Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / iii / Paper 309 / 1 / a / Solution

A Killing vector field $K$ obeys ${\mathcal{L}}_{K}g=0$, or equivalently ${\nabla }_{(a}{K}_{b)}=0$. Along an affinely parametrized geodesic with tangent $U$,The second term vanishes by the geodesic equation, while the first contracts the symmetric tensor $U^a{U}^b$ with the antisymmetric part selected by the Killing equation. Thus $g(K,U)$ is a geodesic conserved quantity from a Killing vector. In Minkowski spacetime, translational Killing fields give conserved energy-momentum and rotational or boost Killing fields give the corresponding angular-momentum and boost charges; the same construction works for any spacetime isometry.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.