Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 52 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use geometrized units and metric signature , with . In the exterior of Schwarzschild spacetime, put . The Schwarzschild tortoise coordinate satisfiesThe retarded and advanced null coordinates and then give . The logarithmic divergence of suggests exponentiating these null coordinates. In the right exterior define the Kruskal–Szekeres coordinatesTheir product eliminates :Since and , the Schwarzschild metric becomesHere is an implicitly defined function of . The derivative of the right side with respect to is , which is nonzero at . The inverse function theorem therefore makes smooth across that surface, and the coefficient of tends to . Thus the Schwarzschild event horizon is a coordinate singularity of the original chart, while this Lorentzian metric remains regular there.
Extend the Kruskal–Szekeres coordinates to all real with . The signs give two exterior regions, and , a future black hole region , and a past white hole region . The event horizons are or , intersecting at the bifurcation surface. The boundary has and is a genuine Schwarzschild singularity, as the Kretschmann scalar diverges there.
Finally, and give and a radial metric proportional to . Hence radial null geodesics have slopes , the event horizons are , and the singular boundaries are . This constructs the maximal Kruskal extension; a black hole produced by collapse need not contain the second exterior or the white hole of that eternal extension.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 311 1 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use geometrized units and metric signature . Put in the Schwarzschild metric. The Schwarzschild tortoise coordinate satisfies , soSubstituting gives the Ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates:The radial metric tensor has determinant and inverse components , , . Thus it is nondegenerate and analytic at . The same expression defines a Lorentzian metric for every , extending the exterior across the future Schwarzschild event horizon into the black hole. It does not include the other exterior or the white hole of the full Kruskal spacetime. At , the Kretschmann scalar diverges, so this is a curvature singularity, not a removable coordinate singularity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 311 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Relative to a chosen asymptotically flat end, define the black hole region bywhere is that end's future null infinity in a conformal completion. It consists of events unable to send a future causal signal to that infinity; its boundary is the corresponding future event horizon.
For , and on . The gradient of has norm , so it is timelike there. Use the future extension regular in the ingoing coordinates above, reached by an exterior future ingoing null geodesic with . This determines to be future timelike in the inter-horizon block. Every nonzero future causal tangent therefore obeysAt the future outer horizon the gradient becomes future null and gives the corresponding one-way inequality . No future signal can cross that horizon outward to the selected exterior. The future inter-horizon block is consequently within ; a future-directed path can leave it only through the inner horizon, not return through the outer horizon to the selected infinity.
This statement requires a branch and an end. The maximal extension also contains time-reversed inter-horizon blocks, where future-directed curves have increasing and emerge into an exterior: they are white holes, not the selected black hole region. Thus the unqualified claim for every copy of in an arbitrary extension is false. Analytic continuation past a Cauchy horizon can also introduce other asymptotic ends; the displayed definition explicitly refers to the chosen component of infinity.
To sketch the causal structure, suppress the spacelike circle by its orbit-space projection. The induced three-dimensional metric tensor isThe causal projection along a spacelike circular fiber is exact: any causal curve projects to a -causal curve, and every base curve has a lift with exactly its base norm. The diagrams therefore represent this two-dimensional orbit space, not a constant- slice of the three-dimensional submanifold.
There are three nonextremal block types. For , spans the full real line from the outer horizon to infinity, producing an exterior diamond. For , spans the full line with the time and space roles reversed; these diamonds contain the future black-hole or past white-hole branches. For , is finite at zero and diverges at the inner horizon, producing a static half-diamond with a timelike singular edge. The supplied Kretschmann scalar diverges as at , and on the inner side, so that edge is a genuine timelike curvature singularity. In contrast, both horizon radii are regular in horizon-adapted coordinates.
The finite strip shows two exterior levels, a future trapped block, an inner static level with timelike singularities, and the next emerging block. Continuing through the inner Cauchy horizons repeats this pattern upward and downward in the maximal analytic extension. The inner boundary is not a spacelike Schwarzschild-type singularity. Such an ideal extension need not describe a physical collapse past its unstable inner horizon.
At , put . Then , , and the interval is empty. The lapse is positive on both sides, so there is no inter-horizon trapped diamond. The horizon is a degenerate Killing horizon, with . In the exterior as , while inside as ; more precisely its leading pole is . Static proper distance to the horizon is infinite. Future ingoing rays still cross it at finite affine parameter, as the regular ingoing metric tensor shows.
Extremal conformal blocks and horizon gluing
. The extremal sketch gives the exterior diamond and singular interior half-diamond, with the complete gluing prescription: the exterior future horizon attaches to the interior past horizon; the interior future horizon attaches to the past horizon of another exterior. Repeating these attachments gives the maximal extension. The marked throat endpoints are conformal ideal endpoints, not bifurcation points of the spacetime. This block representation avoids incorrectly treating the extremal geometry as two transverse horizons with a collapsed trapped region.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 311 3 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Given an asymptotically flat spacetime with a conformal completion and future null infinity , its black hole region isThe event horizon is its boundary. For the magnetically charged dilaton black hole, first assume . The physical asymptotic component has , and the ingoing chart extends regularly across . Its future ingoing null direction is . For ,Hence is future timelike. Every nonzero future causal tangent satisfies . A future causal curve from this interior can neither cross back to nor reach the asymptotic end , so it cannot reach . It lies in .
This proof uses the future black-hole extension. The radial interval alone does not distinguish it from the past white hole interior of the maximal extension; that interior has the same interval and can send signals to infinity. Thus the statement needs this future-component qualification if the maximal spacetime is intended.
The Kretschmann scalar confirms that is a genuine curvature singularity: for , its numerator at is , andFor it instead reduces to . Since on approaching the singularity from the interior, the singularity is spacelike. At the curvature is finite.
For the maximal extension, take , in the right exterior and continue analytically across the horizons. ThenThe singularity is and the horizons are and . Rescaling the null coordinates by the square root of this positive constant before arctangent compactification produces the usual qualitative Penrose diagram of Schwarzschild spacetime: two exteriors, a future black-hole region, a past white-hole region, and future and past spacelike singularities. The dashed lines below are the horizon branches; only the future interior is the black-hole region.
Radial effective potential
. If , the physical domain remains , but now throughout it. The apparent zero is beyond the curvature singularity and is not an accessible horizon. The singularity is timelike, and outgoing radial null rays with escape to infinity from arbitrarily near it. ThusThe excluded equality is a singular limiting case, not a regular horizon. These facts describe the causal structure of the magnetic dilaton black hole.


