Fixed Points of analytic functions

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the fixed points of analytic functions, specifically extending the concept known from Möbius transformations to all analytic functions mapping from a proper subset of the complex plane to itself. The original poster expresses confusion regarding the proof and its implications, particularly in relation to known results and theorems in complex analysis.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to relate their understanding of Möbius transformations to the broader context of analytic functions, questioning how to apply results like Rouche's theorem and the implications of fixed points. Some participants question the assumptions regarding the domain and the nature of the mappings involved.

Discussion Status

Participants are exploring the implications of the domain being a proper subset of the complex plane and discussing the necessity of being simply connected. There is acknowledgment of misunderstandings regarding fixed points in Möbius transformations, and some clarity is emerging around the conditions required for the proof.

Contextual Notes

There is a focus on the restriction that the domain must be a proper subset of the complex plane, which influences the existence of fixed points. The mention of simply connected domains is noted as critical to the discussion.

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Hi, I am in honors track Complex Analysis, and I think I've reached my limit. We got this proof, and I don't know where to start.

"We saw in class that a mobius transformation can have at most one fixed point (or else is the identity map), extend this idea to all analytic functions mapping from a domain\subsetℂ to itself."

I have no idea what to do. I totally understand the mobius version of this, but it is way easier. I saw a similar problem online for the unit disk, but then you have Schwart's Lemma. I also had a couple other thoughts that led nowhere. |f(z)-z| attains a minimum at any fixed point. Rouche's theorem would be nice if we could say something about curves, but I don't know how to extend that to an arbitrary domain.

Any push in the right direction would be appreciated.
 
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Dick said:
If you totally understand the mobius part, then why does (z+2)/z have two fixed points and it's not the identity map?

Two things:
1. Sorry, I was stupidly thinking while I was writing and got my stuff wrong. A mobius transformation has two fixed points (I "understand" in the sense that I can see that they can be solved for algebraically). I accidentally said "at most one" because I was thinking that that is the appropriate extension of the problem (analytic has at most one fixed point). I feel like Rouche implies that it is at most one fixed point for f(z)-z in this scenario, but can't figure out how to make it work.

2. I also had a problem with this statement at first and generated a similar polynomial counter-example, but I **think** the critical thing is that the domain is not allowed to be ℂ (strict subset is used), and I can't construct a counterexample with that restriction. So for example, if I had my domain being ℂ-{0}, your mobius transformation is certainly still well defined, but it maps -2 to 0 which would be out of the range. I could remove -2 from the domain, but then it comes out of the range again, so I still have a problem. So I can't construct a counterexample to the problem.
 
I think you are right. It has to map a proper domain of C to the same proper domain. That's the part I wasn't really thinking about, so I deleted my post. I was just fixating on the fact a mobius transformation generally has two fixed points.
 
Dah! Checking over what I wrote, found I left off "simply connected" which is of course critical.
 

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