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N N N N n+1 N 2 I: N n+1 N N

This paper studies weakly circle-preserving maps from the n-sphere to itself. A map is weakly circle-preserving if the image of any circle is contained within some circle. The main result shows that for n ≥ 3, if a weakly circle-preserving map has spherical general position image and maps some 2-sphere to circular general position, then the map must be a Möbius transformation. This strengthens prior results requiring circle/sphere preservation or continuity.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
46 views12 pages

N N N N n+1 N 2 I: N n+1 N N

This paper studies weakly circle-preserving maps from the n-sphere to itself. A map is weakly circle-preserving if the image of any circle is contained within some circle. The main result shows that for n ≥ 3, if a weakly circle-preserving map has spherical general position image and maps some 2-sphere to circular general position, then the map must be a Möbius transformation. This strengthens prior results requiring circle/sphere preservation or continuity.

Uploaded by

Soumya Dasgupta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE

GEOMETRY

JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO


arXiv:1308.1752v1 [math.MG] 8 Aug 2013

Abstract. Let Sn be the standard n-sphere embedded in Rn+1 . A


mapping T : Sn → Sn , not assumed continuous or even measurable,
nor injective, is called weakly circle-preserving if the image of any cir-
cle under T is contained in some circle in the range space Sn . The
main result of this paper shows that any weakly circle-preserving map
satisfying a very mild condition on its range T (Sn ) must be a Möbius
transformation.

1. Introduction
The object of this paper is to give a characterizations of Möbius transfor-
mations acting on Sn , under very weak conditions on such a map T : Sn →
Sn , which do not assume invertibility or even continuity of the map.
The standard n-sphere Sn , viewed in Rn+1 is the real algebraic set
n
X
Sn := {(x0 , x1 , · · · , xn ) ∈ Rn+1 : x2i = 1}.
i=0
The set of Möbius transformations are the set of invertible maps F : Sn →
Sn generated by inversions. Such maps send circles to circles and (n − 1)-
spheres to (n−1)-spheres. The study of geometric properties invariant under
such transformations is called inversive geometry.
One can also identify Sn with Rn∞ := Rn ∪ {∞} under sterographic pro-
jection. In the space Rn∞ , an inversion (or a reflection) in an (n − 1)-
sphere S(a, r) := {x ∈ Rn : |x − a| = r} is the function φ defined by
r
φ(x) = a + ( |x−a| )2 (x − a). φ is well defined on Rn∞ − {a, ∞}, and at these
two points, we define φ(a) = ∞ and φ(∞) = a. A reflection in a hyper-
plane is a usual reflection in Rn and fixes the point ∞ in Rn∞ . We define a
Möbius transformation on Rn∞ ∼ = Sn to be a finite composition of reflections
in (n − 1)-spheres or hyperplanes. The group of all Möbius transforma-
tions is called the Generalized Möbius Group GM (Rn∞ ), following Beardon
[2, Chapter 3]. Note that in dimension n = 2, identifying R2∞ with the
Riemann sphere Ĉ, Möbius transformations include all the linear fractional
transformations z 7→ az+bcz+d , which are orientation-preserving maps and also
the conjugate ones z 7→ az̄+b
cz̄+d , which are orientation reversing maps.

Date: Aug 8, 2013, v.arXiv.


