Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/3/b/solution

The needed general-position theorem is sharp triple transitivity of the projective linear group on the projective line: for any two ordered triples of distinct projective points, exactly one projective transformation takes the first triple to the second.
In particular, let take to . In these coordinates,
so cross-ratio invariance gives , where . Distinctness implies and is finite. The entire ordered quadruple is thus normalized to
For a second quadruple with the same cross-ratio, its normalizing map yields the same quadruple. Consequently
This proves the equivalence. Uniqueness on the first three points also shows that the projectivity carrying one ordered quadruple to the other is unique. The cross-ratio normalization of four projective points therefore gives a complete invariant for this ordered classification.

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