Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / ib / Paper 2 / 12G (Geometry)

For stereographic projection, choose the north pole $N=(0,0,1)$ of the unit sphere and identify the plane $Z=0$ with the complex plane by $z=X+iY$. Project a point $P=(X,Y,Z)\ne N$ along the line joining it to $N$; adjoin $z=\infty$ for the north pole to identify the whole sphere with the Riemann sphere. A point of that line is $N+t(P-N)$. Its last coordinate vanishes when $t=1/(1-Z)$, givingUsing $X^2+Y^2+Z^2=1$, or solving this line's second intersection with the sphere, gives the inverseA great circle lies in a plane $h_{1}X+h_{2}Y+h_{3}Z=0$ through the origin. Its projected equation isIt is a straight line only if $h_3=0$, meaning the plane contains the north pole and the south pole. Thus if all three sides of a nondegenerate spherical triangle projected to straight sides of a Euclidean triangle, all three distinct side planes would contain both poles. Each pair of side planes could then meet on the sphere only at those same two poles, which cannot supply three distinct triangle vertices. A nondegenerate spherical triangle cannot project to a Euclidean triangle. If a side passes through the projection pole, its image is unbounded and also cannot be a finite triangle side.

A nonidentity rotation in three dimensions has an axis through the origin: an orthogonal three-by-three matrix of determinant one has an eigenvalue one, since nonreal eigenvalues pair as conjugates, real eigenvalues are $\pm 1$, and their product is one. Its axis meets the unit sphere in an antipodal pair, which is fixed. In the identity case every point is fixed, so an antipodal pair can again be selected. Projecting $P$ and $-P$ giveswhenever both points are finite. Thus the associated Möbius transformation fixes an antipodal pair satisfying the claimed relation. The universally valid relation is $q=-1/\overline{p}$ on the Riemann sphere, with $0$ and $\infty$ paired. A rotation about the projection axis fixes exactly that pair, so the PDF's literal finite product needs this extended-coordinate convention. This is the antipodal stereographic coordinate relation.

TakeIts defining matrix has nonzero determinant eight, so it is a Möbius transformation. Direct substitution shows that it fixes $p=1$ and $q=-1$, which satisfy $p\overline{q}=-1$. However, $M^{\prime }(1)=8/(3-1{)}^2=2$. Differentiating the inverse projection formula gives the round spherical line element $ds=2|dz|/(1+|z{|}^2)$. At a fixed finite point, its local length multiplier under a Möbius transformation is exactly $|M^{\prime }(p)|$, since the metric factors in numerator and denominator agree. Here that multiplier is two, so this map is not an isometry and cannot be a rotation in three dimensions of the sphere. It demonstrates that antipodal fixed points do not characterize sphere rotations.

Reflection of the sphere in the plane $Y=0$ sends $(X,Y,Z)$ to $(X,-Y,Z)$. It preserves dot products, hence the spherical distance between every pair of points. Its stereographic expression isThis is an isometry of the sphere but is not a Möbius transformation: at any finite point, its complex difference quotient is one along real increments and minus one along imaginary increments, so it is not holomorphic. A Möbius transformation is holomorphic away from its pole. The geometric distinction is that this reflection reverses orientation, whereas a Möbius transformation preserves it.