Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-geometry-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/a/3/i/solution
Past exam of the geometry course of the University of Oxford 2010 A 3 i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
For an affinely parametrized geodesic , the energy Lagrangian is . The coordinate is cyclic, so the Euler-Lagrange equation gives , a constant. Parametrize a nonconstant geodesic by hyperbolic arc length; thenIf , is constant: these are vertical lines. If , on intervals with ,Integration gives . The two branches join smoothly at the highest point. Conversely these curves satisfy the geodesic equations, or are images of vertical lines under half-plane Möbius transformations that are isometries. Thus the complete nonconstant geodesics arenamely vertical lines and upper semicircles orthogonal to the real axis. Their subarcs give geodesic segments.
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