Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 63 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , using spatial indices . Stress-energy conservation, symmetry of the stress-energy tensor and integration by parts giveand a second derivative givesAll boundary terms vanish by compact support. This proves the stress-energy quadrupole identity,The support is understood to remain bounded over the time interval used for differentiating these integrals.
For the radiation calculation set , write and use the trace-reversed metric perturbation in Lorenz gauge in linearized gravity. With the curvature and field-equation signs in this paper, the linear equation isThe retarded solution with no incoming radiation is consequentlyLet be the distance from the source's centre of mass, and let be its size. In the radiation zone, . The leading multipole expansion additionally assumes slow internal motion, or small compared with the radiation wavelength. These assumptions allow in the denominator and the common retarded time at leading quadrupole order. ThusDefine the trace-free mass quadrupole moment byTo make the requested normalization explicit, write the trace-free spatial metric coefficient as . Trace reversal only adds a spatial trace, so the preceding equations give the far-zone quadrupole strain coefficientThe supplied scan does not contain the referenced perturbation handout. The definition above fixes the normalization of directly. If denotes the physical transverse-traceless tensor in that handout, the right-hand side is also to be transversely projected for the observation direction. Trace-free alone does not imply transverse. With , putThe transverse-traceless projector gives and the physical spatial strain is . This also states the result without relying on omitted handout notation. The retarded construction and direction-dependent transverse projection are described in Carroll's general relativity lectures, with the appropriate changes of metric-sign convention.
For the equal-mass binary star, its centre of mass is at the origin and the separation is . The gravitational force on either star is , while its centripetal force is . HenceAt leading Newtonian order, is the sum of the two point-mass densities. Its moments areso the trace-free mass quadrupole moment isThe Newtonian bound system is treated in the usual leading weak-field quadrupole approximation; an exactly conserved effective source also includes the interaction stresses. Accelerated point-mass dust alone would not satisfy the conservation hypothesis.
Differentiating twice and evaluating at givesFor an observer on the axis this is already transverse and traceless. Its alternating plus polarization and cross polarization have a phase difference of , giving circularly polarized gravitational radiation at twice the orbital frequency. The amplitude decays as , as expected for outgoing radiation in three spatial dimensions.
More generally take the line of sight in the plane at inclination to the orbital angular-momentum axis. In the transverse basis , , define . Projection gives the physical gravitational wave polarizationsThus a generic view is elliptically polarized, the face-on view is circularly polarized and the edge-on view is linearly polarized. This is circular-binary quadrupole radiation; an overall sign or transverse-axis rotation only changes the polarization convention.