Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/ii/paper-1/38d/iv/solution

The fields and arise by pushing forward the two coordinate vectors on the two-parameter family of geodesics, so . Part (i), or equivalently the torsion-free property, gives
In components,
Therefore
This says that the deformation tensor of a timelike geodesic congruence gives the relative velocity of neighboring geodesics represented by the geodesic deviation vector.

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