Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 56 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . A positive-radius horizon requires a root of , givingFor the usual asymptotically flat Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime, the black-hole conditions areThe strict inequality gives a nonextremal outer event horizon at ; equality gives an extremal black hole. If with , there is no horizon and the central curvature singularity is naked. Nonpositive cannot supply a positive-radius black-hole horizon; is Minkowski spacetime. For , the zero root is the singularity, not an additional regular horizon.
In the static coordinates the vector has constant components and every metric component is independent of . Its Lie derivative therefore satisfiesFor the torsion-free Levi-Civita connection, , proving the Killing equation directly. This also normalizes the Killing vector field to unit time translation at infinity.
At , . Use the regular advanced chart with , in whichOn the horizon, . Thus the Killing vector field is both null and normal to the horizon, and its orbits generate that Killing horizon. The normal lines of a null hypersurface are null geodesics, possibly with nonaffine parameter. To see this without assuming a separate geodesic property, the Killing equation givesRestriction to the future horizon therefore givesThe acceleration is proportional to the tangent, which is exactly the geodesic equation with a nonaffine parameter. An affinely parametrized tangent can be obtained by rescaling along each generator; that rescaled vector need not itself extend to a spacetime Killing vector field. At a nonextremal bifurcation surface, vanishes, so a nonzero generator tangent must be described in a regular affine parametrization there.
On the past branch, use the retarded chart with radial-time cross term . Now at the horizon, so the same calculation yields the opposite signed nonaffinity. Since is constant and the spacetime is spherically symmetric, is constant over the future horizon. This gives the two signs in the horizon relation without assuming their value beforehand.
Factor . Its derivative at the outer horizon gives the Reissner-Nordstrom horizon surface gravityIt is positive for , and at reduces to the Schwarzschild surface gravity . For , the root is double and . Thus the horizon remains present when its surface gravity vanishes: it is a degenerate Killing horizon, and itself has affine parametrization along its nonzero horizon generators. The strictly positive-constant description applies only to the nonextremal case; the zero value is the legitimate extremal limit.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 60 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a scalar, the Lie derivative of a function is its directional derivative:The Lie derivative of a vector field is their Lie bracket of vector fields:For a torsion-free connection,The last term vanishes because the connection coefficients are symmetric in . This proves .
For the metric tensor statements use the Levi-Civita connection, which also has metric compatibility. The tensor derivation property of the Lie derivative of a tensor field givesExpanding the first term using and using the vector identity cancels the derivatives of and . What remains isSince are arbitrary, the Killing equation isMetric compatibility is needed here, even though symmetry alone sufficed for the vector identity. In general the Lie derivative of a metric with nonmetricity contains a term . For example, with the metric tensor , zero connection coefficients and , the Lie derivative of a tensor field is , whereas . The usual metric connection interpretation of the question supplies the required compatibility.
For the Riemann curvature tensor calculation, keep the original PDF's convention. With and , it meansThus the commutator on a covector has the opposite sign. Write . Taking a covariant derivative of the Killing equation makes antisymmetric in its first two indices, while the Ricci identity givesCombining this with the first-two-index antisymmetry gives the three relationsAdd the first and third and subtract the second. Pair symmetry and the first Bianchi identity imply . ConsequentlyThis is the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector in the paper's convention; its sign is tied to the declared curvature-sign convention in Killing derivative identities, not to raising a particular index.
Set . Along any smooth curve with tangent vector , the chain rule and the just-proved identity give the Killing transport equationsChoose a parallel-propagated orthonormal frame along the curve. These become a homogeneous linear system of ordinary differential equations for the components of . Uniqueness of its initial value problem implies that zero initial data remain zero. Any point in the same connected component as can be joined to by a piecewise smooth curve. Therefore zero value and zero first derivative at force the Killing field and its derivative to vanish throughout that component, with no completeness assumption. On a manifold with one connected component this is the requested global result. Connectedness cannot be dropped: on two disjoint flat spacetimes, take the zero field on one and a nonzero translation on the other.
On a pseudo-Riemannian manifold of dimension with one connected component, the map is therefore injective. There are independent components of the value and of its antisymmetric derivative. The dimension bound for Killing vector fields isIt is attained in flat space by with constant antisymmetric , giving translations and infinitesimal rotations or Lorentz transformations. The four-dimensional maximum is 10. For a disconnected manifold the bound applies componentwise; there is no uniform global bound depending only on if the number of components is unrestricted.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 15 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A Riemannian isometry is a diffeomorphism satisfying . A local isometry is a local diffeomorphism with the same pullback identity; equivalently is an isometric linear isomorphism for every . An isometric immersion into a higher-dimensional manifold does not satisfy this local-diffeomorphism requirement.
