1.II.13B
Part IB, 2001
Describe geometrically the stereographic projection map from the unit sphere to the extended complex plane , and find a formula for . Show that any rotation of about the -axis corresponds to a Möbius transformation of . You are given that the rotation of defined by the matrix
corresponds under to a Möbius transformation of ; deduce that any rotation of about the -axis also corresponds to a Möbius transformation.
Suppose now that correspond under to distinct points , and let denote the angular distance from to on . Show that is the cross-ratio of the points , taken in some order (which you should specify). [You may assume that the cross-ratio is invariant under Möbius transformations.]