Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 52 2 b iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A future trapped surface is a closed spacelike two-surface for which both future orthogonal null expansions are strictly negative. Multiplying a future null vector normal by a positive function multiplies its null expansion by that function, so the signs are invariant under allowed normalization changes.
Here for every . Thus the Reissner-Nordstrom trapped spheres are exactly those with . Since ,At either horizon , so the spheres are marginal, rather than strictly trapped surfaces. For or , and this future-trapping condition fails. In particular, being inside the outer event horizon alone is insufficient to make every sphere trapped in the charged solution.