Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-311/3/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 311 3 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Consider the discrete mapIt is an isometry: and both change sign, leaving unchanged, while and are also unchanged. A local component of its fixed-point set is , .
If a geodesic starts tangent to that component, the isometry fixes both its initial position and its initial tangent. Applying the isometry therefore gives a geodesic with the same initial data. Uniqueness of the geodesic equation makes it the same curve, so it remains in the fixed component. This proves that the selected submanifold is a totally geodesic submanifold; it has dimension three, not two. The proof continues through a horizon when expressed in regular coordinates, so coordinate singularities of the original chart do not invalidate it.
The geodesic conserved quantities from Killing vectors associated with and areDots denote derivatives with respect to an affine parameter. On the chosen submanifold and , so . Requiring also givesMore generally, away from the polar-coordinate axes, both displayed angular charges being zero imply and the same relation. In particular, zero conserved angular momentum does not imply constant : the motion follows the local dragging of the angular coordinate by the rotating geometry.
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