1
2 JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO

1.1. Main Result. We will study mappings satisfying the following very
weak version of the circle-preserving property.
Definition 1.1. A map T of the n-sphere to itself is called weakly circle-
preserving if for every circle C ⊂ Sn , T (C) lies in some circle.
Definition 1.2. A map T of the n-sphere to itself is called weakly sphere-
preserving if for every (n − 1)-sphere Sn−1 ⊂ Sn , T (Sn−1 ) lies in some
(n − 1)-sphere.
In these two definitions we do not assume that T is injective or even con-
tinuous. There are many such maps, including some that are not Möbius
transformations. For example, any map T : Sn → Sn whose image is fi-
nite and consists of (n + 1) points or less is automatically weakly sphere-
preserving and any map on n-sphere with image consisting of 3 points or
less is weakly circle-preserving. Nevertheless such maps are quite restricted
when further assumptions are imposed on them.
The key restrictions we consider are the following “general position” con-
ditions on the image of the map.
Definition 1.3. A subset B of Sn is said to lie in circular general position
if for any circle C, the complement of C contains at least two points of B.
Definition 1.4. A subset B of Sn is said to lie in spherical general position
if for any (n − 1)-sphere Sn−1 , the complement of Sn−1 contains at least two
points of B.
It is obvious from the definition that B must contain at least n + 3 points,
and there do exist many (n + 3) point sets in spherical general positon. If B
lies in spherical general position, then every set containing B lies in spherical
general position. However, if B lies in spherical general position, it is not
clear whether it always contains an n+3 subset of B lies in spherical general
position, and this result does always not hold in dimension n = 2.
Our main result is as follows.
Theorem 1.5. For n ≥ 3, T : Sn −→ Sn be a weakly circle-preserving
map. If T (Sn ) is in spherical general position and there is a 2-sphere S2
with T (S2 ) in circular general position, then T is a Möbius transformation.
This result strengthens many previous characterizations of Möbius trans-
formations, which we discuss below. We remark that the notion of the
weakly-circle preserving, in dimensions 2 and 3, was first studied by the
first author [12], [10], where it was termed “circle-preserving”.
1.2. Previous Results. Rigidity theorems of Möbius transformation have
been investigated extensively. It is clear that Möbius transformations take
generalized (n − 1)-spheres to generalized (n − 1)-spheres and a converse was
known to Möbius, under the assumption that the map T is continuous, see
Blair [4, Theorem 5.6]. A map is called conformal if the map preserves an-
gles. One can define it formally using conformal manifolds, see (Kobayashi
WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE GEOMETRY 3

[14], Blair [4]). Any Möbius transformation is a conformal diffeomorphism


on Sn . A result of Liouville[17] in 1850 asserts (in modern form) a local
converse: when n ≥ 3, any smooth conformal diffeomorphism of a simply
connected open domain U of Sn into Sn is the restriction of a Möbius trans-
formation. In particular, for n ≥ 3, the conformal group on Sn is precisely
the generalized Möbius group.
In 1937, Carathéodory [5] proved that a local version of the circle-preserving
condition is enough to force a map to be (part of) a Möbius transformation.
Given a domain U ⊂ R2 , and a 1-1 map T : U −→ Rn with n ≥ 2, such that
fpr any circle C in U that is contractible in U , T (C) is a circle, then T (U )
lies inside a plane and T is a restriction of a Möbius transformation in R2∞ .
More recently in 2001, Beardon and Minda [3] proved that T : Sn −→ Sn
is a Möbius transformation if and only if T locally maps each (n − 1)-sphere
onto (n − 1)-sphere. In 2005 Li and Wang [15] showed that T : Sn −→ Sn
is a Möbius transformation if and only if T is circle preserving and T (Sn )
is not a circle. All the above characterizations assume that T is circle (or
sphere) preserving, i.e., T maps circles (or spheres) onto circles (or spheres).
The weakly circle preserving assumption is much less restrictive than those
assumed on maps above. This assumption was introduced in 1979 by the
first author with Webb [12]. Unfortunately, that paper used the term “circle-
preserving map” to mean “ weakly circle-preserving map” as above. The
paper [12] established a local result, under the weakly circle preserving map
hypothesis. A special case is stated below in Theorem 2.1.
In this paper we prove only a global result, assuming the map T is defined
on all of Sn . However we expect that the main result extends to a local
version, where one assumes only that T is defined on a simply connected
open set inside Sn .

1.3. Notation. Given A ⊂ Sn , we will denote (A) to be the smallest


dimension sphere in Sn that contains A. If A is some finite set, e.g.,
A = {x1 , ..., xn }, we will simply write (x1 x2 ...xn ) to mean ({x1 , x2 , ..., xn }).
Similarly, if A = B ∪ {x1 , x2 , ..., xn }), we will simply use (B, x1 , x2 , ..., xn )
to mean (B ∪ {x1 , x2 , ..., xn }).
To distinguish the domain and range space, we will use lower case roman
letter (e.g., x) to denote a point in the domain space and lower case roman
letter with an apostrophe symbol (e.g., x0 ) to denote a point in the range
space.
We will also use Sk to denote k-sphere in Sn and if T is a map on Sn ,
we will use the notation Sk0 := (T (Sk )), i.e., the smallest dimension sphere
containing T (Sk ).
Throughout this paper, we will identify Sn with Rn∞ := Rn ∪ {∞}, and
a k-sphere with either Euclidean k-sphere in Rn or a k-dimensional affine
space in Rn together with the point ∞. We will also often use Rk∞ ⊂ Rn∞ to
mean the subspace {(x1 , ..., xk , 0, ..., 0) : x1 , ..., xk ∈ R} ∪ {∞} in Rn∞ .
4 JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO

