Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / iii / Paper 311 / 2 / a

Locally write the null hypersurface as a level set $u=0$ and its normal as $n_a={\nabla }_{a}u$. Since a null normal is also tangent, $n^a$ lies within the hypersurface. The symmetry of the Levi-Civita connection givesThe scalar $n^2$ vanishes on the hypersurface, so its gradient there is normal and hence proportional to $n_a$:This is the nonaffine geodesic equation. A rescaling of $n$ removes $\kappa$, proving that the null hypersurface normal generates null geodesics lying in the hypersurface.