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Author:
Nur Nordin
Supervisor:
Prof. Sebastian van Strien
Dr. Ivan Ovsyannikov
Abstract
A Dehn twist is an example of a self-homeomorphism of a two-dimensional manifold such as an
annulus in R2 . Given an annulus A and a Dehn twist f : A A, certain algebraic properties can
be studied. In this case, the main focus will be on the quantity kf kC 3 meas(A). It is proven that
this quantity is invariant under a rigid motion and rescaling on A and also has a non-zero lower
bound for any annulus A and its Dehn twist f . The next task is to generalise these properties for
a composition of several functions that forms a Dehn twist on an annulus. In fact, the problem will
be approached by first defining a suitable value called the maximal boundary twist using the theory
of conformal maps.
Preliminaries
dx dy
(1.1)
(b) (a)
2
(1.2)
sup
xK, uS
3
d
f
(x
+
tu)
3
t=0
1 dt
(1.3)
or equivalently,
kf kC 3 =
xK,
3
X
3 i 3i
3
sup
u1 u2
f (x)
i
3i
i
x
y
1
(u1 ,u2 )S
(1.4)
i=0
Remark 1.9. Since K S 1 is compact and f is a C 3 function, the supremum exists. So, kf kC 3 is welldefined.
One can prove easily that it is a seminorm, but not a norm. However, it will be called norm for
convenience.
We will investigate the norm on a Dehn twist f on an annulus A. From now, we will consider f to be a
C 3 function.
We will analyse the properties of a Dehn twist on an annulus, together with its norm.
2
such value is attained on i A. Let p = (x0 , y0 ) be the corresponding point on i A. Note that since x0
is the maximum point, we have X 0 = 0 at p. Thus, the line x = x0 is tangential to i A at p, and so
the normal line at p is parallel to x-axis. Since p corresponds to point with maximum x-coordinate, its
outward normal will never intersect i A again. Because i A is interior to o A, the normal eventually
intersects o A.
Remark 2.4. The normal line in an annulus A as in Proposition 2.3 is often considered under a Dehn
twist f because it is easy to study its image under f . For simplicity, the annulus A is transformed into
another annulus A under rigid motion (translation and rotation) and rescaling, so that A has desiring
properties such that A is a centred annulus and the said normal line is mapped onto the positive x-axis.
It is worth to define such line at this point.
Definition 2.5 (Standard Spoke). Let A be a centred annulus.
Let L0 = {(x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ]} be a line such that
1. (x0 , 0) i A and (x1 , 0) o A;
2. L0 A;
3. L0 is normal to i A at (x0 , 0);
for some x0 , x1 R, 0 < x0 < x1 .
Then, L0 is called a standard spoke of A.
Remark 2.6. From Proposition 2.3, any annulus A can be transformed to a new annulus A under a rigid
motion so that A has a standard spoke L0 . The choice of the standard spoke L0 is arbitrary depending
on the rigid motion. In fact, the shortest line segment in A which connects the boundaries can be made
into a standard spoke as well.
Proposition 2.7. Let A be an annulus.
Then, the shortest line segment connecting i A and 0 A lies in A and is normal to both boundaries at
the endpoints.
Proof. First, we will justify that in any annulus A, the shortest line segment connecting the boundaries
exists and lies inside A. Note that the boundaries i A and o A are compact sets in R2 , and the Euclidean
distance d2 : i A o A R is continuous. Hence, by continuity of a function on a compact set, d2
attains its infimum on the set i A o A. Let xi i A and xo o A be the points in which d2 is
the minimum, and let L be the line segment connecting them. Note that since i A is interior to o A,
we have that xi 6= xo , so L is a proper line segment. By definition of L as the shortest line segment
connecting the boundaries, L does not intersect both boundaries except at the endpoints; otherwise, the
line segment connecting the point of intersection and one of the endpoints will be shorter than L. Since
i A is interior to o A, it is easy to see that L lies in A.
