Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-309/2/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 309 2 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At each point, apply the indefinite-signature version of the Gram-Schmidt process to any local coframe, choosing one timelike and three spacelike one-forms. This produces an orthonormal coframe in spacetime satisfyingIt is unique only up to a local Lorentz transformation. The torsion-free connection 1-forms are then determined by Cartan's first structure equation and metric compatibility,Cartan's second structure equation gives the curvature 2-formsand contraction gives the Ricci tensor .
For the displayed metric, takeThen and . The nonzero connection forms are thereforewith . A second application of the structure equations givesEquivalently,so this is a constant sectional curvature spacetime with . In four dimensions,The Vacuum Einstein equations with a cosmological constant are , and henceThe metric is the contracting flat slicing of de Sitter spacetime with curvature radius one.
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