Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-56/3/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 56 3 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Frobenius theorem says that hypersurface orthogonality of the nonzero covector is equivalent to , or locally for some nonzero . This immediately makes the screen projection of zero, since its antisymmetric part is a wedge product with , which is proportional to . Thus hypersurface orthogonality gives zero null twist.
For the converse, put . Nullness gives , and the affine geodesic equation gives . Resolve both tensor slots in the basis consisting of and the screen. These two identities exclude covector factors of . Consequentlyfor some covector . If , wedging this identity with makes . Applying Frobenius theorem completes the proof:This is the null twist vanishes exactly for hypersurface-orthogonal geodesics criterion; the geodesic assumption ensures that the screen criterion implies the full Frobenius condition. The resulting hypersurfaces are null, and the congruence follows their null generators.
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