Note that since we can apply rigid motion to A without changing the distance between any two points,
without loss of generality, we can assume that L lies on the positive x-axis for simplicity. So, xi = (xi , 0)
xo = (xo , 0) for some xi , x0 R and xo > xi > 0. Let : [0, 1] i A the parametrization of i A, and
define (x(t), y(t)) = (t) as the projection of i A onto the corresponding axes. The tangent vector of i A
is given by (x0 (t), y 0 (t)). Suppose that at xi , L is not normal to i A, and thus x0 6= 0 at xi . By continuity
of (t), in a small neighbourhood of xi , there exists a point x = (x, y) i A such that x > xi . By using
triangle inequality, it is clear that the distance between xo and x is less than the distance between xo
and xi . This is a contradiction on L being the shortest. Similarly, we can show that L is normal to o A
at xo using the same argument.
The image of a standard spoke L0 under a Dehn twist f has useful properties.
Proposition 2.8. Let A be a centred annulus, L0 = {(x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ]} be a standard spoke of
A and f : A A be a Dehn twist.
Then, f (L0 ) has a winding around the origin O.
Proof. By definition of a Dehn twist, f (L0 ) is not homotopic to L0 . From Proposition 2.1, we have
W (f (L0 )) 6= W (L0 ) = 0, and thus W (f (L0 )) = k for some k Z \ {0}. By definition, f (L0 ) has a
winding around the origin O.
4
Figure 2.1: Standard spoke L0 and its image f (L0 ) on centred annulus A
Consider X(x). Since f is a Dehn twist, X(x0 ) = x0 and X(x1 ) = x1 . Note that by Proposition 2.9, the
tangent vector of f (L0 ) at (x0 , 0) is not tangential to i A, thus X 0 (x0 ) 6= 0. Also, note that X 0 (x0 ) > 0;
otherwise, in a small neigbourhood of x0 , (X, Y ) will be interior to i A which is not possible since
f (L0 ) A. Thus, for sufficiently small > 0, we have X(x0 + ) > x0 . Let p (x0 , x1 ) be the point
such that f (L0 ) intersects the negative x-axis, so we have X(p) < 0. By Intermediate Value Theorem,
since X is continuous on [x0 + , p], there exists a point k (x0 + , p) such that X(k) = x0 . Without
loss of generality, we can choose k to be point that X > x0 on (x0 , k). By Rolles Theorem, there exists
a point a (x0 , k) such that X 0 (a) = 0. Since a (x0 , k), by construction, we have X(a) > 0.
Let q, r (x0 , x1 ) be the points such that f (L0 ) intersects the positive and negative y-axis respectively.
Without loss of generality, again, we can choose points q and r such that X < 0 on (q, r). So, we have
X(q) = X(r) = 0. By Rolles Theorem, there exists b (q, r) such that X 0 (b) = 0. Since b (q, r), by
construction, we have X(b) < 0.
We can use similar argument on Y (x) by using Rolles Theorem on the part of the curve f (L0 ) where
s, t [x0 , x1 ] are the points such that f (L0 ) intersects the positive and negative x-axis respectively and
Y > 0 on (s, t), and also on another part where u, v [x0 , x1 ] are the points such that f (L0 ) intersects
the negative and positive x-axis respectively and Y < 0 on (u, v).
Proposition 2.11. Let A be a centred annulus, L0 = {(x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ]} be a standard spoke of
A and f : A A be a Dehn twist.
Define X(x) = x f (x, 0) and Y (x) = y f (x, 0) for x [x0 , x1 ] as the projection of f (L0 ) onto x-axis
and y-axis respectively.
