Recent papers have shown that ${{C}^{1}}$ maps $F:\,{{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}\,\to {{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}$ whose Jacobians have constant eigenvalues can be completely characterized if either the eigenvalues are equal or $F$ is a polynomial. Specifically, $F\,=\,(u,\,v)$ must take the form

$$u\,=\,ax\,+\,by\,+\,\beta \phi (\alpha x\,+\,\beta y)\,+\,e$$

$$v\,=\,cx\,+\,dy\,-\,\alpha \phi \,(\alpha x\,+\,\beta y)\,+\,f$$

for some constants $a,\,b,\,c,\,d,\,e,\,f,\,\alpha ,\,\beta $ and a ${{C}^{1}}$ function $\phi $ in one variable. If, in addition, the function $\phi $ is not affine, then

1

$$\alpha \beta (d\,-\,a)\,+\,b{{\alpha }^{2}}\,-\,c{{\beta }^{2}}\,=\,0.$$

This paper shows how these theorems cannot be extended by constructing a real-analytic map whose Jacobian eigenvalues are $\pm 1/2$ and does not fit the previous form. This example is also used to construct non-obvious solutions to nonlinear PDEs, including the Monge—Ampère equation.