Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/ia/paper-1/6b/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 1 6B a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write a Möbius transformation as , with , on the Riemann sphere. If , infinity is not fixed, and its finite fixed points solveThe pole cannot solve this equation, since substitution gives . The quadratic has one or two distinct complex roots, so these give exactly one or two fixed points.
If , then and infinity is fixed. If , there is one additional finite fixed point, namely . If and , the transformation is a nonzero translation, with no finite fixed point. If and , it is the identity and fixes the entire sphere.
Thus a nonidentity Möbius transformation has one or two fixed points; the identity has infinitely many. The examples , , and realize the three possibilities respectively.
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