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Find a conformal mapping of the first quadrant onto the unit disc mapping the points $1+i$ and $0$ onto the points $0$ and $i$ respectively.


I think that i need to use "the change of variables $w=z^k$" but how? And why do we apply this?

Please can someone explain thisstep by step? Thanks alot:)

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Nrsnr
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1 Answers1

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The composition of conformal maps is conformal, so to obtain a conformal map between two domains, we can - if it seems more simple - map the first domain conformally to a simpler intermediate domain, and then map that intermediate domain conformally to the target (perhaps with more intermediate steps).

One needs to know some standard conformal maps of course. A well-known family of conformal maps are the Möbius transformations. These allow us to map any (open) haf-plane conformally to any (open) disk, mapping any prescribed point in the interior of the half-plane to the centre of the disk.

Knowing that, we need a conformal map from the quadrant to a half-plane. The boundary of the quadrant has a vertex where the two straight half-lines making up the boundary meet at a right angle. The boundary of a half-plane has no vertex, in the plane, it is a straight line, in the sphere, a circle. So we need something that straightens the right angle of the boundary of the quadrant.

Now one should remember that the power maps $z \mapsto z^k$ multiply angles at $0$ by $k$ - writing $z = \rho e^{i\varphi}$, we have $z^k = \rho^k e^{ik\varphi}$ - so to straighten the right angle at $0$ of the boundary of the quadrant, we need $k = 2$ (generally, to straighten an angle $\alpha$, we need the power $\pi/\alpha$ [which need not be an integer]). So the first part of our map is

$$s \colon Q \to \mathbb{H};\quad z \mapsto z^2$$

that maps the first quadrant $Q = \{ x+iy \in \mathbb{C} : x > 0, y > 0\}$ conformally to the upper half-plane $\mathbb{H} = \{ z \in \mathbb{C} : \operatorname{Im} z > 0\}$.

Then we need a conformal map $T \colon \mathbb{H} \to \mathbb{D}$ from the upper half-plane to the unit disk, that maps $s(1+i) = (1+i)^2 = 2i$ to $0$ and $s(0) = 0$ to $i$.

A Möbius transformation mapping $2i$ to $0$ and the real line (the boundary of the upper half-plane) to the unit circle is

$$T_0 \colon z \mapsto \frac{z-2i}{z+2i}.$$

That does not yet quite do what we want, since $T_0(0) = \frac{-2i}{2i} = -1$, so we compose it with a rotation that takes $-1$ to $i$, and that is multiplication by $-i$, so we get

$$T\colon z \mapsto -i\frac{z-2i}{z+2i}$$

for our conformal map from the upper half-plane to the unit disk. Composing the two conformal maps, we get $f = T \circ s \colon Q \to \mathbb{D}$, given by

$$f(z) = -i\frac{z^2-2i}{z^2+2i}.$$

(Note: That is the only map with the required properties; if $g \colon Q \to \mathbb{D}$ is conformal with $g(1+i) = 0$ and $g(0) = i$, then $g\circ f^{-1}$ is an automorphism of $\mathbb{D}$ that fixes $0$, hence a rotation, and also fixes $i$, hence the rotation must be the identity.)

Daniel Fischer
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    Thank you so so much:))) I am starting to study this step by step right now:) – Nrsnr Oct 27 '13 at 16:18
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    If you want further elaboration on some points, don't hesitate to ask. – Daniel Fischer Oct 27 '13 at 16:25
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    Dear Fischer, I dont understand a thing. How do you decide the components of the composition of conformal maps? For example, how to decide the first quadrant $\to$ half plane $\to$ unit disc. And I found a similar question to this. I solved it. Please can you check this? I did that accourding to the way you teached.http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/542713/find-a-conformal-map-from-the-disc-to-the-first-quadrant – Nrsnr Oct 28 '13 at 12:09
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    There is no clear rule how to choose the steps. Anything that works is correct, and anything that you believe will take you closer to the target is something you try. As always, with experience, you can see the way often immediately, because you've already seen so many similar situations. – Daniel Fischer Oct 28 '13 at 12:41
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    Okay I understand :) – Nrsnr Oct 28 '13 at 13:33
  • @DanielFischer Hey Daniel, is it possible to to find a non-constant holomorphic map such that the Complex Plane C to the First Quadrant Q? Or map the complex plane C to the Unit Square? – Wilson Apr 18 '17 at 20:17
  • @Wilson No, every domain whose complement contains a nonempty open set can be biholomorphically mapped to a domain contained in the unit disk, so by Liouville's theorem every entire function whose image is contained in such a domain is constant. Taking a bigger hammer: by Picard's little theorem, a nonconstant entire function omits at most one point of the plane. – Daniel Fischer Apr 18 '17 at 20:26
  • @DanielFischer So both are NO? I see...I just walked out of an exam...I found a mapping for the first one and I put no for the second one... – Wilson Apr 18 '17 at 20:29
  • @Wilson Both "No". A quadrant and a square are both conformally equivalent to the unit disk. – Daniel Fischer Apr 18 '17 at 20:32
  • @danielfischer FXXK I changed my answer. :'( !!! Okay, I lost 10 points...should still have 90% for this exam. Thanks man, I learned my lesson! – Wilson Apr 18 '17 at 20:34