Then,
kf kC 3 sup |X 000 |
[x0 ,x1 ]
kf kC 3 sup |Y 000 |
[x0 ,x1 ]
3
X 3
3
i 3i
u1 u2
f
(x)
sup
i y 3i
i
x
1
(u1 ,u2 )S
i=0
Choosing u = e1 leads to
kf kC 3
sup
x[x0 ,x1 ]
3
x3 f (x, 0)
Note that
3
(X 000 (x), Y 000 (x)) =
f (x, 0)
3
3 x
000
000
= |(X , Y )| = 3 f (x, 0)
x
3
3
1
kf kC 3
2
d3
d3
f (x + tu) = 3 f (x a + tu)
3
dt
dt
kf kC 3
3
d
=
sup
f (x + tu)
3
dt
t=0
x A , uS 1
3
d
f
(x
a
+
tu)
=
sup
dt3
t=0
1
x A , uS
3
d
=
sup 3 f (x + tu)
t=0
xA, uS 1 dt
= kf kC 3
since R preserves the length. Note that R1 u S 1 . Since A = T (A) and T is bijective, we have
kf k
C3
3
d
=
sup
f (x + tu)
3
dt
t=0
x A , uS 1
3
d
1
1
=
sup
f
(R
x
+
tR
u)
3
x A , uS 1 dt
3
d
=
sup 3 f (x + tv)
t=0
xA, vS 1 dt
= kf kC 3
f (x + tu) = f
1
t
x + u
Thus, we have
d3
d3
1
t
f (x + tu)
= 3f
x + u
3
dt
dt
t=0
t=0
3
X 3
u1 i u2 3i
1
3
=
f
x
i
xi y 3i
i=0
3
1 X 3 i 3i
3
1
= 2
u u
f
x
i=0 i 1 2 xi y 3i
1 d3
1
= 2 3f
x + tu
dt
t=0
Since A = T (A) and T is bijective, we have
kf kC 3
3
d
=
sup
f (x + tu)
3
t=0
x A , uS 1 dt
1 d3
1
=
sup
f
x
+
tu
2
3
t=0
x A , uS 1 dt
3
d
1
= 2 sup 3 f (x + tu)
xA, uS 1 dt
t=0
=
1
kf kC 3
2
Remark 2.14. Propositions 2.3 and 2.13 show that we can always transform any annulus A under a rigid
motion into a new annulus A , so that A is a centred annulus and has a standard spoke L0 , without
changing the value of the norm. Hence, it is sufficient to consider annulus A which is centred and has a
standard spoke L0 when working with the norm of any Dehn twist f on A.
8
1
kf kC 3
2
Similarly, meas(A), which is the area of A is not affected by any rigid motion, but it does change due
to the overall rescaling of A. It is easy to check that
meas(A ) = 2 meas(A)
Multiplying them together and we obtain the result.
Quantity kf kC 3 meas(A)
Corollary 2.15 states that for any annulus A and a Dehn twist f , the value of kf kC 3 meas(A) remains
constant regardless of rigid motions and rescalings on A. In fact, we are interested in the value of
kf kC 3 meas(A) for any annulus A and its Dehn twist f .
First, given an annulus A, we need to consider the suitable lower bound for kf kC 3 for any Dehn twist f
on A.
Proposition 3.1. Let A be a centred annulus, L0 = {(x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ]} be a standard spoke of
A and f : A A be a Dehn twist.
Then,
kf kC 3 6= 0
Proof. Suppose the contrary that kf kC 3 = 0. Thus, for all x A and u = (u1 , u2 ) S 1 , we have
3
X
3
i=0
ui1 u3i
2
3
f (x) = 0
xi y 3i
In fact, for any v = (v1 , v2 ) R2 , by considering its unit vector, we deduce that
3
X
3 i 3i
3
v1 v2
f (x) = 0
i
xi y 3i
i=0
3 X
k
X
k
k=0 i=0
where
R3 =
1
2
Z
0
(1 t)2
3
X
3
i=0
(x x0 )i (y y0 )ki
(x x0 )i (y y0 )3i
k
f (x0 ) + R3
xi y ki
3
f (x0 + t(x x0 )) dt
xi y 3i
From previous, the integrand is 0, so we have that R3 = 0 for all x A. Thus, we have that f is a
polynomial of degree at most 2 in R2 .
Let X(x) = x f (x, 0) for x [x0 , x1 ] which is the projection of f (L0 ) onto the x-axis. Since f has
degree at most 2, X is a polynomial of x of degree at most 2. By Proposition 2.10, X has at least two
turning points on [x0 , x1 ]. This contradicts X having degree at most 2 which has at most one turning
point.
Proposition 3.1 only tells that for any Dehn twist f on an annulus A, it holds that kf kC 3 > 0. However,
we need a non-trivial lower bound for f in this case.
Proposition 3.2. Let A be a centred annulus, L0 = {(x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ]} be a standard spoke of
A and f : A A be a Dehn twist.
Then,
kf kC 3 >
1
(x1 x0 )2
Proof. Consider X(x) = x f (x, 0) for x [x0 , x1 ] which is the projection of f (L0 ) onto the x-axis.
