Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-a/1/solution

Take , , and the negative-norm convention for a timelike curve used by the printed metric. Writing and gives
Spatial translation is a Killing vector field. Equivalently, the geodesic Lagrangian has the cyclic coordinate , so its conserved momentum is
Therefore the correct first integral for this metric is
The first-integral assertion in the PDF is false. Its dimensionless square root requires , and even after setting it is missing the factor . For example, the nonvertical geodesics below have proportional to .
Set . Solving for the velocity, with increasing as the time orientation, gives . The complete unparametrized family of timelike geodesics of a quadratic-time conformal metric is
Each curve is restricted to a connected positive- or negative- patch; is excluded because the metric becomes degenerate. For , , and the two independent constants are and . If an explicit affine parametrization is desired,
while the vertical family has . A reversal of the time orientation reverses the parameter without changing these paths.

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