Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 4 36E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
Write . Radial null paths satisfy , whose integral uses the Schwarzschild tortoise coordinate . The incoming and outgoing families are thereforewith constants . For an exterior outgoing ray, put . As , , so for a positive ray-dependent . As , the logarithm is smaller than the linear term, giving .
In ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates, , so . Substitution cancels the singular term and givesThis metric is regular at . In the requested chart , the incoming rays are and the outgoing rays satisfyIncoming rays move inward everywhere. Outgoing rays move outward outside the horizon, remain at constant radius on it, and also move inward inside it.
Radial null trajectories in a regular ingoing Schwarzschild chart, with future directions and the event horizon marked
. Details. The line is the Schwarzschild event horizon, a null boundary of the future black-hole region. It is a coordinate singularity of Schwarzschild time, not a curvature singularity; the curvature singularity is at . Signals from the future black-hole interior cannot cross it outward.
Finally parametrize any future-directed timelike observer in that interior by proper time . Normalization in the given metric givesThe future direction in the ingoing chart has , so . The proper-time bound inside a Schwarzschild black hole isThus a future-continued observer must reach the singular boundary in finite proper time, regardless of acceleration or angular motion. The black-hole future orientation is essential; a past-directed path or a future path in a white-hole interior is a different statement.
