 = e2i 2ei + 2 to obtain
=

1 + e2i
= cos .
2ei

Thus of course we must have that is real and || < 1.


3. Ahlfors pg. 88 #5 (left over from last week): Find all linear transformations which
represent rotations of the Riemann sphere. Hint: what do the circles C1 and C2 look
like on the Riemann sphere?
Solution: First observe that any rotation of the Riemann sphere must have two fixed
points which are diametrically opposite on the sphere, which corresponds in C to
distinct fixed points a and b satisfying ab = 1.
2

Furthermore the number k must have magnitude 1, since otherwise under iteration
of S points would converge either to a or b (and this certainly does not happen for
rotations). Hence the LFT must be elliptic.
It remains to show that every such elliptic LFT is a rotation. But observe that a
map fixing two points on the sphere is a rotation if and only if it preserves all circles
equidistant between the two fixed points (that is, the latitudes) and moves all circles
through the two fixed points (the longitutes) to each other, and thats exactly what
an elliptic LFT does (by the general properties of the C1 and C2 Steiner circles).
Hence the general LFT which corresponds to rotation must have the form w = S(z)
za
wa
= ei
w + 1/a
z + 1/a
for some a C and R. Of course we can solve this for w if desired.
4. Ahlfors pg. 96 #1: Find a conformal map from the common part of the disks |z| < 1
and |z 1| < 1 on the inside of the unit circle. Choose the mapping so that the
horizonal and vertical reflection symmetries are preserved.

Solution: The intersection points are at a = 21 +i 23 i = ei/3 and b = 12 i


We send a to 0 and b to by an LFT, which takes the form
w=k

3
2

= ei/3 .

z ei/3
z ei/3

for some k C. Well figure out what k should be in a moment.


For now notice that this conformal map will give a region in the plane bounded by
two rays that come out of the origin. We have S(0) = ke2i/3 and S(1) = e2i/3 , so
therefore S maps to one of the regions enclosed by the rays between angles 2
+ and
3
2
+ for some R. Working out some random value (for example S(1/2) = k)
3
we see that its the smaller of the two regions. Note that k = 1 (corresponding to
= 0) would preserve the vertical symmetry, so we pick that, and we have S1 (z) =
(z ei/3 )/(z ei/3 ).
We now map this region onto the upper half plane by taking a root: the internal angle
of this region is 2
, and therefore the map z 3/2 will flatten out this angle; it sends
3
the region to the left side of the half-plane defined by the angles and 2. Thus
S2 (z) = z 3/2 .
Finally the map from the upper half-plane to the unit disc is standard:
S3 (z) =

zi
.
z+i

The map we want is thus f = S3 S2 S1 .


5. Ahlfors pg. 96 #3: Find a conformal map from the complement of the arc |z| = 1,
y 0 onto the outside of the unit circle which maps to .
3

Solution: The singular endpoints are 1 and +1, so using the usual trick we send 1
to and 1 to 0 using
z1
.
S1 (z) =
z+1
This map will send the upper semicircle to a ray from 0 to . Since S(i) = i this ray
is the upper imaginary axis. Taking the square root gives a half-plane; our angles will
be from 3
to 2 and the square root will give angles from 3
to 4 . To get this onto
2
4
3i/4
the upper half-plane we multiply by e
. So

S2 (z) = e3i/4 z.
Now there are a variety of ways to get the upper half-plane onto the unit disc (or its
complement), and we need to figure out what happens to . We have S1 () = 1 and
S2 (1) = e3i/4 , so we need a map that sends the upper half-plane to the complement
of the unit disc and sends e3i/4 to . We can do this with an LFT; such a map must
necessarily send e3i/4 to 0 (since it preserves conjugation through circles). Thus
S3 (z) = k

z e3i/4
z e3i/4

for some k C. Since S3 (0) = ki we should choose |k| = 1 to end up on the unit circle;
k = 1 would be fine.
6. Show that every linear fractional transformation that maps the unit disc onto itself is
of the form
z+a
,
R, |a| < 1.
Sz = ei
1 + az
(One way is to do what I said in class and reduce it to the case of an LFT that maps
R to itself. A smarter way is to figure out what must happen to 1, 0, and under S.)
Solution: An LFT that preserves the unit disc must take 0 to some C with
|| < 1. By writing S(z) = ei S(z) we may assume that S(0) = is positive and real
(and obviously less than 1). As a consequence we must have S() = 1/ since is
the conjugate of 0 through the circle and 1/ is the conjugate of .
We must therefore have S(z) = (az + b)/(cz + d) where b = d and a = c/, so we can
write
az + d
S(z) =
.
az + d
Write a = d and we obtain
z +
S(z) =
.
z + 1
Since |S(1)| = 1 we must have
| + |2 = | + 1|2 ,
or in other words we have
||2 + 2Re() + 2 = 2 ||2 + 2Re() + 1.
4

This reduces to ||2 + 2 = 2 ||2 + 1, which reduces to


(2 1)(||2 1) = 0.
Since < 1 we must have || = 1.
We may therefore write = ei and obtain
ei z +
,
ei z + 1

S(z) =
and we conclude that
S(z) = ei

i
ei z +
i(+) z + e
=
e
,
ei z + 1
ei z + 1

which is of the desired form with a = ei and = + .


7. Poincare defined a Riemannian metric on the open unit disc by the formula
4 dz dz
.
(1 |z|2 )2

ds2 =

Recall that this means the length of a vector v0 at a point z0 D is given by


|v0 |P =

2 |v0 |E
,
1 |z0 |2

where |v|E is its usual Euclidean length. Show that this metric is invariant under any
mapping of the form S in problem 6, in the sense that
|S 0 (z0 )(v0 )|P = |v0 |P ,
where the left side is evaluated at S(z0 ) and the right side is evaluated at z0 .
z+a
Solution: With S(z) = ei 1+az
, we have

S 0 (z) = ei

1 |a|2
.
(1 + az)2

We therefore have
|S 0 (z0 )(v0 )|2S(z0 ) =

|S 0 (z0 )v0 |2
(1 |S(z0 )|2 )2
(1|a|2 )2 |v0 |2
|1+az0 |4
|z0 +a|2 2
1 |1+az
2
0|
2 2

(1 |a| ) |v0 |2
.
|1 + az0 |2 |z0 + a|2 )2

We just need to compute |1 + az0 |2 |z0 + a|2 : we obtain


|1 + az0 |2 |z0 + a|2 = 1 + az0 + az0 + |a|2 |z0 |2 |z0 |2 az0 az0 |a|2
= 1 + |a|2 |z0 |2 |z0 |2 |a|2
= (1 |a|2 )(1 |z0 |2 ).
Thus finally we have
|S 0 (z0 )(v0 )|2P =

|v0 |2
= |v0 |2P .
(1 |z0 |2 )2

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