2. Two dimensional case


The proof will use some results from the two-dimensional case which were
obtained in previous papers, [12] and [11]. They state that if T is weakly
circle-preserving, and satisfies some conditions on the image of the map T ,
then T will automatically become continuous and bijective, in fact, T will
be a Möbius transformation.
In 1979 the first author with Webb [12, Theorem 1] proved a ”six-point
theorem” for locally defined maps. The following theorem is the special case
U = S2 of that theorem. Notice that we use the term Möbius transformation
for inversive transformation.
Theorem 2.1. (“Six-point theorem”) Let T be a weakly circle-preserving
map from S2 into Sn with n ≥ 2 which satisfies the following conditions.
(1) Every circle in the codomain Sn does not contain at least two points
in the image T (S2 ), i.e. T (S2 ) is in circular general position in Sn .
(2) The image T (S2 ) contains at least six distinct points.
Then T (S2 ) is a 2-sphere and T is a Möbius transformation.
A result that we proved in [11] allows us to strengthen the result above,
as follows.
Theorem 2.2. (“Five-point theorem”) Let T be a weakly circle-preserving
map from S2 into Sn with n ≥ 2 which satisfies the following conditions.
(1) Every circle in the codomain Sn does not contain at least two points
in the image T (S2 ), i.e. T (S2 ) is in circular general position in Sn .
(2) The image T (S2 ) contains five or more distinct points.
Then T (S2 ) is a 2-sphere and T is a Möbius transformation.
Remark 2.3. We have stated this theorem to be in parallel with Theorem
2.1. In fact condition (2) in Theorem 2.2 already follows from condition (1),
Proof. This was proved in [11, Theorem 4.4]. 

3. Proof of Main Theorem 1.5.


Before proving this theorem, we need to prove several lemmas. The first
two lemmas are geometric facts about intersecting spheres, which will be
used a lot in proving the other lemmas.
Lemma 3.1. If Sk and Sm are k-sphere and m-sphere in Sn , assume Sk ∩Sm
contains at least two points, then dimension of the sphere Sk ∩ Sm can be
max{0, k + m − n} to min{k, m}.
Proof. To see this, we simply use a Möbius transformation to map two in-
tersection points to 0 and ∞, then Sk and Sm are mapped to two vector
subspace in Rn union the point ∞. We apply basic dimension theorem in
linear algebra and get the result. 
WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE GEOMETRY 5

Lemma 3.2. For n ≥ 3, 1 ≤ k ≤ n − 2, let Sk be a k-sphere in Sn and


x1 , x2 be two points in Sn . Assume that dim((Sk , x1 , x2 )) = k + 2, then any
circle C through x1 , x2 intersects Sk in at most one point.
Proof. Let Sk+1,1 := (Sk , x1 ), and suppose for contradiction that there is a
circle C through x1 , x2 that intersect Sk at at least two points. Let y1 , y2
be two of the intersection points. Notice that {x1 , y1 , y2 } ⊂ C ∩ Sk+1,1 ,
so C ⊂ Sk+1,1 . So we have x2 ∈ Sk+1,1 . This is a contradiction to
dim((Sk , x1 , x2 )) = k + 2. 