Note that by definition of a Dehn twist, f fixes all points on both boundaries, so X(x0 ) = x0 and
X(x1 ) = x1 . By Proposition 2.10, X has two turning points of positive and negative values on (x0 , x1 ).
Let p, q (x0 , x1 ) be the turning points of positive and negative values respectively. Without loss of
generality, let p < q.
By Rolles Theorem, since X 0 (p) = X 0 (q) = 0, there exists a (p, q) such that X 00 (a) = 0.
Now, we claim that there exists b (q, x1 ) such that |X 0 (b)| 1. Otherwise, suppose the contrary that
on (q, x1 ), we have |X 0 (x)| < 1. Then
Z
x1
X(x1 ) X(q) =
Z
= |x1 X(q)|
q
x1
X 0 (x) dx
Z
x1
|X (x)| dx <
q
dx = x1 q < x1
q
But, since X(q) < 0, we have |x1 X(q)| > x1 , which is a contradiction.
Now, by using Mean Value Theorem, there exists c (q, b) such that
X 0 (b) X 0 (q)
bq
0
X (b)
=
bq
X 00 (c) =
Again, by using Mean Value Theorem, there exists d between a and c such that
X 00 (c) X 00 (a)
ca
X 00 (c)
=
ca
X 0 (b)
=
(b q)(c a)
X 000 (d) =
Thus, since |b q| < |x1 x0 | and |c a| < |x1 x0 |, and previously |X 0 (b)| 1, we have
|X 000 (d)| >
1
(x1 x0 )2
10
|X 000 (d)|
1
>
(x1 x0 )2
Note that from Proposition 3.2, if o A tends to be further away from i A, then the lower bound for kf kC 3
tends to 0, which is not useful. However, meas(A) may become sufficiently big in this case. Similarly,
if o A tends to be closer to i A, then kf kC 3 tends to infinity, which is desirable. However, in this case,
meas(A) tends to 0 instead. Both cases shows that in some way, meas(A) plays the important role on
maintaining the lower bound for kf kC 3 meas(A) to remain at certain value.
Theorem 3.3. For any circular annulus A and its Dehn twist f : A A,
kf kC 3 meas(A) >
Proof. Let A = x R2 : r |x| R for some r, R R, 0 < r < R and f : A A be a Dehn twist.
Note that A has a standard spoke L0 = (x, 0) R2 : x [r, R] .
By Proposition 3.2, we have
kf kC 3 >
1
(R r)2
kf kC 3 meas(A) >
>
This holds for any circular annulus A and any Dehn twist f . Hence, we are done.
Theorem 3.3 can be generalised to any annulus A, but the proof is more involved, since the calculation
for meas(A) is more complicated.
Theorem 3.4. For any annulus A and its Dehn twist f : A A,
kf kC 3 meas(A) >
Proof. By Propositions 2.7 and 2.13, we can apply rigid motion on A so that A is a centred annulus and
the shortest line segment connecting both boundaries is a standard spoke L0 without changing the value
of kf kC 3 . Without loss of generality, let L0 = (x, 0) R2 : x [x0 , x1 ] be the standard spoke of A
such that it is the shortest line segment connecting i A and o A. By Proposition 3.2, we have
kf kC 3 >
1
(x1 x0 )2
Now, we have to find a suitable lower bound for meas(A). Consider constructing all radial lines tangential
to i A and o A. The set of such radial lines will be countable. Thus, the radial lines partition A into a
countable set P of smaller regions. Now, we will choose S P such that
11
d
dt
of the boundary being considered. The set of all such lines will be countable; otherwise either i A or
o A will not be a properly-defined curve. So, we have set P to be countable as well. Condition 1 implies
that we exclude the region that is bounded by radial line(s) and a boundary of A only. It is sufficient to
consider the regions satisfying condition 1 because we need a non-zero lower bound of meas(A). In fact,
the set S is non-empty because it has the region containing line segment L0 . Condition 2 also implies
that we exclude any redundant region that satisfies condition 1 but there is already such region for each
0 [0, 2). Such choice is possible since the origin O is interior to i A, so any radial line = 0 will
eventually intersect A.
