Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/1/c/solution
Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2013 Paper 1 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
The Christoffel symbols of a spatially flat FLRW metric depend on the time-coordinate convention. Here is , not . For an affine parameter , take . Its Euler-Lagrange equations areComparison with the geodesic equation givesAll others vanish because is constant and there are no spatial metric tensor derivatives. The lower-index interchange is essential: the printed list specifies one member of each symmetric mixed pair. The factor of two in the spatial geodesic equation comes from those two members.
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