The following lemma shows that if T is a Möbius transformation on a small


dimensional sphere, T will be Möbius transformation in a larger dimensional
sphere provided some condition on the image of this larger dimensional
sphere. This lemma gives us a tool to build up a chain of spheres with
increasing dimension and T is a Möbius transformation on each of them.
Lemma 3.3. Let T : Sn −→ Sn be a weakly circle preserving map, and
0
Sk0 ⊂ Sk+1 are k-sphere and (k + 1)-sphere in Sn respectively. Suppose that
0 ) − T (S 0 )| ≥ 2, then T |
T |Sk is a Möbius transformation and |T (Sk+1 is
0
Sk+1
k
a Möbius transformation.
0 . Let x0 , x0 ∈ T (S
Proof. We will first show T is injective on Sk+1 1 2 k+1 ) −
−1 0
T (Sk ), and fix two points xi ∈ T (xi ).
Claim 1. There is a 2-sphere S2 through x1 , x2 and intersecting Sk0 in a
circle.
Proof. (of Claim 1)
Since Sk0 has codimension 1 in Sk+1 0 , S 0 divides S 0
k k+1 into two components.
If x1 and x2 are on the opposite side of Sk0 , then any 2-sphere through
x1 , x2 will intersect Sk0 in a circle.
Otherwise, choose x3 on the opposite side of x1 and x2 , then any 2-sphere
through x1 , x2 , x3 will intersect Sk0 in a circle. 

Notice that the image of S2 contains x01 , x02 and a whole circle, so T (S2 )
is in circular general position. By the five-point theorem (Theorem 2.2), T
is a Möbius transformation on S2 . Also notice that S2 must intersect both
components in Sk+1 0 divided by Sk0 , so we let x3 ∈ S2 − Sk0 on the opposite
0
side of x1 , and x3 be its image. Since T is a Möbius transformation on S2 ,
we have x03 ∈ / T (Sk0 ) and x03 6= x01 . Now given any two points y1 , y2 , we
form a 2-sphere through x1 , x3 , y1 , y2 , then this 2-sphere must intersect Sk0
in a circle as it contains x1 and x2 . Therefore, the image of this 2-sphere
consists of x01 , x03 and a whole circle, which means the image is in circular
general position. Therefore, T is a Möbius transformation on this 2-sphere
by five-point theorem (Theorem 2.2), in particular, T (y1 ) 6= T (y2 ). This
shows that T is injective on Sk+1 0 .
6 JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO

We will then prove that T (Sk+1 0 ) lies in some (k + 1)-sphere. Suppose

not, let x1 , x2 be two points in Sk+1 0 such that x02 ∈/ ((Sk0 )0 , x01 ). Let S2 be
0
a 2-sphere through x1 , x2 and intersecting Sk in a circle C, then T (S2 ) is
in circular general position, so T is a Möbius transformation on S2 . But
S20 ∩ ((Sk0 )0 , x01 ) contains x01 and C 0 , so S20 ⊂ ((Sk0 )0 , x01 ), then x02 ∈ S20 ⊂
((Sk0 )0 , x01 ). But this is a contradiction to the assumption x02 ∈ / ((Sk0 )0 , x01 ).
Therefore T (Sk+1 ) lies in some (k + 1)-sphere.

We will now prove this lemma by induction.


The base case k = 2: Under a Möbius transformation, we may assume
that S30 = R3∞ ⊂ Rn∞ , and S20 = R2∞ ⊂ Rn∞ . Given any 2-sphere S which is
2-dimensional plane through origin with ∞ in S30 other than S20 , then S ∩ S20
is a circle C, so the image T (S) contains a whole circle T (C) = (T (C)) =
C 0 . Moreover, since T is injective on S30 , T (S) also consists of 2 distinct
points off C 0 , so T (S) is in circular general position. By the five-point
theorem (Theorem 2.2), T is a Möbius transformation on S. Now given
arbitrary 2-sphere S2 in S30 , it must intersect some plane through origin in
a circle. By the same argument, T is a Möbius transformation on S2 . By
the corollary 6.3 in Beardon and Minda [3] (namely, let T : Sn −→ Sn , if T
restrict to any (n−1)-sphere is a Möbius transformation, then T is a Möbius
transformation), we conclude that T is a Möbius transformation on S30 .
The induction step: Assume that the lemma holds for k, we prove the
case for k + 1. Again, under a Möbius transformation, we may assume that
0 = Rk+2 n 0 k+1 n
Sk+2 ∞ ⊂ R∞ , and Sk+1 = R∞ ⊂ R∞ . Given any (k + 1)-sphere S
which is (k+1)-dimensional plane through origin with ∞ in Sk+2 0 other than
0 0
Sk+1 , S ∩ Sk+1 is a k-sphere S̃. Notice T |S̃ is a Möbius transformation as T
is a Möbius transformation on Sk+10 . Moreover, since T is injective on S 0 ,
k+2
T (S) also consists of 2 distinct points off T (S̃). By induction hypothesis, T
is a Möbius transformation on S. Now given arbitrary (k + 1)-sphere Sk+1
0 , it must intersect some hyperplanes in S 0
in Sk+2 k+2 through origin in a k-
sphere. By the same argument, T is a Möbius transformation on Sk+1 . By
the corollary 6.3 in Beardon and Minda [3], we conclude that T is a Möbius
transformation on Sk+20 .

