An Introduction to Manifolds, by TU

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Exercise 1.5
Let 0 = (0, 0) be the origin and B(0, 1) the open unit disk in R2 . To find a diffeomorphism
between B(0, 1) and R2 , we identify R2 with the xy-plane in R2 and introduce the lower open
hemisphere
S : x2 + y 2 + (z 1)2 = 1, z < 1
in R3 as an intermediate space. First note that the map f : B(0, 1) S given by
 p 
f (a, b) = a, b, 1 1 (a2 + b2 )

is a bijection.

(a) The stereographic projection g : S R2 from (0, 0, 1) is the map that send a point
(a, b, c) S to the intersection of the line through (0, 0, 1) and (a, b, c) with the xy-
plane. Show that it is given by

 
a b
(a, b, c) 7 (u, v) = , , c = 1 1 a2 b 2 ,
1c 1c

with inverse
 
u v 1
(u, v) 7 , ,1 .
1 + u2 + v 2 1 + u2 + v 2 1 + u2 + v 2

(b) Composing the two maps f and g gives the map

 
a b
(g f )(a, b) = h(a, b) = , .
1 a2 b 2 1 a2 b 2
Find a formula for h1 (u, v) and conclude that h is a diffeomorphism of the open disk
B(0, 1) with R2 .

(c) Generalize (b) to Rn .

Solution.
We first wish to observe that
 p 
f (a, b) = a, b, 1 (a2 + b2 )
p
is a bijection.
p Its easy to see that it is injective, for if (x 1 , y 1 , 1 1 (x21 + y12 )) =
(x2 , y2 , 1 1 (x22 + y22 )), then x1 = x2 and y1 = y2 , hence (x1 , y1 ) = (x2 , y2 ), as desired.
The fact that it is surjective follows from observing that we can describe the set S as
n p o
3 2 2
S = (x, y, z) R : z = 1 1 (x + y ) .

Now it is easy to see that any (x, y, z) S, (x, y) B(0, 1) maps to (x, y, z). Thus, the map
is, indeed, a bijection as claimed.

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(a) To see that the stereographic projection is given by
 
a b
(a, b, c) , ,
1c 1c

we consider the line that passes through (0, 0, 1) and (a, b, c) given by the equation

s(t) = (0, 0, 1) + t(a, b, (c 1)) = (at, bt, 1 + (c 1)t).

Since weve identified R2 with the xy-plane, we need only solve for when 1+(c1)t = 0.
Easy algebra yields
1
t= ,
1c
which means that the claim for the stereographic projection defined above is correct.
To verify the inverse, we apply a similar idea. The equation of the line between (u, v, 0)
and (0, 0, 1) is given by

(u, v, 0) + t(u, v, 1) = (u(1 t), v(1 t), t).

Using the distance formula, we find that

q
(u(1 t) 0)2 + (v(1 t) 0)2 + (t 1)2 = 1

precisely when
1
t=1 .
1 + u2 + v 2
Thus, the inverse image of the stereographic projection is exactly as it was claimed,
since when t = 1 (1 + u2 + v 2 )1/2 , we have
 
u v 1
(u, v) 7 , ,1 .
1 + u2 + v 2 1 + u2 + v 2 1 + u2 + v 2

(b) Again, basic knowledge of the composition of functions and algebra show that
!
a b
h(a, b) = (g f )(a, b) = h(a, b) = p ,p .
1 (a2 + b2 ) 1 (a2 + b2 )

To find the inverse, all we need to do is compose the inverse of g and f , i.e., compute
(g f )1 (a, b) = f 1 g 1 (a, b). The inverse of f is clearly just the projection of the
first two coordinates, and since we already have the inverse of g, we have
 
1 1 1 a b
h (a, b) = (f g )(a, b) = , .
1 + a2 + b 2 1 + a2 + b 2

Since each component is clearly C , we have that h(a, b) and h1 (a, b) are each C .

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(c) Its easy to see we can generalize this to

 
x1 xn
h (~x) = , , ,
1 k~xk 1 k~xk

with the obvious analog for h1 (~x).

Q.E.D.