Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2018 Section B B4 Solution 2026-10-18
Local equivalence and tides. In Newtonian mechanics, inertial mass measures the response to a force, whereas passive gravitational mass couples to an imposed Newtonian gravitational field. A freely falling body obeysThe observed composition independence of free fall says that this ratio is universal. With a common choice of units it is one. This is the Newtonian content of the weak equivalence principle for test particles; it does not by itself specify all nongravitational physics.
The Einstein equivalence principle further says that local nongravitational experiments in a sufficiently small freely falling laboratory have the form predicted by special relativity, independently of the laboratory's location and motion. In such a local inertial frame, the metric tensor is locally the Minkowski metric and the Christoffel symbols vanish at the selected event. The strong equivalence principle extends the universality claim to local gravitational experiments and bodies with significant gravitational self-energy. None of these statements removes measurable tidal forces across a finite apparatus.
In an ideal small freely falling lift, a released ball initially floats relative to the cabin, because both undergo the same free fall. Two separated balls, however, need not retain their separation: they sample different parts of the gravitational field. For a point source, linearizing across a small separation gives the tidal tensor predictionA radial separation stretches with coefficient , whereas a transverse separation is compressed with coefficient . Initially parallel velocities therefore develop relative motion even though the individual bodies experience zero proper acceleration.
The relativistic statement is geodesic deviation. With the Riemann curvature tensor conventiona connecting vector between neighboring freely falling worldlines satisfiesHere is the covariant derivative along the reference geodesic, and its four-velocity. Curvature can be nonzero where the Christoffel symbols have been made zero. In the weak, static, slow-motion limit this equation reduces to , recovering the tidal tensor above. A finite falling lift can detect gravity through these relative accelerations; local equivalence does not imply a globally uniform field.
Weak-field connection and potential. Take and the metric signature. There is an index error in the printed formula for the Christoffel symbols: its first differentiated metric component must be , not . The correctly contracted expression isThe offending term vanishes under the stipulated time independence, so this correction does not change the intended calculation. Write and treat both and its derivatives as first order. To that order , , and . A stationary metric tensor givesFor the temporal component the inverse-metric coefficient is already first order, soFor a spatial component the zeroth-order inverse metric contributes:The time component of the approximate geodesic equation says that is constant to the retained order. In its spatial component, convert the proper time derivatives to coordinate-time derivatives and cancel :Comparison with the Newtonian equation identifies . For an isolated source, choose the gravitational potential to tend to zero at infinity and normalize the time coordinate there, giving . ThusThe quantity is the Newtonian gravitational potential, or gravitational potential energy per unit mass, in . For a point source, . A static clock has , connecting the Newtonian limit with gravitational time dilation.
Frequency of the orbiting source. Treat the gas blob as a test particle on a timelike circular Schwarzschild geodesic, with pressure and other nongravitational forces negligible. Treat our very distant location as infinity, so the observer's own gravitational potential is negligible. These are the assumptions that make a unique answer in terms of possible.
Put and use a local static observer at the emission point as an intermediate measuring frame. The remote observer lies on the symmetry axis of the orbit. A ray arriving on that axis has zero conserved axial angular momentum, so its local direction is perpendicular to the emitter's azimuthal velocity. Bending within a meridional plane does not alter this orthogonality. The transverse relativistic Doppler effect therefore giveswhere is the orbital speed measured by that local static observer. The gravitational redshift between static Schwarzschild observers then givesA gravitational circular orbit has in the weak-field limit, so . Expanding both factors,Solving for the emitted frequency givesThe gravitational part is and the transverse kinematic time dilation contributes another ; the absence of line-of-sight motion does not remove this second effect.
As an exact check, the local speed on a timelike circular Schwarzschild geodesic satisfies , where . Therefore the face-on frequency shift of a circular Schwarzschild source iswhose expansion agrees with the boxed answer. If the gas is supported or accelerated by pressure or magnetic stresses rather than following a geodesic, its orbital speed is not fixed by the mass and radius alone; the appropriate first-order result is instead , with supplied independently.
Three physically distinct contributions are unseen dark matter, hot diffuse intracluster gas omitted from the summed stellar mass, and faint stars or stellar remnants missed by transferring the Milky Way mass-to-light ratio to the cluster. The first two are actual additional components; the third changes the inferred stellar budget. Departures from virial equilibrium, velocity anisotropy or extra nonthermal pressure can also bias the dynamical or X-ray estimates, although they need not remove the discrepancy.
Take a stationary initial electron of mass , a photon incident along , and a nonrelativistic recoil velocity of magnitude . Choose above for the scattered photon and below for the electron. Conservation of momentum givesThe electron's unchanged rest energy cancels in conservation of energy, leavingEquivalently use and . The nonrelativistic limit requires , and treating the electron as free requires its binding energy to be negligible on the scale of the collision.
