Reflection of Plane in Line through Origin is Linear Operator
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Theorem
Let $M$ be a straight line in the plane $\R^2$ passing through the origin.
Let $s_M$ be the reflection of $\R^2$ in $M$.
Then $s_M$ is a linear operator for every straight line $M$ through the origin.
Proof
Let the angle between $M$ and the $x$-axis be $\alpha$.
To prove that $s_M$ is a linear operator it is sufficient to demonstrate that:
- $(1): \quad \forall P_1, P_2 \in \R^2: \map {s_M} {P_1 + P_2} = \map {s_M} {P_1} + \map {s_M} {P_2}$
- $(2): \quad \forall \lambda \in \R: \map {s_M} {\lambda P_1} = \lambda \map {s_M} {P_1}$
So, let $P_1 = \tuple {x_1, y_1}$ and $P_2 = \tuple {x_2, y_2}$ be arbitrary points in the plane.
\(\ds \map {s_M} {P_1 + P_2}\) | \(=\) | \(\ds \tuple {\paren {x_1 + x_2} \cos 2 \alpha + \paren {y_1 + y_2} \sin 2 \alpha, \paren {x_1 + x_2} \sin 2 \alpha - \paren {y_1 + y_2} \cos 2 \alpha}\) | Equations defining Plane Reflection: Cartesian | |||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds \tuple {x_1 \cos 2 \alpha + y_1 \sin 2 \alpha, x_1 \sin 2 \alpha - y_1 \cos 2 \alpha} + \tuple {x_2 \cos 2 \alpha + y_2 \sin 2 \alpha, x_2 \sin 2 \alpha - y_2 \cos 2 \alpha}\) | ||||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds \map {s_M} {P_1} + \map {s_M} {P_2}\) | Equations defining Plane Reflection: Cartesian |
and:
\(\ds \forall \lambda \in \R: \, \) | \(\ds \map {s_M} {\lambda P_1}\) | \(=\) | \(\ds \map {s_M} {\lambda \tuple {x_1, y_1} }\) | Definition of $P_1$ | ||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds \tuple {\lambda x_1 \cos 2 \alpha + \lambda y_1 \sin 2 \alpha, \lambda x_1 \sin 2 \alpha - \lambda y_1 \cos 2 \alpha}\) | Equations defining Plane Reflection: Cartesian | |||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds \lambda \tuple {x_1 \cos 2 \alpha + y_1 \sin 2 \alpha, x_1 \sin 2 \alpha - y_1 \cos 2 \alpha}\) | ||||||||||||
\(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds \lambda \map {s_M} {P_1}\) | Equations defining Plane Reflection: Cartesian |
Hence the result.
$\blacksquare$
Sources
- 1965: Seth Warner: Modern Algebra ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {V}$: Vector Spaces: $\S 28$. Linear Transformations: Example $28.4$