By induction, we conclude that the lemma holds for every k ≥ 2. 


The following lemma shows that if the hypothesis of the Lemma 3.3 fails
for every possible (k + 1)-spheres, there will be some strict restriction on all
higher dimensional spheres.
Lemma 3.4. Let T : Sn −→ Sn be a weakly circle-preserving map and Sk0 be
a fixed k-sphere in Sn such that T |S 0 is a Möbius transformation. Assume
k
that for any (k + 1)-sphere Sk+1 containing Sk0 , |T (Sk+1 ) − T (Sk0 )| ≤ 1, then
the following holds:
For any (k + m)-sphere Sk+m (1 ≤ m ≤ n − k) containing Sk0 such that
0
dim(Sk+m ) ≥ k + m (recall here Sk+m 0 is the smallest dimension sphere
WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE GEOMETRY 7

containing T (Sk+m )), we have


(1) |T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk0 )| = m
and
(2) |T (Sk+m − Sk0 )| = m
0
Proof. Notice that from the hypothesis dim(Sk+m ) ≥ k + m, it is necessary
0
that |T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk )| ≥ m. Hence, to prove (1), it is sufficient to prove
|T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk0 )| ≤ m. The proof of this lemma is by induction from
m = 2. However, the base cases for m = 1, 2 are treated differently.

Case m = 1:
(1): This is immediate from the hypothesis of the lemma.

(2): Let T (Sk+1 ) − T (Sk0 ) = {x0 } and fix x ∈ T −1 (x0 ). Suppose for
contradiction that there is y ∈ Sk+1 − Sk0 with y 0 := T (y) ∈ T (Sk0 ).
Claim 1. There is a circle C through x, y and intersect Sk0 at two points
and y 0 ∈
/ T (C ∩ Sk0 ).
Proof. (of Claim 1)
Since Sk0 has codimension 1 in Sk+1 , Sk0 divides Sk+1 into two components.
If x, y are in opposite side of Sk0 , then any circle containing x, y intersects
0
Sk at two points. Let C1 and C2 be two different circles through x, y, then
C1 ∩ C2 ∩ Sk0 = ∅ (as three points determines a circle). Since T is injective
on Sk0 , so T (C1 ∩ Sk0 ) ∩ T (C2 ∩ Sk0 ) = ∅. Hence, y 0 ∈
/ T (Ci ∩ Sk0 ) for at least
one of C1 , C2 .
Otherwise, choose two different point x1 and x2 in the opposite side and
form Ci = (xyxi ). Exact same argument shows that at least one of the two
circles will satisfy the desired property. 
Now let y1 , y2 be the intersection point of the circle C with Sk0 , and y10 , y20
be its image respectively. Since T is weakly circle preserving and y 0 , y10 , y20
determines a circle (as no two of them are equal), we have x0 lies on the
circle (y 0 y10 y20 ) ⊂ T (Sk0 ) which is a contradiction to x0 ∈
/ T (Sk0 ).

Case m = 2:
(1): Given Sk+2 containing Sk0 , and suppose for contradiction that |T (Sk+2 )−
T (Sk0 )| ≥ 3. Choose x01 , x02 , x03 ∈ T (Sk+2 ) − T (Sk0 ) and fix x1 , x2 , x3 in its
preimage, i.e. T (xi ) = x0i , and let Sk+1,i := (Sk0 , xi ) for i = 1, 2, 3. Notice
that dim(Sk+1,i ) = k + 1 as xi ∈ / Sk0 , so by the (2) of m = 1, we have
T (Sk+1,i − Sk0 ) = {x0i }. Now given y ∈ Sk0 , and y 0 be its image under T .
Claim 2. There is a circle Cy though y and intersect Sk+1,i − Sk0 for all
i = 1, 2, 3.
Proof. (of Claim 2)
8 JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO

Figure 1.

