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Euclidean plan/Proper isometry/Rotation/Fact/Proof

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Proof

Let and be the images of the standard vectors and . An isometry preserves the length of a vector; therefore,

Since an isometry preserves orthogonality, we have

In case , this implies (because of ) . Then , and, due to the properness assumption, the sign must be that of .

So let . Then

Since both vectors have the length , the modulus of the scalar factor is . In case , we had and the determinant was . Therefore, and . Hence, the describing matrix of with respect to the standard basis is

In particular, is a real number between and , and , that is, is a point on the real unit circle. The unit circle is parametrized by the trigonometric functions, that is, there exists a uniquely determined angle , , such that