Let be the local flow of the generating vector field . The identity differentiates to , where is the Lie derivative of a tensor field. For arbitrary vector fields , metric compatibility and the torsion-free connection giveThis proves the Killing equation. Conversely, a smooth Killing field has a local flow, andSince is the identity, wherever the flow is defined. Its inverse is locally, so the local flow consists of local isometries. Neither direction assumes that is complete.
Put and . These expressions are tensorial in . Take the covariant derivative in direction of the Killing equation, subtracting the terms from differentiating and . It follows thatWith the curvature convention of Solution 1, the torsion-free connection also givesDefine . It is skew in by skew-adjointness of the Riemann curvature tensor. The first Bianchi identity givesso has the same antisymmetrization in as . Consequently is symmetric in its first two slots and skew in its last two. These symmetries force it to vanish:We have proved the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector identity, including its sign:The printed identity uses the opposite curvature-sign convention in Killing derivative identities. If , namely , the same result reads , exactly as printed. The convention must change with the sign; under , writing would be incorrect.
Finally let have zero value and zero first covariant derivative at . Along any geodesic issuing from , the identity just proved saysThus is a Jacobi field with zero initial value and derivative. Uniqueness for this linear ordinary differential equation implies on each such geodesic, hence on a convex normal neighborhood of . Consider the set of points where both and vanish. It is closed by continuity and open by this same local argument; on the resulting neighborhood vanishes identically, so its derivative does too. It is nonempty, and is connected, therefore it is all of . This proves everywhere and the general statement that a Killing field is determined by its value and first covariant derivative.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 63 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-18
Let and . The geometry is the five-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini metric. Introduce a tortoise coordinate by . Decomposing the integrand givesAn irrelevant additive constant has been fixed. Set and . Substituting or respectively gives the ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates and outgoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates:The radial-time block in each has determinant , so the apparent singularity at has disappeared. The ingoing chart crosses the future event horizon, and the outgoing chart crosses the past horizon. Radial null geodesics in the ingoing chart obey either or , displaying how outward light is trapped when .
For the maximal extension, the exterior radial metric is . Since the surface gravity is , choosein the right exterior. Their product and the extended metric areThe coefficient at the horizon is finite and nonzero, . The product relation therefore extends smoothly through either horizon. For , gives two exterior regions. For , gives the future black-hole interior with and the past white-hole interior with . The Kruskal extension of the five-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini metric has a bifurcation three-sphere at .
The singularity corresponds to . It is a curvature singularity: for example, its Kretschmann scalar is . Since in the interior, constant- surfaces are spacelike there, and the singularities are spacelike boundaries. Define , , then compactified coordinates , . Radial null curves have . Moreover, gives at the two singularities. This constructs the Penrose diagram, not just its horizon labels:
Maximal five-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini extension with two exteriors, future and past horizons, and spacelike singularities
. Details. Each point away from the singular boundaries represents a three-sphere, not a two-sphere. The diagram has two asymptotically flat exteriors with separate past and future null infinities, a future black hole and a past white hole. The diagram of a collapse spacetime would omit the second exterior and the white-hole region; the maximal extension of the metric given here contains both.
For the Komar integral, normalize the stationary Killing vector field as , with unit norm at infinity. The Killing equation makes antisymmetric, and its divergence is proportional to . In a vacuum exterior this vanishes, so Stokes theorem makes the flux independent of the enclosing sphere. In the weak-field limit its radial component measures the derivative of the gravitational potential; its large-sphere flux is therefore proportional to the asymptotic gravitational mass. Normalization of is needed because rescaling it would rescale the integral.
Specify the surface orientation to fix the sign and factor. On a static exterior slice take future unit normal , outward radial normal andThen and , with both antisymmetric components included. Since ,The three-sphere area is , and . ThusReversing the binormal orientation gives ; a convention with half the antisymmetric binormal gives half this magnitude. The question does not fix those conventions, so the choice above is explicit.
For comparison with physical mass, the Komar mass normalization in higher dimensions isIn five dimensions this givesThe metric parameter has dimensions of length squared and is not itself the physical mass. An independent horizon check is with , which reproduces the same integral. The dimension-adjusted normalization also agrees with the ADM mass; the four-dimensional Komar prefactor should not be reused unchanged.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 61 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work on a regular level surface, so . A nonzero normal covector has the local form . Extend it as a normal to neighbouring level surfaces. Since the Levi-Civita connection is torsion-free,Antisymmetrizing the product with over three indices kills the symmetric second-derivative term and the term containing two copies of . HenceEquivalently , the Frobenius theorem condition for hypersurface orthogonality.