For spherical hydrostatic equilibrium, the stellar structure equations includeEliminate to obtain . Since through the interior, integration givesWith negligible surface pressure, this provesThis is a conservative lower bound; concentrating mass near the centre increases the required pressure.
For the temperature inference assume predominantly ideal gas support, a nearly fully ionized hydrogen–helium mixture with mean molecular weight , and the hottest region at the centre. A rigorous scale estimate follows from the stellar virial theorem, rather than substituting the mean mass density for the unknown central mass density. With negligible surface pressure,The ideal gas law gives . The mass-weighted mean temperature consequently obeysThis establishes several million kelvin under the stated physical assumptions. The central pressure inequality alone does not give a central temperature bound without an equation of state and information about mass density or an integrated argument.
The intact source figure gives orbital period , stellar radial velocity semiamplitude , and orbital eccentricity . A planetary exoplanet transit implies a nearly edge-on orbit, so . Adopt a solar mass for the Solar-type star and initially neglect the companion's mass relative to it.
For a circular solution of the two-body problem, the star's distance from the centre of mass is , and the measured semiamplitude is . Kepler's third law givesHenceThe inferred binary mass ratio is only , validating the approximation. Since , the star–planet separation is constant and equals the orbital semimajor axis. Without the exoplanet transit, Doppler spectroscopy would generally give only a minimum companion mass through .
Transit photometry. A planet crossing the stellar disc produces a periodic reduction in flux, approximately for a small, dark planet away from the limb. The orbital period and stellar radius allow an inferred planetary radius, but not its mass by this method alone. The geometric geometric transit probability is roughly for a circular orbit, so the method strongly favours close orbits and large planets. Small signals compete with instrumental noise and stellar activity; eclipsing stellar binaries and blended sources can mimic a planetary exoplanet transit, and long orbital periods require long observing baselines.
Doppler spectroscopy. Periodic shifts of stellar spectral lines reveal the stellar radial velocity caused by motion around the centre of mass. For a light companion, , favouring massive, short-period companions and low-mass host stars. Unknown orbital inclination gives a minimum mass; stellar activity, line broadening, and instrumental calibration limit precision. Long orbital periods require years of measurements.
Direct imaging. Spatially resolved reflected light or thermal emission separates a planet from its host. The large star–planet brightness contrast and small angular separation demand starlight suppression and precise correction of optical aberrations. The method favours wide orbits around nearby stars, and young, hot, massive planets with stronger thermal emission. Translating brightness to mass depends on planetary cooling models and age; it is difficult to image an Earth analogue close to a bright star.
For the estimate implied by the supplied Hubble constant, use the low-redshift Hubble law . ThenWith radians, inversion of the Einstein angular radius relation givesThe corresponding projected Einstein radius is .
This is the projected enclosed mass of the galaxy cluster, including all matter, not just its stars. Strictly, the gravitational lensing formula uses angular diameter distances, and at the low-redshift approximation is only an estimate. An exact value requires a specified cosmological expansion history and a consistent lens-to-source angular diameter distance; it cannot be determined from alone. The later estimates use the same distance approximation consistently.
The gravitational lensing mass includes dark matter, hot intracluster gas, stars, and any other material in the projected aperture. Most is not stellar: in the literal convention above the stellar fraction is only .
Assume the cluster shares the cosmic cosmic baryon fraction, , and compare the same aperture for all components. ThenNeglecting stars entirely would give . Thus the assumed hot gas dominates the baryonic matter, and the remainder is dark matter. The budget is consistent: stars are about of the inferred baryonic matter, and all components sum to .
For a thermal scale, take gas extent and mean particle mass with for ionized gas. A simple spherical virial theorem estimate with gas binding energy and thermal kinetic energy givesThis is the scale of a very hot, massive X-ray emitting galaxy cluster. The numerical prefactor depends on the radial mass density profile, gas distribution and boundary pressure; for example an isothermal-sphere estimate gives about . Moreover is a projected aperture mass at , whereas the estimate needs a spherical enclosed mass at ; the given data do not determine that conversion. The quoted temperature is therefore an order-of-magnitude estimate, not a uniquely measured value. Nor do the data determine the total gas mass outside the Einstein ring without a profile. The gas budget above pertains to the matched aperture under the cosmic-fraction assumption.
The emitted photon energy is the difference of the two energy levels:Using givesNo numerical mass or radius is supplied, so this is the determinate result. It is the wavelength conditional on the transition occurring. An isolated particle on a circle with no coupling would remain in its energy eigenstate; a charged particle coupled to electromagnetic radiation can emit subject to its transition selection rules. The change has , compatible with an electric-dipole angular factor for a charged ring particle.