Under a Möbius transformation, we may assume that Sk0 = Rk∞ ⊂ Rn∞


and Sk+2 = Rk+2 n ~
∞ ⊂ R∞ and y = 0. Then we have Sk+1,i is the union of
the point ∞ and a (k+1)-dimensional plane in Rk+2 containing Rk . If we
consider the 2-dimensional plane P spanned by ek+1 and ek+2 where ei is the
usual basis in Rn , then Sk+1,i ∩ P is a line passing through ~0. It is clear that
we can choose a circle C in P through ~0 that not tangent to the three lines
Sk+1,i ∩ P (i = 1, 2, 3). This circle will intersect Sk+1,i ∩ P at another point
other then ~0, which is not in Sk0 , so we proved the claim (see Figure 1). 

Since T (Sk+1,i − Sk0 ) = {x0i }, we have {x01 , x02 , x03 } ⊂ T (Cy ). Since T is
weakly circle preserving, T (Cy ) ⊂ (x01 x02 x03 ), in particular, y 0 := T (y) ∈
(x01 x02 x03 ). This is true for any y ∈ Sk0 , so T (Sk0 ) ⊂ (x01 x02 x03 ) which is a
contradiction.

(2): Let T (Sk+2 ) − T (Sk0 ) = {x01 , x02 }. Fix x1 , x2 in its preimage and let
Sk+1,i := (Sk0 , xi ). Again, dim(Sk+1,i ) = k + 1, and T (Sk+1,i − Sk0 ) = {x0i }.
Suppose for contradiction that there exists y ∈ Sk+2 − Sk0 such that
y 0 := T (y) ∈ T (Sk0 ), let Sk+1,y = (Sk0 , y). Notice that it is necessary that
T (Sk+1,y ) = T (Sk0 ).
Claim 3. T (Sk+1,y − Sk0 ) = {y 0 }.
Proof. (of Claim 3)
Again, under a Möbius transformation, we may assume that Sk0 = Rk∞ ⊂
Rn∞ and Sk+2 = Rk+2 ∞ ⊂ R∞ .
n

Suppose for contradiction, then there exists y1 , y2 on the opposite side of


Sk0 in Sk+1,y such that T (y1 ) 6= T (y2 ). Let C be the circle through y1 , y2
and x1 .
Now consider the projection map p : Rk+2 −→ R2 defined by p(x1 , ..., xk+2 ) =
(xk+1 , xk+2 ). Notice that p(Sk+1,i − {∞}) and p(Sk+1,y − {∞}) are lines in
R2 , p(y1 ) and p(y2 ) are on the opposite side of ~0. Since p(C) is a closed sim-
ple loop through p(x1 ), p(y1 ) and p(y2 ), we have p(C) ∩ p(Sk+1,2 − Sk0 ) 6= ∅
(see Figure 2). Therefore, we have C ∩ Sk+1,2 − Sk0 6= ∅. This means
WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE GEOMETRY 9

Figure 2.

{x01 , x02 , y10 , y20 } ⊂ T (C), so x01 , x02 , y10 , y20 are on a circle. This is a contra-
diction to dim(Sk+2 0 ) ≥ k + 2 by lemma 3.2. 
Now replace Sk+1,3 by Sk+1,y in claim 2, and exact same argument shows
that T (Sk0 ) ⊂ (x01 x02 y 0 ) which is a contradiction.

