Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2010 / iii / Paper 29 / 4 / a / Solution

The conformal invariance of planar Brownian motion is a time-change statement. If $\varphi :D\to D^{\prime }$ is a conformal bijection of planar domains and $B$ is planar Brownian motion started in $D$, let ${\tau }_D$ be its exit time and defineBefore exit this clock is strictly increasing. Its inverse $C_u$ makes $\varphi (B_{C_u})$ a planar Brownian motion started at $\varphi (B_0)$, up to its transformed lifetime $A_{{\tau }_D}$. The image of the stopped trajectory is therefore invariant in law after this change of time. A holomorphic map with nonzero derivative gives the corresponding local statement even without global injectivity.

Here is the proof. Write $\varphi =u+iv$ and $B=(B^1,B^2)$. The real and imaginary parts are harmonic. The Itô formula therefore gives the two continuous local martingalesstopped on compact subsets of $D$. The Cauchy-Riemann equations implyThus both coordinate quadratic variations equal $A_t$ and their quadratic covariation is zero. After inverse time change, the covariance matrix of the two continuous local martingales is $u{I}_2$. The multidimensional Lévy characterization of multidimensional Brownian motion states that a continuous vector local martingale starting at zero with this covariance matrix is standard vector Brownian motion. Apply it after subtracting $\varphi (B_0)$, and exhaust $D$ by compact subsets. This proves the theorem, with killing at the transformed exit lifetime. The clock is the conformal Brownian clock; omitting it would generally give an incorrect speed.