Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / ii / Paper 3 / 19F (Riemann Surfaces)

On the complex torus $\mathbb{C}/\Lambda$, the Weierstrass elliptic function $\wp$ is a degree-two map to the Riemann sphere, and its fibres are the pairs $\{z,-z\}$, with coalescence at the four branch points. An even elliptic function is constant on every fibre, so away from those branch points it descends to a meromorphic function $Q$ of $\wp$.

The descent also holds at a branch point. At a half-period $h$, evenness and periodicity give $f(h+u)=f(h-u)$, so its local Laurent series uses only even powers of $u$. Also $\wp (h+u)-\wp (h)$ is a local coordinate proportional to $u^2$. At $0$, use $1/\wp (z)\sim z^2$ instead. Thus $Q$ extends meromorphically across every branch point and infinity. Every meromorphic function on the Riemann sphere is a rational function, proving $f=Q\circ \wp$.

For a nonconstant rational function $Q=p/q$ in coprime form, $\mathrm{deg}Q=\max (\mathrm{deg}p,\mathrm{deg}q)$: a generic equation $p-wq=0$ has that many roots on the sphere. Degrees of holomorphic maps multiply under composition. Hence the degree isConstant functions have degree zero. Degree two therefore occurs exactly when $Q$ is a Möbius transformation:Conversely every such function is even, elliptic and of degree two.