Overall, both conditions allow us to calculate the area of each region easily; for any A S bounded by
radial line = and = , meas(A ) is given by
meas(A ) =
1
2
2
|R
r2 | d
where r and R are the radial coordinate for segments of i A and o A that bound A respectively.
2
Note that |R
r2 | > (R r )2 . Also, note that |R r | is the distance between two points on i A
and o A respectively. By definition of L0 as the shortest line segment connecting both boundaries of A
we have that |R r | x1 x0 . So
2
|R
r2 | > (x1 x0 )2
2
Note that l > 0 since (x1 x0 ) is non-zero lower bound for |R
r2 |. Thus, we deduce that
meas(A )
12
l
( )
2
meas(A )
A S
l X
( )
2
A S
= l
since condition 2 previously implies
A S (
) = 2.
1
l
(x1 x0 )2
as desired.
As a conclusion, we obtain:
Theorem 3.5. Let
C0 = inf (kf kC 3 meas(A))
(A,f )
inf
({Ai }ni=1 ,{fi }ni=1 )
max kfi kC 3
i=1,2,...,n
n
X
!
meas(Ai )
i=1
for all such pairs of sets {Ai }ni=1 and {fi }ni=1 .
Then,
C0 > 0
We will now try to prove Conjecture 3.6 if possible.
First of all, for Conjecture 3.6 to hold true, note that for all such pairs {Ai }ni=1 and {fi }ni=1 , we have
kfi kC 3 6= 0 for all i = 1, 2, ..., n. In other words, based on proof for Proposition 3.1, fi cannot be a linear
or quadratic polynomial in R2 for all i = 1, 2, ..., n. So, we need to prove that any composition of linear
13
for some coprime polynomials h1 and h2 . Since h1 and h2 are coprime, then again by Theorem 4.1, the
set of intersection between algebraic curves defined by h1 (x, y) = 0 and h2 (x, y) = 0 is finite. Let C be
the algebraic curve defined by Q(x, y) = 0. Therefore, we deduce that
V1 V2 = C {(x, y) R2 : h1 (x, y) = h2 (x, y) = 0}
Since each i A and o A is connected and infinite set, then
i A o A C
14
or in other words, the boundaries are a part of the curve C. Note that we can find a line passing through
the origin O which is not a part of C and intersects each boundary of A at two distinct points; otherwise,
the degree of Q will be infinite. Hence, since i A o A C, the line intersects C at least at 4 points.
By Theorem 4.1, Q cannot have degree less than 4; otherwise, there cannot be more than 3 points of
intersection. Hence, Q must have degree 4. Consequently, h1 and h2 must be a non-zero constant. So,
we have that
f (x, y) = (h1 Q(x, y) + x, h2 Q(x, y) + y)
for some h1 , h2 R \ {0}.
Consider f (L0 ). Define X(x) = f1 (x, 0) and Y (x) = f2 (x, 0) for x [x0 , x1 ] as the projection of f (L0 )
onto x-axis and y-axis respectively. We have
X(x) = h1 Q(x, 0) + x
=
X=
Y (x) = h2 Q(x, 0)
h1
Y +x
h2
= X > kY
where k =
h1
h2
and since x > 0. This means that for all points on f (L0 ) where X = 0, the corresponding
Y will have the same sign. But, since f (L0 ) must have a winding around the origin O, f (L0 ) must
intersect the positive and negative y-axis each at least once. This is a contradiction.
Hence, f cannot be a polynomial of degree less than or equal to 4.
Remark 4.3. Theorem 4.2 proves that a composition of two linear and/or quadratic functions in R2
cannot be a Dehn twist on any annulus. However, it is not possible to prove the same assertion for
a composition of more than two such functions in similar way. One reason, for example, the coprime
polynomials h1 and h2 as defined in the proof above may not be constant, and so we cannot determine
the sign of k to use the argument for contradiction.
It is worth to mention that it is still a question whether there exists a polynomial in R2 which is a Dehn
twist on some annulus. For now, we will leave it and try to look for a suitable tool to prove Conjecture
3.6.
In this section, we will investigate the definition of a twist of a function on an annulus. Before that,
we have to be familiar with conformal maps and extremal length of a set of curves in R2 . Now, we will
interchange between R2 and C for convenience.
