Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Complex Analysis (MTH 403)
Exercise Sheet 10
1. Conformal maps
1.1. Let U be a bounded region and f : U −→ C be a continuous function such that f ∈ H(U). Assume
that | f | ≡ 1 on ∂U. Show that f (U) = D. Conclude that, if in addition f is assumed to be in injective,
then it is establishes a conformal equivalence between U and D.

1.2. Let U ⊆open R2 and f : U −→ R2 be orientation preserving, i.e., the linear map D f (x) preserves
orientation for every x ∈ U. Assume that f always maps pairs of orthogonal curves to orthogonal
ones. Show that f is holomorphic.

1.3. Find the kernel of the action of GL2 (C) on Ĉ by Möbius transformations.

1.4. Let z , w ∈ Ĉ. Show that the set of all Möbius transformations that fix z and w form an abelian
group. Does this group look familiar to you?
Hint. First look at the special case z = 0 and w = ∞.

1.5. Find all Möbius transformations T in each of the following cases:

(a) T (D) = D.
(b) T (H) = H.
(c) T (R ∪ {∞}) = R ∪ {∞}.
(d) T (H) = D.
(e)∗ T (∂D) = ∂D.

1.6.∗ We say that L ⊆ Ĉ is a circle if it is either a circle in C or L = L ∪ {∞}, where L is a line in the
complex plane.
(a) Show that the image of a circle in Ĉ under a Möbius transformation on Ĉ, is again a circle in Ĉ.
(b) Show that the inverse image of the real line under a Möbius transformation is a circle in Ĉ.
(c) Show that the group of all Möbius transformation on Ĉ acts freely on the set of all circles in Ĉ.
Recall. The action of a group G on a set X is said to be free if for all g ∈ G \ {1} and x ∈ X,
one always has gx , x. An example of free action is the action of a group on itself by left
multiplication.
1.7. Let z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 be four distinct points in Ĉ. The cross ratio of z1 , z2 , z3 and z4 , denoted by [z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 ],
is defined by the image of z1 under the unique Möbius transformation that sends z2 , z3 and z4 to 1, 0
and ∞ respectively.
(a) Show that, for any four distinct points w1 , w2 , w3 and w4 in Ĉ and Möbius transformation T ,
[w1 , w2 , w3 , w4 ] = [T w1 , T w2 , T w3 , T w4 ].
(b) Show that, [w1 , w2 , w3 , w4 ] ∈ R if and only if w1 , w2 , w3 and w4 line on a circle in Ĉ.

1.8. Let A ∈ GL2 (C) be such that the Möbius transformation fA has two distinct fixed points in C.
(a) Show that the eigenvalues of A are distinct.
(b) Express the fixed points of fA using the eigenvectors of A.
(c)∗ Suppose that the eigenvalues of A have different absolute values. Show that there exists two
distinct points w, w′ in C such that, for all z ∈ C \ {w}, f Mn (z) −−−→ w′ .
n→∞

1
 2

def
 
1.9. (a) Consider f (z) = exp z−1
z+1
, for all z ∈ D. Show that f maps D conformally onto D \ {0}.
(b) Show that the following maps D conformally onto an annulus:
 ! 21 
def
 1 − z
f (z) = exp −i log i  , ∀z ∈ D,

1+z 
where the branch of logarithm that has been considered is log0 .

1.10. Exhibit a conformal map from U onto V in the following:

def def
n = {z ∈ C : Re z > 0} and V = {zo ∈ C : |z|
(a) U
def
> 1}.
(b) z ∈ C : |z − 1| < 1 and |z − 2 | > 2 and V = H.
1 1

2. Conformal metric
Throughout this section, unless otherwise mentioned, we assume that U ⊆ C is a region and ρ : U −→ [0, ∞)
satisfies the following two properties:
(M.1) ρ is continuous on U, and
(M.2) ρ is C 2 on {z ∈ U : ρ(z) > 0}.

2.1. In each of the following, show that ρ satisfies (M.1) and (M.2):
def
(a) U = C and ρ ≡ 1.
def def
(b) U = H and ρ(z) = 1
Im z
.
def def 2
(c) U = D and ρ(z) = 1−|z|2 .
def def
(d) U = D \ {0} and ρ(z) = − |z| log
1
|z|
.

def
2.2. Suppose Ω is a region and f : Ω −→ U is conformal. Show that the function f ∗ (ρ) = (ρ ◦ f )| f ′ |
satisfies the properties similar to (M.1) and (M.2) on Ω.

2.3. Determine f ∗ (ρ) in each of the following cases:

def
(a) f : D −→ H, f (z) = i 1−z
1+z
and ρ is same as that of 2.1.b.
def i−z
(b) f : H −→ D, f (z) = i+z
and ρ is same as that of 2.1.c.
def z−z0
(c) f : D(z0 ; r) −→ D, f (z) = r ,
where z0 ∈ C and r > 0, and ρ is same as that of 2.1.c.
(d) f and ρ are same as those of 1.9.a and 2.1.d respectively.
def 1−ez
(e) f : {z ∈ C : − π2 < Im z < π2 } −→ D, f (z) = 1+e z , and ρ is same as that of 2.1.c.

2.4. For any real valued C 2 function φ, defined on some open subset of R2 , its Laplacian is defined by
∂2 φ ∂2 φ
+ . (2.1)
∂x2 ∂y2
The symbol ∆φ is commonly used to denote (2.1). If ∆φ ≡ 0, then we say that φ is a harmonic
function. Show that the real part of an analytic function is harmonic.

Let U and ρ be as mentioned above in the beginning of this section. For any z ∈ U with ρ(z) > 0,
def ∆ log ρ(z)
κρ (z) = − .
ρ(z)2
 3

2.5. Calculate κ(z; ρ), for an arbitrary z ∈ U, in 2.1.a and 2.1.b.

2.6.∗ Let Ω and f be as in 2.2. Show that, for any z ∈ f −1 ({w ∈ U : ρ(w) > 0}), one has the following:
κ f ∗ (ρ) (z) = κρ ( f (z)).
Using 2.6. conclude in each of 2.1.c, 2.1.d, 2.3.c and 2.3.e, κρ ≡ −1.

2.7. Let ρ be as in 2.1.c. Show that, for any holomorphic function f : D −→ D, one has f ∗ (ρ) ≤ ρ.