For the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector, the curvature sign needs explicit care. Denote the curvature defined on the cover by , and obtain its other index positions by ordinary raising and lowering with the metric tensor. With , the Killing equation gives , while the supplied Ricci identity givesSuccessive use of these two facts givesSubstitute . The curvature symmetries and first Bianchi identity then implyThus the identity consistent with the cover convention isThe plus-sign version is valid for the opposite curvature tensor . With ordinary metric index raising, the printed plus sign and the cover's curvature convention cannot both be used. This is the curvature-sign convention in Killing derivative identities, not a failure of the Killing equation.
An explicit sign check uses and the timelike Killing vector . Here , and . Direct differentiation gives , whereas the cover definition gives and . This also verifies the corrected sign without relying on a remembered curvature convention.
To prove the static Killing field is a Ricci eigenvector, use the permitted alternative of adapted coordinates. Hypersurface orthogonality supplies hypersurfaces orthogonal to . Choose spatial coordinates on one such hypersurface and carry them along the flow of the Killing vector, using its flow parameter as . The flow preserves both the metric tensor and , so it preserves orthogonality to . Consequently the mixed metric components vanish, and the Killing equation makes all coefficients independent of :The only nonzero Christoffel symbols involving time can bein particular . In , the derivative of the connection trace vanishes because ; the other derivative is either a time derivative of a static coefficient or a derivative of . Every connection-product term contains a vanishing coefficient of these same types. Thus . The one-form has only a time component, and is proportional to . ThereforeChanging the overall curvature sign leaves this zero identity unchanged.
Finally a perfect fluid in signature has and . Contract the Einstein field equations with , and antisymmetrize with . Terms proportional to disappear, as does the Ricci term just proved. This leavesTwo nonzero timelike vectors cannot be orthogonal: in the fluid's rest local inertial frame, . The hypothesis therefore forces . Choosing future-directed gives the normalized perfect-fluid alignment in a static spacetime resultThe enthalpy hypothesis matters: when , the stress-energy tensor is proportional to the metric tensor and does not select a velocity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ii Paper 2 35A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The connection is torsion-free, so on a scalar is symmetric in . A covector also carries a connection acting on its own index, and commuting derivatives gives curvature, generally nonzero.
Use the curvature convention , consistent with the identity requested in the PDF. Some texts define the opposite Riemann sign, reversing both formulas. Expanding the prescribed derivative combination of the Killing equation givesThe three commutator terms are , by antisymmetry in the last two indices and the first Bianchi identity. ThusIn flat Cartesian Minkowski coordinates this says . Hence all Killing fields are affine:The constant term gives four translations and the antisymmetric term six Lorentz generators, rotations and boosts. Conversely every such field satisfies the Killing equation.
For the static block metric, time derivatives vanish and , . The Christoffel formula gives and . The vector has covector components , . Its only potentially nonzero derivatives are and ; spatial-spatial and time-time derivatives vanish. Their symmetric sums are zero, proving is a Killing vector field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 63 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let on the fluid region and choose the Killing vector field to be future-directed. The normalized four-velocity isThe Killing equation implies both andConsequently its Killing-flow four-acceleration isFor a scalar, the Lie derivative is . Thus the assumed stationarity of the pressure gives . These are the ingredients needed for hydrostatic equilibrium along a Killing vector; hypersurface orthogonality of is not needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 54 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use metric compatibility and a torsion-free connection. The coordinate formula for the Lie derivative of the metric tensor isSubstituting and collecting connection terms gives . Thus a Killing vector obeys , and conversely this Killing equation makes its flow preserve the metric. Its contraction gives .
With the curvature convention fixed in Q1, contract the vector Ricci identity to obtainThe second term vanishes because the Killing divergence is zero. Metric compatibility converts the first term to , and the Killing equation changes this to . Therefore the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector satisfiesThis derivation fixes the sign by the stated Ricci identity rather than by an unspecified convention for curvature.
For the axial Killing vector set . It is antisymmetric and its divergence is . Work in geometrized units and with zero cosmological constant, as required by the asymptotically flat setting. If a spatial shell has oriented boundary , the given form of Stokes theorem applied to the Komar angular momentum givesThe vacuum Einstein field equations give everywhere in the shell outside the matter source. The shell can still contain gravitational waves, since those have nonzero Weyl curvature rather than a nonzero Ricci tensor. HenceThis is angular momentum conservation in an axisymmetric vacuum region. Moving the outer surface through the radiative region adds no angular momentum. In an exactly axisymmetric spacetime there is no outward transport of the axial angular momentum by the waves. Axisymmetry does not imply stationarity, so this conclusion does not exclude radiation of energy.