Definition 5.1 (Conformal Map). Let D C and : D C be a C 1 function.
is conformal at z0 D if and only if there exist r R+ and [0, 2) such that for all C 1 curves
: I D for some open interval I R and (t0 ) = z0 for some t0 I,
|( )0 (t0 )| = r | 0 (t0 )|
0
(5.1)
(5.2)
+ arg(10 (0))
2
and thus, x (z0 ) = kiy (z0 ) for some k > 0. By conformality of , using equation (5.2), we have
x (z0 ) = kiy (z0 )
= |( 1 )0 (0)| = k|( 2 )0 (0)|
= r |10 (0)| = kr |20 (0)|
= k = 1
since |10 (0)| = |20 (0)| = 1 and r > 0. So, we have
x (z0 ) = iy (z0 )
= z = 0
Hence, satisfies Cauchy-Riemann conditions at z0 . Since u(x, y) and v(x, y) are continuously differentiable on D, we deduce that is holomorphic at z0 .
By chain rule and equation (5.2),
( 1 )0 (0) = 0 (1 (0)) 10 (0)
= |( 1 )0 (0)| = |z (z0 )| |10 (0)|
= r |10 (0)| = |z (z0 )| |10 (0)|
= |z (z0 )| = r > 0
Hence, z (z0 ) 6= 0.
Conversely, suppose that is holomorphic at z0 and z (z0 ) 6= 0. Consider : I D passing through z0
at t0 I for some open interval I R. By chain rule,
( )0 (t0 ) = z (z0 ) 0 (t0 )
Set r = |z (z0 )| > 0 and = arg(z (z0 )) [0, 2). Using the chain rule, it is easy to see that
|( )0 (t0 )| = r | 0 (t0 )|
Hence, is conformal at z0 .
16
(5.3)
2 dx dy
A(p) =
(5.4)
() = sup
(5.5)
dr
L0 () =
Z
R1
R2
= L()
dr
R1
R2
= 2L()
dr d
0
R1
2
!2
R2
= 4 (L())
dr d
0
R1
!2
R2
dr d
0
R1
R2
2
r dr d
0
= A() 2 log
k
r
R2
R1
R2
R1
R1
1
dr d
r
for any k R+ .
Hence, using the inequalities and taking the supremum over all , we have
(L())2
1
R2
log
A()
2
R1
1
R2
= ()
log
2
R1
Now, take 0 =
1
r
in polar coordinate and consider any . Using |dz|2 = dr2 + r2 d2 = |dz| dr,
17
we have
Z
0 |dz|
L (0 ) =
R2
0 dr
R2
= log
R1
R1
R2
R1
R2
R1
log
2
R1
()
R2
R1
Also, note that using the same 0 and 0 , it is easy to calculate that
1
(L0 (0 ))2
=
log
A(0 )
2
R2
R1
k
r
line segment connecting both boundaries in A. These pairs of function and curve are worth to be defined
properly.
Definition 5.5 (Extremal Pair). Let D C, be a set of curves in D, and () be its extremal length.
Suppose that there exist a function 0 and curve 0 such that
() =
((L0 (0 ))
A(0 )
18
|0 |
is easy to check that is allowable on D . Now, consider any (), and so there exists a unique
such that = (). Using |dw| = |0 ||dz|, we have
L ( ) =
|dw|
|0 ||dz|
|0 |
=
Z
|dz|
= L ()
Since is bijective, by taking the infimum, we have
L( ) = L()
Also, note that the Jacobian of in Cartesian coordinate is J() = |0 |2 . Using du dv = |0 |2 dx dy, we
have
A( ) =
2 du dv
Z
=
ZD
=
2
|0 |2 dx dy
|0 |2
2 dx dy
= A()
By both,
(L())2
(L( ))2
=
A( )
A()
Using the fact that is allowable on D if and only if is allowable on D , and taking the supremum,
we have the result.
In fact, we can even show that an extremal pair is also invariant under conformal maps.
Proposition 5.7. Let D, D C and : D D be a bijective conformal map.
Let be a set of curves in D and () be the set of images of the curves in D .
Suppose (0 , 0 ) is an extremal pair of D.
