Why is this shape an annulus?

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I have the following shape: $A := $ {$(z,w) \in \mathbb{C}^2 \mid \text{Arg}(z) + \text{Arg}(w) = 0 \text{ mod } 2\pi$} inside $\mathbb{C}^2$.

I know that $A \cap S^3 \subseteq S^3 \hookrightarrow \mathbb{C}^2$ is supposed to be an annulus (where $S^3$ is the set of pairs $(z,w) \in \mathbb{C}^2$ such that $|z|^2 + |w|^2 = 1$). (here for an actual picture of it, embedded in $S^3$)

It might even be that $A \subseteq \mathbb{C}^2$ already looks like an annulus by itself, without even having to look at it inside $S^3$, but I'm not sure about that bit. So I'm just mentioning it.


The farthest that I can get is that $A =$ {$(z,w) \in \mathbb{C}^2 \mid z \underset{\,\,\,\,\,\,\mathbb{R}}{\propto} \bar{w}$} (that is, before intersecting it with $S^3$), but this doesn't help me visualizing it much. And even less, see why it should be an annulus?

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The question of why this is an annulus is relatively easy to answer on a mathematical level. Perhaps knowing why will aid you in visualizing this annulus, but frankly visualization is kind of a subjective process and I'm not sure I can say much more than answering your question why. Nonetheless I'll say a few words about visualization at the end.


To answer the why, the first point to make is that for all $(z,w) \in A \cap S^3$, the inequality $|w|^2 + |z|^2 = 1$ implies that $|w| \le 1$ and that $|z| \le 1$. The second point is that, because of the requirement that both $\text{arg}(w)$ and $\text{arg}(z)$ be defined, neither $w=0$ nor $z=0$ is allowed; from this it follows that neither $|w|=1$ nor $|z|=1$ is allowed.

Taking these points altogether it follows that, as $(w,z) \in A \cap S^3$ varies, each of $w$ and $z$ take values in the following open annulus in $\mathbb C$: $$\mathcal A = \{r e^{i\theta} \mid 0 < r < 1 \} $$ Define a projection $p : A \cap S^3 \to \mathcal A$, where $p(z,w)=z$. This projection is continuous (obviously). Also $p$ is one-to-one and onto: for each $z = r e^{i\theta} \in \mathcal A$ there exists a unique $w \in \mathcal A$ such that $|z|^2 + |w|^2 = 1$ and $\arg(z) + \arg(w) = 0$, namely $$w = w(re^{i\theta}) = \sqrt{1-r^2} \, e^{-i\theta} $$ Finally, this formula shows that $w(z)$ is a continuous function of $z$, and therefore the inverse function $\mathcal A \mapsto A \cap S^2$ defined by $z \mapsto (z,w(z))$ is continuous. This proves that $p : A \cap S^3 \to \mathcal A$ is a homeomorphism.


As for visualization, it depends on how you like to visualize the unit sphere $S^3$. One popular method is to use stereographic projection which maps $S^3 - \{(1+0i, 0+1i)\}$ diffeomorphically to $\mathbb R^3$. One could certainly use sterographic projection to plot the graph $\{(z,w(z))\}$ of the function $w=w(z)=w(re^{i\theta})$ discussed above, as a subset of $\mathbb R^3$. It seems quite likely to me that this is the intention of the hand-drawn picture that you linked in your post.