Case m ≥ 3:
Induction hypothesis: Assume the lemma holds for 1, ..., m − 1.
(1): Given Sk+m containing Sk0 and dim(Sk+m 0 ) ≥ k + m. Suppose for
0
contradiction that |T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk )| ≥ m + 1.
Let {x01 , ..., x0m } ⊂ T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk0 ) such that T (Sk0 ) and {x01 , ..., x0m }
determine a (k + m)-sphere, then T (Sk0 ) and any l-subset of {x01 , ..., x0m }
determine a (k + l)-sphere. Let x0m+1 ∈ T (Sk+m ) − T (Sk0 ) − {x01 , ..., x0m }, and
choose a point in {x01 , ..., x0m } that not in the (k + 1)-sphere determined by
T (Sk0 ) and x0m+1 , say this point is x0m . Fix x1 , ..., xm+1 in its preimage, and
let Sk+m−1 := (Sk0 , x1 , ..., xm−1 ) and Sk+2 := (Sk0 , xm , xm+1 ).
We let D := dim(Sk+m−1 ), then it is clear that D ≤ k + m − 1, and
0
dim(Sk+m−1 ) = k +m−1 ≥ D, so by induction hypothesis, we have m−1 ≤
|T (Sk+m−1 ) − T (Sk0 )| = D − k ≤ m − 1. This implies that D = k + m − 1
and T (Sk+m−1 − Sk0 ) = {x01 , ..., x0m−1 }.
Similarly, we have dim(Sk+2 ) = k + 2 and T (Sk+2 − Sk0 ) = {x0m , x0m+1 }.
Notice that Sk0 ⊂ Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 , so Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 contains at least two
points. By lemma 3.1, we know dim(Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 ) ≥ (k + m − 1) + (k +
2)−(k +m) = k + 1. This means that there exists x ∈ (Sk+2 −Sk0 )∩Sk+m−1 .
Notice that T (x) ∈ T (Sk+2 − Sk0 ) = {x0m , x0m+1 }. Therefore, T (Sk + m −
1) − T (Sk0 ) contains at least m points, which is a contradiction.

(2): Let T (Sk+m )−T (Sk0 ) = {x01 , ..., x0m }, and fix x1 , ..., xm in its preimage,
and let Sk+m−1 := (Sk0 , x1 , ..., xm−1 ). Exact same argument in the proof of
(1) of case m ≥ 3, we have dim(Sk+m−1 ) = k + m − 1 and T (Sk+m−1 − Sk0 ) =
{x01 , ..., x0m−1 }.
Suppose for contradiction that there exists y ∈ Sk+m − Sk0 such that y 0 :=
T (y) ∈ T (Sk0 ). Let Sk+2 := (Sk0 , xm , y). Notice that k + 1 ≤ dim(Sk+2 ) ≤
10 JOEL C. GIBBONS AND YUSHENG LUO

k + 2 and dim(Sk+2 0 ) ≥ k + 1. So by the induction hypothesis for (2) of


m = 1, we have dim(Sk+2 ) 6= k + 1. Hence, dim(Sk+2 ) = k + 2.
Notice that Sk0 ⊂ Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 , so Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 contains at least two
points. By lemma 3.1, we know dim(Sk+m−1 ∩ Sk+2 ) ≥ (k + m − 1) + (k +
2)−(k +m) = k + 1. This means that there exists x ∈ (Sk+m−1 −Sk0 )∩Sk+2 .
Notice that T (x) ∈ T (Sk+m−1 − Sk0 ) = {x01 , ..., x0m−1 }, say T (x) = x01 . Then
Sk+2 is a (k+2)-sphere containing Sk0 with dim(Sk+2 0 ) ≥ k + 2 (as it contains
0 0
T (Sk ) and x1 , xm ), so by induction hypothesis, we have T (Sk+2 − Sk0 ) =
0

{x01 , x0m } which is a contradiction to y 0 ∈ T (Sk+2 − Sk0 ). 


Proof. (of the theorem 1.5)
We will prove the theorem by building up a chain S20 ⊂ S30 ⊂ ... ⊂ Sn0 =
Sn , where Sk0 is k-sphere in Sn , such that T restrict to Sk0 is a Möbius
transformation.
We will build this chain by induction. Base case k = 2: By assumption,
there is a two sphere S2 with T (S2 ) in circular general position, so by five-
point theorem (Theorem 2.2), we conclude that T is a Möbius transformation
on S2 .
The induction step: Assume that we have build the chain S20 ⊂ S30 ⊂ ... ⊂
0
Sk (k ≤ n − 1), with T being a Möbius transformation on each sphere, we
will build (k + 1)-sphere Sk+1 0 .

