Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/7/b/iii/solution
Past exam of the short options course of the University of Oxford 2014 7 b iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Differentiate each segment and express the four-velocity using a continuous rapidity:At both rapidities are ; at both are . Hence the four-velocity is continuous at both junctions. This expression also gives everywhere, so the parameter remains proper time on the later segments.
Away from the junctions,with successively . The rapidity is continuous but its slope reverses. Thus the four-acceleration has a finite jump to its negative at each junction, while its magnitude stays on either side. There is no velocity jump; the idealized path is continuously differentiable but not twice differentiable at the switching events.
New to topics? Read the docs here!