Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-options-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/h/h1/solution
Past exam of the options I course of the University of Oxford 2008 H H1 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Put and , so . Direct differentiation gives and . The Euler-Lagrange equations are and , equivalentlyThe cyclic angular coordinate and time independence give the two conserved quantitiesThe expression for equals here because is homogeneous quadratic in the velocities.
For a constant radius and nonzero angular motion, the radial equation requires , so . This lies outside , and the angular equation then gives , with any nonzero constant . This is the photon sphere radius in the stated coordinates. If both velocities are zero, the displayed variational equations also admit a stationary configuration at any radius; the moving circular photon solution is the nonzero-speed case just found.
New to topics? Read the docs here!