Case 1: There is an (k+1)-sphere Sk+1 containing Sk0 such that T (Sk+1 )−


T (Sk0 ) consists of at least two points. By the lemma 3.3, we know that T is
a Möbius transformation on Sk+1 , so we let Sk+1 0 = Sk+1 .
Case 2: There is no (k+1)-sphere Sk+1 containing Sk0 such that T (Sk+1 )−
T (Sk0 ) consists of at least two points. In other words, for any (k + 1)-sphere
Sk+1 containing Sk , we have |T (Sk+1 )−T (Sk0 )| ≤ 1. Then the hypothesis for
lemma 3.4 is satisfied, so we conclude that in particular, |T (Sn )−T (Sk0 )| = m
(notice dim((Sn )0 ) = n ≥ n). But on the other hand, |T (Sn )−T (Sk0 )| ≥ m+1
as T (Sn ) is in general position. So this is a contradiction, which means case
2 cannot happen.
Therefore, the theorem follows. 

4. Weakly Sphere-Preserving Maps


We first show that weakly sphere-preserving maps are automatically weakly
circle-preserving maps.
Lemma 4.1. Suppose T : Sn −→ Sn is weakly sphere-preserving, and as-
sume that T (Sn ) is not contained in some (n − 1)-sphere, i.e., dim((Sn )0 ) =
n. Then T maps k-spheres into k-spheres for all dimensions k with 1 ≤ k ≤
n − 1. In particular, T is weakly circle-preserving.
Proof. We will prove by downwards induction on k that T maps k-spheres
into k-spheres. The base case k = n − 1 is true by the weakly sphere-
preserving hypothesis.
WEAKLY CIRCLE-PRESERVING MAPS IN INVERSIVE GEOMETRY 11

For the induction step, assume that T maps (k + 1)-spheres into (k + 1)-
spheres, for a fixed k + 1 ≥ 2. Given a k-sphere Sk , choose a point x1 ∈ Sn −
0
Sk , let Sk+1,1 := (Sk , x1 ), then by induction hypothesis, dim(Sk+1,1 ) = k+1
(recall here (Sk , x1 ) means the smallest dimension sphere containing Sk and
0
x1 and Sk+1,1 = (T (Sk+1,1 ))). Since T (Sn ) is not contained in some (n − 1)-
sphere, there is an image point x02 ∈ Sn − Sk+1,1 0 . We fix x2 ∈ T −1 (x02 ), and
denote Sk+1,2 := (Sk , x2 ). Notice that Sk ⊂ Sk+1,1 ∩ Sk+1,2 , so that
0 0
T (Sk ) ⊂ T (Sk+1,1 ) ∩ T (Sk+1,2 ) ⊂ Sk+1,1 ∩ Sk+1,2 .
0
But Sk+1,1 0
6= Sk+1,2 as x02 ∈ Sk+1,2
0 0
− Sk+1,1 0
, so Sk+1,1 0
∩ Sk+1,2 is a sphere
of dimension less than or equal to k. This proves that T (Sk ) lies in some
k-sphere, and completes the induction step. 
Remark 4.2. Notice that if T (Sn ) is in spherical general position, then
necessarily T (Sn ) is not contained in any (n − 1)-sphere. It follows that
a weakly sphere-preserving map having image in spherical general position
satisfies the hypothesis of Lemma 4.1, hence is a weakly circle preserving
map.
Now we have the following analogue theorem for weakly sphere-preserving
maps.
Theorem 4.3. For n ≥ 3, T : Sn −→ Sn be a weakly sphere-preserving
map. If T (Sn ) is in spherical general position and there is a 2-sphere S2
with T (S2 ) in circular general position, then T is a Möbius transformation.
Proof. This follows immediately from Lemma 4.1 and Theorem 1.5 

5. Acknowledgments
The first author thanks N. Nygaard (University of Chicago) for helpful
discussions. The second author worked on this project in an REU Summer
Program at the University of Michigan with supervisor J. C. Lagarias. Both
authors thank J. C. Lagarias for helpful discussions and for editorial assis-
tance. We acknowledge use of the computer package Cinderella 2 [19] to
draw the figures in this paper.

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