For completeness the Einstein equations express the bulk current asOn an axisymmetric spacelike slice, is tangent to the slice and its contraction with vanishes; there the trace contribution to the angular-momentum volume integral drops out. One must retain any inner surface charges if the integration region has inner boundaries. The vacuum shell argument itself does not require a matter-only representation of the total charge.
The current is conserved on arbitrary slices, not just those to which is tangent. Indeed symmetry of the Ricci tensor and antisymmetry of giveThe last equality follows because a metric-preserving Killing flow also preserves the scalar curvature. Equivalently, the stress-energy conservation law and invariance of the stress trace give the same conserved current.
Let two spacelike hypersurfaces terminate on large enclosing spheres at the same asymptotic end. Join the spheres by a timelike tube lying wholly in the vacuum exterior. On this tube , so Stokes theorem gives zero difference of their Komar surface integrals, independently of the tube's shape. Alternatively, use the given Gauss theorem on a spacetime volume between the slices: , and the lateral flux is zero because in the exterior vacuum tube. Taking the enclosing spheres to infinity with the usual asymptotic falloff therefore provesAll surface orientations in these equations use the same convention as the stated Komar integral. The argument concerns enclosing surfaces at the same asymptotic end, so it does not discard additional charges from other ends or inner boundaries.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 56 2 c i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The conserved Killing energy of a geodesic tangent is , where . Conservation follows from and the Killing equation. For the Kerr metric, . Outside the outer Kerr ergoregion, is timelike. Its orthogonal complement is positive definite, so a nonzero causal vector cannot have . Equivalently, if both are future-directed, . HenceThis excludes the open exterior of the stationary-limit surface; on the surface itself a zero-energy null tangent can be proportional to the null stationary vector.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 54 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Levi-Civita connection has symmetric Christoffel symbols, so antisymmetrization removes its connection terms. Hence the Papapetrou electromagnetic field iswhere the last equality uses the Killing equation. As a differential two-form, , so the identity for the exterior derivative proves . Contracting the preceding second covariant derivative of a Killing vector givesA vacuum spacetime here has , with no cosmological constant. Therefore both source-free Maxwell equations hold:This is a test electromagnetic field on the given vacuum spacetime; its own stress-energy tensor is not included in that background's Einstein field equations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 54 1 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use signature and the Riemann curvature tensor convention . Lower the index of the Killing vector field and set . Differentiating the Killing equation gives , while the Ricci identity givesDefine . The first-pair antisymmetry of the Riemann curvature tensor gives . The pair symmetry and the first Bianchi identity giveThus is symmetric in its first two indices and antisymmetric in its last two. These two symmetries force it to vanish:Consequently . Raising using metric compatibility proves the required second covariant derivative of a Killing vector:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 54 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Away from a bifurcation set, the normal to a Killing horizon is its nonzero Killing vector field . Any affine tangent to the same generators has the form . In the optical tensor, derivatives of contribute a factor of and disappear under the screen-space projector. Consequentlyby the Killing equation. The trace and trace-free symmetric part are therefore zero: and .
For the antisymmetric part, locally the horizon normal is proportional to a gradient. The restriction of its dual one-form to every tangent direction on the horizon is zero. Taking its exterior derivative and evaluating on two screen tangents therefore gives zero as well; equivalently this is the hypersurface-orthogonality consequence of the Frobenius theorem. Since both screen indices are tangential, . Thus the optical scalars on a Killing horizon satisfyNo affine normalization of the Killing vector field itself was assumed. At a regular bifurcation surface, vanishes but the smooth null generators do not; the conclusions for their optical quantities follow by continuity along each horizon branch.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 2 36B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use metric compatibility and the symmetric Levi-Civita connection. Expanding givesThe Christoffel formula makes the bracket . Thus the Killing equation is equivalent to the displayed coordinate formula in the question, also the vanishing Lie derivative of the metric.
Along an affinely parametrized geodesic with tangent ,The first term vanishes by the geodesic equation and the second by the Killing equation, because is symmetric. This proves the geodesic conserved quantity from a Killing vector.
For , the three independent coordinate Killing conditions areThe field satisfies all three immediately. For , the second equation reads , and the third reads . For , they read and . The first equation holds for both, verifying all three Killing vector fields.
Their conserved contractions with may be denotedAdding the last two expressions after multiplying by givesTo identify these loci, set , . The metric becomes , and the equation becomes , a straight line in Minkowski spacetime. Nontrivial such lines, parametrized affinely, are exactly the geodesics in this coordinate patch. The all-zero choice of constants is a vacuous equation rather than an individual geodesic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 56 4 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A Killing vector field generates a local one-parameter family of isometries of the metric tensor. Equivalently, its tensor Lie derivative of the metric vanishes:The latter is the Killing equation; the equivalence uses metric compatibility and the torsion-free connection.
