Proper-time normalization of an affine parameter

ID: proper-time-normalization-of-an-affine-parameter

An affine parameter on a timelike geodesic can be scaled to proper time. With metric signature this fixes the tangent-vector norm to . A further constant rescaling preserves the affine geodesic equation but changes that norm; conserved energy and angular-momentum constants must be rescaled consistently. The unit term in a proper-time-normalized radial energy equation is consequently a normalization choice, not a property of every affine parameter.

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