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A complex-valued function $f:U\to \mathbb{C}$ is holomorphic on an open set $U$ when it has a complex derivative at every point of $U$. Requiring a derivative throughout a neighbourhood is much stronger than complex differentiability at a point. It forces locally convergent Taylor series and derivatives of every order, as follows from the Cauchy integral formula and Cauchy derivative formula.

To see the restriction in real coordinates, write $z=x+iy$ and $f(z)=u(x,y)+iv(x,y)$. The real and imaginary increment quotients must agree, giving the Cauchy-Riemann equationsConversely, if $u,v$ have continuous partial derivatives on $U$ and satisfy the Cauchy-Riemann equations there, then $f$ is a holomorphic function. The equations at a lone point, without a differentiability hypothesis for the real coordinate map, are insufficient. Their role is to force the Jacobian matrix to have the special formSuch a matrix represents multiplication by a complex number; it has only two free real entries. ^[ref]

For $f(z)=z^2$, $u=x^2-y^2$ and $v=2xy$, so $u_x=v_y=2x$ and $u_y=-v_x=-2y$. Directly,At $z_0=1+i$, multiplication by $2+2i$ scales lengths by its modulus $2\sqrt{2}$ and rotates by its argument $\pi /4$. A horizontal increment $h=0.01$ gives the exact displacement $0.0201+0.02i$; a vertical increment $h=0.01i$ gives $-0.0201+0.02i$. The first-order predictions $0.02+0.02i$ and $-0.02+0.02i$ are perpendicular, and the errors have modulus $10^{-4}$.

At every nonzero $z_0$, this local rotation and scaling makes $z^2$ a local conformal map. At zero, the first-order map vanishes: $r{e}^{i\theta }$ becomes $r^2{e}^{2i\theta }$, so the argument doubles and the origin is a critical point. Globally $z$ and $-z$ have the same square. Local preservation of angles therefore coexists with global folding, a useful warning when using holomorphic functions as coordinate changes.

The Riemann sphere is $\mathbb{C}\cup \{\infty \}$ with two charts related by reciprocal coordinates.

The extra point completes the complex plane into a compact Riemann surface. It is one point shared by every direction of escape: $n$, $-n$ and $in$ all tend to $\infty$ as $n\to \infty$. A basis of neighbourhoods at $\infty$ isThis is the one-point compactification of the complex plane; convergence to $\infty$ means that the modulus tends to infinity.^[ref]

For a concrete picture, use the unit sphereand identify $z=x+iy$ with $(x,y,0)$ in its equatorial plane. The north pole $N=(0,0,1)$ represents $\infty$ and the south pole $S=(0,0,-1)$ represents $0$. The stereographic projection below gives the identification. This convention fixes the scale: the equator corresponds to $|z|=1$.^[ref]

Why add this point? The Möbius transformation $z\mapsto 1/z$ then exchanges $0$ and $\infty$ and becomes a holomorphic map everywhere on the Riemann sphere. Its apparent blow-up at zero disappears when its output is expressed in the reciprocal chart at infinity: $w=1/(1/z)=z$. This is a concrete instance of a meromorphic function as a holomorphic map to the Riemann sphere. The additional point makes the complex plane compact, while its second manifold chart lets us do ordinary complex analysis near infinity.

Stereographic projection identifies a sphere minus one pole with the plane and supplies the standard charts of the Riemann sphere.

In the equatorial-plane convention of the Riemann sphere, draw the straight line through $N=(0,0,1)$ and a point $P=(X,Y,Z)\ne N$ on the unit sphere. Its intersection with the plane $Z=0$ has complex coordinateThe inverse function, for $z=x+iy$ and $r^2=x^2+y^2$, isHere positive $x$ gives positive $X$, and positive $y$ gives positive $Y$. Thus $1$ and $i$ lie on the positive $X$ and $Y$ ends of the equator. The omitted north pole is assigned $z=\infty$.^[ref]

For original worked points, the real numbers $1/2$ and $2$ lift to points with the same $X$ coordinate but opposite $Z$ coordinates:Projecting back gives $(4/5)/(1+3/5)=1/2$ and $(4/5)/(1-3/5)=2$. A point off the real axis checks the other sign:The coordinates satisfy $4/9+1/9+4/9=1$, as a point on the unit sphere must. Also $P(0)=S$, $P(-1)=(-1,0,0)$ and $P(i)=(0,1,0)$.

A short derivation starts with the line $N+t(P-N)=(tX,tY,1+t(Z-1))$. Setting its last coordinate to zero gives $t=1/(1-Z)$, hence the projection formula. Conversely the line from $N$ to $(x,y,0)$ is $(tx,ty,1-t)$. Substitution in the unit sphere equation givesThe root $t=0$ is $N$; the other root $t=2/(1+r^2)$ gives $P(z)$. These line intersections establish both the formula and its bijection property without guessing the inverse.

The same algebra explains how large planar distances become small spherical ones:Consequently $|z|\to \infty$ brings $P(z)$ to $N$ independently of direction. The last expression is twice the chordal metric distance $\chi (z,\infty )$. A whole unbounded exterior in the complex plane therefore becomes a small cap on the unit sphere.