Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 53 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
With the signature and , direct expansion of the two spatial projection tensors givesThis restriction is negative definite on spatial vectors. The positive spatial induced metric is instead , whose pullback to a time slice is the used in the line element. The spatial metric sign for a unit timelike normal is important here: the plus sign in the PDF's claimed equality is incompatible with its normal normalization: is not even transverse to .
The spatial covariant derivative of a spatial tensor projects every index, including its derivative index. Projection only on the derivative index is sufficient for a scalar but not for a general tensor. Using metric compatibility of the spacetime Levi-Civita connection, we obtainEach term contains a normal contracted with its spatial projection tensor. Consequently , and the negative spatial restriction also satisfies . This proves the requested metric compatibility of the spatial covariant derivative after correcting the source's metric sign. Contracting indices gives the particular expression written in the question.