2.II.12A

Geometry
Part IB, 2007

(i) The spherical circle with centre PS2P \in S^{2} and radius r,0<r<πr, 0<r<\pi, is the set of all points on the unit sphere S2S^{2} at spherical distance rr from PP. Find the circumference of a spherical circle with spherical radius rr. Compare, for small rr, with the formula for a Euclidean circle and comment on the result.

(ii) The cross ratio of four distinct points ziz_{i} in C\mathbf{C} is

(z4z1)(z2z3)(z4z3)(z2z1).\frac{\left(z_{4}-z_{1}\right)\left(z_{2}-z_{3}\right)}{\left(z_{4}-z_{3}\right)\left(z_{2}-z_{1}\right)} .

Show that the cross-ratio is a real number if and only if z1,z2,z3,z4z_{1}, z_{2}, z_{3}, z_{4} lie on a circle or a line.

[You may assume that Möbius transformations preserve the cross-ratio.]