Past exam of the mathematical methods I course of the University of Oxford 2017 resit 4 iii Solution 2026-10-25
The hyperbolic functions satisfy , so a useful family isFor real this gives a one-real-parameter family of complex orthogonal matrices, which is enough to exhibit the requested hyperbolic parametrization. It does not parametrize every matrix in part (ii). For example obeys the constraint but cannot have with real , since then .
Allowing complex gives the full parametrization: , so choose a complex logarithm with . Then and . A general complex pair therefore needs a complex parameter; the real-parameter restriction in the question should not be mistaken for a completeness claim.
Two-dimensional complex orthogonal matrix 2026-10-25
Every two-by-two complex orthogonal matrix has form , where and . This follows by equating to in the two-by-two inverse formula, and direct multiplication proves the converse. A complete parametrization is , with complex ; restricting to real values selects only a subfamily.