Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 309 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For radial motion, take an affine parameter and use dots for . The radial null geodesics of the Vaidya metric satisfy the two radial geodesic equationsThe radial squared norm is . If is constant it vanishes, and the geodesic equation reduces to . Thus constant- radial curves are null geodesics, with an affine parametrization. Future ingoing motion has .
For the other family let . Its tangent is a null vector. Using the Christoffel symbols of the Vaidya metric, direct differentiation givesHence these are also null geodesics, but is generally not affine. For completeness, put and chooseThis makes . Differentiating then gives ; substitution verifies the radial equation as well. Thus the null condition and both radial geodesic equations hold, not just the null condition alone.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 309 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Set , so and , where . Dots in this solution mean derivatives with respect to proper time . The geodesic Lagrangian becomesThe Euler-Lagrange equation for gives . The Euler-Lagrange equation for givesEliminate between these equations. The two angular Euler-Lagrange equations follow by differentiating and . Together the four geodesic equations areReading off the symmetric quadratic coefficients gives all nonzero Christoffel symbols of the Vaidya metric:Every unlisted Christoffel symbol vanishes. The lower-index symmetry is that of the Levi-Civita connection. In particular, the time-dependent mass contributes to ; it is absent from . There are eleven independent nonzero entries, or fifteen when both lower-index orders are counted.