In
complex analysis
Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic ...
, the Riemann mapping theorem states that if
is a
non-empty simply connected open subset of the
complex number plane which is not all of
, then there exists a
biholomorphic mapping
(i.e. a
bijective holomorphic mapping whose inverse is also holomorphic) from
onto the
open unit disk
:
This mapping is known as a Riemann mapping.
Intuitively, the condition that
be simply connected means that
does not contain any “holes”. The fact that
is biholomorphic implies that it is a
conformal map
In mathematics, a conformal map is a function (mathematics), function that locally preserves angles, but not necessarily lengths.
More formally, let U and V be open subsets of \mathbb^n. A function f:U\to V is called conformal (or angle-prese ...
and therefore angle-preserving. Such a map may be interpreted as preserving the shape of any sufficiently small figure, while possibly rotating and scaling (but not reflecting) it.
Henri Poincaré proved that the map
is unique up to rotation and recentering: if
is an element of
and
is an arbitrary angle, then there exists precisely one ''f'' as above such that
and such that the
argument
An argument is a series of sentences, statements, or propositions some of which are called premises and one is the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to give reasons for one's conclusion via justification, explanation, and/or persu ...
of the derivative of
at the point
is equal to
. This is an easy consequence of the
Schwarz lemma.
As a corollary of the theorem, any two simply connected open subsets of the
Riemann sphere which both lack at least two points of the sphere can be conformally mapped into each other.
History
The theorem was stated (under the assumption that the
boundary of
is piecewise smooth) by
Bernhard Riemann
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the f ...
in 1851 in his PhD thesis.
Lars Ahlfors wrote once, concerning the original formulation of the theorem, that it was “ultimately formulated in terms which would defy any attempt of proof, even with modern methods”. Riemann's flawed proof depended on the
Dirichlet principle (which was named by Riemann himself), which was considered sound at the time. However,
Karl Weierstrass found that this principle was not universally valid. Later,
David Hilbert was able to prove that, to a large extent, the Dirichlet principle is valid under the hypothesis that Riemann was working with. However, in order to be valid, the Dirichlet principle needs certain hypotheses concerning the boundary of
(namely, that it is a
Jordan curve) which are not valid for simply connected
domains in general.
The first rigorous proof of the theorem was given by
William Fogg Osgood in 1900. He proved the existence of
Green's function on arbitrary simply connected domains other than
itself; this established the Riemann mapping theorem.
Constantin Carathéodory gave another proof of the theorem in 1912, which was the first to rely purely on the methods of function theory rather than
potential theory. His proof used Montel's concept of normal families, which became the standard method of proof in textbooks. Carathéodory continued in 1913 by resolving the additional question of whether the Riemann mapping between the domains can be extended to a homeomorphism of the boundaries (see
Carathéodory's theorem).
Carathéodory's proof used
Riemann surfaces and it was simplified by
Paul Koebe two years later in a way that did not require them. Another proof, due to
Lipót Fejér and to
Frigyes Riesz, was published in 1922 and it was rather shorter than the previous ones. In this proof, like in Riemann's proof, the desired mapping was obtained as the solution of an extremal problem. The Fejér–Riesz proof was further simplified by
Alexander Ostrowski and by Carathéodory.
Importance
The following points detail the uniqueness and power of the Riemann mapping theorem:
* Even relatively simple Riemann mappings (for example a map from the interior of a circle to the interior of a square) have no explicit formula using only
elementary function
In mathematics, an elementary function is a function of a single variable (typically real or complex) that is defined as taking sums, products, roots and compositions of finitely many polynomial, rational, trigonometric, hyperbolic, a ...
s.
* Simply connected open sets in the plane can be highly complicated, for instance, the
boundary can be a nowhere-
differentiable fractal curve of infinite length, even if the set itself is bounded. One such example is the
Koch curve.
The fact that such a set can be mapped in an ''angle-preserving'' manner to the nice and regular unit disc seems counter-intuitive.
* The analog of the Riemann mapping theorem for more complicated domains is not true. The next simplest case is of doubly connected domains (domains with a single hole). Any doubly connected domain except for the punctured disk and the punctured plane is conformally equivalent to some annulus
with