Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/iii/paper-59/4/a/solution

Let . A comoving observer measures photon energy , so . The null condition is . Using the stated Christoffel symbols in the time geodesic equation gives
Divide by to differentiate with respect to conformal time. The background redshift term cancels when differentiating :
In the perturbation term use the background relation , giving
Without metric tensor perturbations, both and the propagation direction are constant along an unperturbed ray. Thus and are first order. Multiplying them by derivatives of , which is also first order, gives second-order terms. The term is first order and must be retained. At linear order the Collisionless Boltzmann equation therefore reads
Taking the Fourier transform in the spatial coordinates proves
A first-order correction to the propagation velocity multiplying a spatial derivative of is likewise second order.

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