0
1
and 0 = (0 ).
|0 |
(0 , 0 ) is an extremal pair of D .
Define 0
Then,
A(0 ) = A(0 )
19
(L0 (0 ))2
A(0 )
(5.6)
[0,2)
Remark 5.8. Intuitively, f (A1 ) is the maximal angular displacement travelled by f (L ) for all radial
line segments L . It is better to note that (t) is continuous and may be outside of the range [0, 2)
when f (L ) has a winding around the origin O.
Note that f (A1 ) only consider the effect of f on the boundaries of A1 onto the boundaries of A2 , without
considering its effect on the interior of A1 onto the interior of A2 .
For example, let A = {x R2 : 1 |x| 2} and f : A A be a homeomorphism defined by
f (r, ) = (r, + 8(r 1)(r 2))
in polar coordinates. Intuitively, all points on the boundaries of A are fixed but the circles defined by
polar equation r = R for R (1, 2) are rotated at different angular speed under f . Thus, f (A) = 0
although there is some form of twist on the interior of A.
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Figure 5.2: f fixes the points on boundaries but rotates the interior of A at different angular speed.
We will now generalise the definition f (A1 ) on any function f : A1 A2 where A1 and A2 are annuli,
not necessarily circular. We have to consider the following theorem:
Theorem 5.9. Let A be an annulus such that i A and o A are analytic.
Then, there exist a circular annulus A = {x R2 : 1 |x| R} for some R > 1 and an analytic bijective
conformal map : A A , unique up to a rotation such that (i A) = i A and (o A) = o A .
The proof for Theorem 5.9 can be found in pages 205-209, G. M. Goluzin: Geometric Theory of Functions
of a Complex Variable.
Remark 5.10. The condition of analyticity of both boundaries are A is required for to be extended
analytically on A, including the boundaries. In fact, the theorem can be relaxed by allowing the boundaries of A to be Jordan curves, but we can only deduce that such conformal map exists and continuous
on the interior of A onto the interior of A .
Hence, for simplicity, we consider both boundaries of A to be analytic at the moment.
Definition 5.11 (Standard Conformally Equivalent Circular Annulus). Let A be an annulus.
Let A = {x R2 : 1 |x| R} for some R > 1 be a circular annulus such that there exists an analytic
bijective conformal map : A A where (i A) = i A and (o A) = o A .
Then, A is called the standard conformally equivalent circular annulus to A.
Figure 5.3: An annulus A and its standard conformally equivalent circular annulus A
Remark 5.12. Let be the set of radial line segments L of polar angle [0, 2) in A . Note that for
The radial line segments L in A for all [0, 2) connect a point on i A to a unique point on o A .
Thus, works as a parameter for the points on i A and the corresponding points on o A . Similarly,
21
(5.7)
[0,2)
22
F (A ) = 2n
Further Work
fi (Ai ) f (A1 )
i=1
(kfi kC 3 meas(Ai )) K
i=1
n
X
fi (Ai )
i=1
Kf (A1 )
2K
Thus, it is then clearly that
max kfi kC 3
i=1,2,...,n
n
X
meas(Ai ) 2K
i=1
which is true for any pair of sets {Ai }ni=1 and {fi }ni=1 .
So, we have C0 > 0.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my special gratitude to Prof. Sebastian van Strien, the supervisor, for his
best guidance and encouragement during the progress of this work. Also, another special gratitude
should be given to Dr. Ivan Ovsyannikov who gives extra helps and critiques to me alongside my
supervisor in completing this project. Last but not least, to my helpful research partner, Rafael
Sanchez Bailo , I would like to give him my thank for supporting me in terms of sharing ideas and
comments on this project.
References
[1] Ahlfors, L. V. (1966) Lectures on Quasiconformal Mappings. New Jersey, D. Van Nostrand Company,
Inc.
[2] Carmo, M. P. (1976) Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
[3] Goluzin, G. M. (1969) Geometric Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable. Trans. Scripta Technica.
Rhode Island, American Mathematical Society.
[4] Walker, R. J.(1978) Algebraic Curves. USA, Princeton University Press
[5] Wen, G.-C. (1992) Conformal Mappings and Boundary Value Problems. Trans. Weltin, K. Rhode
Island, American Mathematical Society.
24