MA 35100 LECTURE NOTES: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Reflection Say that we have a line L in the plane R2 . We have seen that any vector x R2 can be written in the form x = x|| + x where x|| is parallel to the line, and x is perpendicular to it. We consider the reection of x through this line. Denition. Consider a line L : a x + b y = c in the coordinate plane running through the origin. For a vector x R2 , denote x|| = projL (x) refL (x) = x|| x and x = x x|| . x = x|| + x . The reection of x through L s dened as the vector where

We state a few facts about this transformation. Theorem. Consider the transformation T (x) = refL (x) (1) refL is a linear transformation. (2) refL (x) = 2 (x u) u x. (3) The matrix of this transformation is in the form A= a b b a where a2 + b2 = 1.

We explain why these statements are true. It is clear that the rst follows once we show the third. We will see that the third in turn follows from the second. For the second, recall that x = x x|| and x|| = (x u) u. These give refL (x) = x|| x = x|| x x|| = 2 x|| x = 2 (x u) u x. For the third, the transformation is given by refL x1 x2 = 2 (x u) u x = 2 (x1 u1 + x2 u2 ) = = 2 u2 1 1 x1 + 2 u1 u2 x1 + 2 u2 2 u1 u2 11 2 u1 u2 2 u2 21 2 u1 u2 x2 2 u2 2 1 x2 x1 x2 . u1 u2 x1 x2

Denote a = 2 u2 1 1 and b = 2 u1 u2 . Since u is a unit vector, we have

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 u2 2 1 = 2 u2 u1 + u2 = u2 u1 = u1 + u2 2 u1 = 1 2 u1 = a.

It suces to check that a2 + b2 = 1: a2 + b2 = 2 u2 11

2 2 + (2 u1 u2 )2 = u2 1 u2 2

+ (2 u1 u2 )2
2

2 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 = u4 1 2 u1 u2 + u2 + 4 u1 + u2 = u1 + 2 u1 u2 + u2 = u1 + u2 =1

This completes the proof.

1

As an example, consider the vertical line L : x = 0. In this case the parallel vector that spans the line is 0 u= so that a = 2 u2 1 1 = 1 and b = 2 u1 u2 = 0. 1 Hence the matrix which gives a reection about the vertical axis is A= a b b a = 1 0 0 1 .

This is the example we discussed in Fridays lecture. Rotations We begin with an example to motivate a general denition. Say that we have a line segment of length r, which we denote by the vector x = (r, 0). We wish to rotate this line segment an angle towards the vertical line segment y = (0, r). We can nd the transformation using trigonometry: T (x) = r cos r sin = r cos 0 + 0 r sin = (cos ) x + (sin ) y.

Denition. Consider a point x R2 along with a vector y R2 that is 90 perpendicular to x: x= x1 x2 so that y= x2 x1 .

The counterclockwise rotation of x through an angle is the transformation T (x) = (cos ) x + (sin ) y. This transformation is a linear transformation. Theorem. The matrix of a counterclockwise rotation in R2 through an angle is A= cos sin sin cos .

We explain why this is true. Using the denitions for x and y above, we have T x1 x2 = (cos ) x + (sin ) y = (cos ) = x1 x2 + (sin ) x1 x2 x2 x1 = (cos ) x1 (sin ) x2 (sin ) x1 + (cos ) x2

cos sin sin cos

We state a corollary to this fact. Theorem. A matrix of the form A= a b b a

represents rotation combined with a scaling. Moreover, the angle of rotation is 2 = arctan b/a, and the scaling is by r = a + b2 . We explain why this is true. Choose the vectors x and y as above. We have the transformation T (x) = A x = a x1 b x2 b x1 + a x2 =a
2

x1 x2

+b

x2 x1

= a x + b y.

Upon drawing a right triangle with sides a and b, and hypotenuse r, we have the identities b a b tan = so that cos = , sin = . a r r Hence we have T (x) = a x + b y = r [(cos ) x + (sin ) y ] . As we saw before, the transformation u = (cos ) x + (sin ) y is a rotation through the angle , whereas the transformation T (x) = r u is a scaling by the factor r.