Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/iii/paper-7/5/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 7 5 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Gauss lemma says that, for for which the exponential map is defined,In particular radial and angular directions are orthogonal, and the radial direction retains its length.
Take the variation through geodesics , and put , . The Levi-Civita connection is metric compatible and torsion-free, so . Each -curve is a geodesic, hence , and its constant squared speed is . ThereforeAt the variation starts at the fixed point , so . Integrating from to and setting gives the displayed identity, because and .
In geodesic normal coordinates based on an orthonormal basis at , choose and to be the th coordinate vector. The lemma givesThese identities also hold at by continuity. They are the radial identities required in part (b).
New to topics? Read the docs here!