Geometry – Reflection of a Curve Around a Slant Line

algebraic-geometrygeometryreflection

a fifth-degree function:

y = 80*x^5-225*x^4+350*x^3-300*x^2+150*x-20
(the green curve in the image)

needs to be reflected/mirrored around the line

y=55x-20
(the blue line)

and I am only interested in the segment [0,1]. While there is plenty of content on the internet on how to reflect around the axes or vertical/horizontal lines, I have not found an algebra explanation of how to do this around a slant line.

enter image description here

This image is an approximation: the red curve's shape should be slightly different: this is just the difference between the line and the curve, not the reflection.

How do I find the equation of the reflected green curve?

And part 2 of this question: Is it true that applying the equation of the reflection onto the original equation (the green curve) will return the equation of the slant blue line?

so if f*(x) is the reflection: is f*(f(x)) ?= ax+b

A step-by-step explanation would help anyone with a similar problem who sees this post.
There's a similar post here, about reflecting around horizontal/vertical lines.

Thank you!

Best Answer

$\newcommand{\vec}[1]{\mathbf{#1}}$The reflected curve is not generally a graph, but it's easy to obtain a parametric description. For generality, let's say the graph $y = f(x)$ is to be reflected across the line $\ell$ with symmetric equation $ax + by + c = 0$ ($a$ and $b$ not both zero). Dividing the equation of $\ell$ by $\sqrt{a^{2} + b^{2}}$, we may assume $(a, b)$ is a unit vector.

Pick a point $(x_{0}, y_{0})$ on $\ell$, and make a translational change of coordinates so this point is the origin: $(u, v) = (x - x_{0}, y - y_{0})$. The graph becomes $v + y_{0} = f(u + x_{0})$, and the line is $au + bv = 0$.

The (unit) vector $\vec{p} = (-b, a)$ lies on $\ell$, and $\vec{n} = (a, b)$ is orthogonal to $\ell$. Each point $\vec{x} = (u, v)$ is uniquely represented as \begin{align*} \vec{x} &= (\vec{x} \cdot \vec{p}) \vec{p} + (\vec{x} \cdot \vec{n}) \vec{n} \\ &= (-bu + av)(-b, a) + (au + bv)(a, b). \end{align*} The image of $\vec{x}$ under reflection across $\ell$ is \begin{align*} R_{\ell}(\vec{x}) &= (\vec{x} \cdot \vec{p}) \vec{p} - (\vec{x} \cdot \vec{n}) \vec{n} \\ &= (-bu + av)(-b, a) - (au + bv)(a, b) \\ &= \bigl((b^{2} - a^{2})u - 2abv, -2abu - (b^{2} - a^{2})v\bigr). \tag{1} \end{align*} (If we write $(a, b) = (\cos\theta, \sin\theta)$, the coefficients in the preceding expression are $\pm\cos(2\theta)$ and $-\sin(2\theta)$.)

The graph is parametrized by $$ (u, v) = \bigl(t + x_{0}, f(t + x_{0}) - y_{0}\bigr); $$ substituting these functions into (1) gives a parametrization of the reflected graph.

Related Question