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2 Inverse Transformation of Circles and Lines

The document considers how lines and circles in the complex plane are transformed under the inverse function 1/z. It shows that: 1) Lines not passing through the origin are mapped to circles, while lines through the origin remain lines. 2) Circles not centered at the origin are mapped to other circles, while circles centered at the origin are mapped to lines. 3) Direct calculation of the transformations confirms these results, showing that circles are mapped to circles or lines depending on whether their center is inside or at the radius.

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evans kiprop
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© © All Rights Reserved
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37 views

2 Inverse Transformation of Circles and Lines

The document considers how lines and circles in the complex plane are transformed under the inverse function 1/z. It shows that: 1) Lines not passing through the origin are mapped to circles, while lines through the origin remain lines. 2) Circles not centered at the origin are mapped to other circles, while circles centered at the origin are mapped to lines. 3) Direct calculation of the transformations confirms these results, showing that circles are mapped to circles or lines depending on whether their center is inside or at the radius.

Uploaded by

evans kiprop
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2 INVERSE TRANSFORMATION OF CIRCLES AND LINES

This document considers lines and circles in the complex plane and the inverse transforma-
tion 1/z acting on these subsets. It is shown that lines are mapped into lines or circles and,
similarly, circles are mapped into lines of circles.

1 Equations of lines and circles


1.1 Lines
Let a line have Cartesian coordinates representation ax + by + c = 0, a, b, c are real constants.
In complex plane this corresponds to a set of points z such that x = Rez and y = Imz. Then
x = (z + z̄)/2 and y = (z − z̄)/2i. So, the equation is
a(z + z̄)/2 + b(z − z̄)/2i + c = 0.
z(a/2 + b/2i) + z̄(a/2 − b/2i) + c = 0.
Denoting β = a/2 + b/2i, we see that the equation is
βz + β̄ z̄ + c = 0.
Reversing the calculation, we see that any equation βz + β̄ z̄ + c = 0 is an equation of a line
ax + by + c = 0 where a = β + β̄ and b = β − β̄.

1.2 Circles
Consider a circle with radius r and center z0 . Then |z − z0 | = r, i.e., (z − z0 )(z̄ − z¯0 ) = r2 . We
get
z z̄ − z0 z̄ − z z¯0 = r2 − |z0 |2 .
Moreover, any equation of the form
z z̄ − βz − β̄ z̄ = c,
for c ≥ −|β|2 is an equation of a circle with center at β̄ and radius (c + |β|2 )1/2 .

2 Inverse Transformation of Circles and Lines


2.1 Lines not through the origin
Consider a line with equation βz + β̄ z̄ +c = 0, c 6= 0, a real number. Let w = 1/z, then z = 1/w
and the equation becomes:
1
β/w + β̄ + c = 0.
w̄
β w̄ + β̄w + cww̄ = 0.
(β/c)w̄ + (β̄/c)w + ww̄ = 0.
This is an equation of a circle with center −β̄/c.

2.2 Lines through the origin


A line through the origin has an equation βz + β̄ z̄ = 0. Apply transformation w = 1/z as
before to get
1
β/w + β̄ = 0.
w̄
β w̄ + β̄w = 0.
This is again an equation of a line through the origin.

Prof. Maria Axenovich


2.3 Circles not through the origin 3 DIRECT CALCULATION

2.3 Circles not through the origin


Let
z z̄ − z¯0 z − z0 z̄ = r2 − |z0 |2 ,
|z0 |2 6= r2 . Let w = 1/z. Then
(1/w)(1/w̄) − z¯0 /w − z0 /w̄ = r2 − |z0 |2 ,

1 − z¯0 w̄ − z0 w = (r2 − |z0 |2 )ww̄,


1/(r2 − |z0 |2 ) = (z¯0 /(r2 − |z0 |2 ))w̄ + (z0 /(r2 − |z0 |2 ))w + ww̄.
This is again an equation of a circle.

2.4 Circles through the origin


Let
z z̄ − βz − β̄ z̄ = 0,
let w = 1/z.
Then
(1/w)(1/w̄) − β/w − β̄/w̄ = 0,
1 − β w̄ − β̄w = 0.
This is an equation of a line.

3 Direct calculation
Here, we achieve a similar result by a direct calculation.
r
Lemma 3.1. A circle with radius r and center z0 is mapped into a circle with radius |z0 |2 −r2
and center (|z0 |z2¯0−r2 ) under the transform 1/z if |z0 | =
6 r.
Proof.

|z − z0 | = r, w = 1/z
|1/w − z0 | = r
(1/w − z0 )(1/w̄ − z¯0 ) = r2
1/ww̄ − z0 /w̄ − z¯0 /w + z0 z¯0 = r2
1 − z0 w − z¯0 w̄ + (|z0 |2 − r2 )ww̄ = 0
z0 z¯0 1
ww̄ − w − w̄ + =0
(|z0 |2 − r2 ) (|z0 |2 − r2 ) (|z0 |2 − r2 )
  
z¯0 z0 z¯0 z0 1
w− 2 2
w̄ − 2 2
= 2 2 2
−
(|z0 | − r ) (|z0 | − r ) (|z0 | − r ) (|z0 | − r2 )
2

r2
  
z¯0 z0
w− w̄ − = .
(|z0 |2 − r2 ) (|z0 |2 − r2 ) (|z0 |2 − r2 )2

Lemma 3.2. If |z0 | = r then the circle with radius r and center z0 is mapped into a line ..
under transform 1/z.

Prof. Maria Axenovich


3 DIRECT CALCULATION

Proof.

|z − z0 | = r, w = 1/z
|1/w − z0 | = r
(1/w − z0 )(1/w̄ − z¯0 ) = r2
1/ww̄ − z0 /w̄ − z¯0 /w + z0 z¯0 = r2
1/ww̄ − z0 /w̄ − z¯0 /w = 0
1 − z0 w − z¯0 w̄ = 0
1 = 2Re(z0 w)
Re(z0 w) = 1/2

Thus z0 w has a parametric equation z0 w = 1/2 + it, t ∈ R, so w = z0 /|z0 |2 (1/2 + it), t ∈ R.

Prof. Maria Axenovich

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