Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 68 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The local metric tensors do not determine the global coordinate identifications. The usual complete two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is the hyperboloid in ambient signature , withPulling back the ambient metric tensor gives , withUnwrapping gives the universal cover of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime instead. The usual embedded two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime has in signature andHere and is initially periodic modulo . The time circles are closed timelike curves. Its physically standard universal cover removes that identification:The two signs of describe two spatial ends; imposing would retain only half of this complete model.
Both spacetimes have constant curvature and are geodesically complete. In the paper's convention their Ricci scalars are respectively and . Their embeddings show that geodesics are intersections with planes through the ambient origin. They nevertheless have very different causal structures.
For the geodesics of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, use an affine parameter , normalization and conserved momentum . ThenTimelike geodesics extend to both infinite proper times; is a simple example. Null geodesics obey , so their affine parameter is also infinite at either temporal end. Spacelike geodesics have , obey and are closed curves on the embedded cylinder; is its simplest spacelike geodesic circle. Unwrapping the spatial circle removes closure but not completeness.
For the geodesics of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, the timelike Killing vector gives . The normalization is , henceChoose a future-directed timelike geodesic, so andFor , it oscillates radially with proper period ; gives the central geodesic . In both cases, global time advances by over a proper time interval . The curve is closed on the original hyperboloid, while its lift on the universal cover is nonclosed and future-directed. Null geodesics have and reach either spatial end only at infinite affine parameter. Spacelike geodesics satisfy and also have infinite proper length toward either end. Thus the finite coordinate time discussed below does not imply physical geodesic incompleteness.
The conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime follows by setting :Its past and future conformal boundaries are spacelike circles. Null geodesics have and can travel only a finite angular distance over the entire infinite proper-time history. For the complete observer , an event can send a signal to that observer precisely when its shortest angular distance is less than . The observer horizons in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime are therefore the null curves ; its past signal horizon has . These are observer horizons, without curvature singularities. Their intersection bounds a static patch with metric tensorThe horizons at are regular Killing horizons beyond which this static chart fails, while the global coordinates remain smooth.
For the conformal strip of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, set . On its universal cover,The two conformal boundaries are timelike. A null ray from the center approaches a boundary after coordinate time , though its affine parameter diverges. Every interior event can signal to the complete central static observer in finite global time, so that observer has no event horizon. A Poincaré horizon concerns a restricted coordinate patch, and accelerated observers can have different causal horizons.
Finally, the global de Sitter cylinder and its spatial cover are globally hyperbolic: constant-time slices are Cauchy hypersurfaces. The anti-de Sitter universal cover is not globally hyperbolic, because timelike infinity admits incoming signals within finite global time. A field's evolution therefore requires boundary conditions at its two conformal boundaries in addition to initial data. The opposite placement of the conformal boundaries explains why de Sitter observers have cosmological horizons despite global hyperbolicity, while the central anti-de Sitter observer has no event horizon despite the failure of global hyperbolicity.
Conformal cylinder and observer horizons of de Sitter spacetime compared with the timelike boundaries of the anti-de Sitter universal cover
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 58 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Introduce conformal timeIt satisfies and , so the metric becomes . Choose null coordinatesThus is positive on . Choosing the two null coordinates with these orientations gives the requested positive coefficient of .
There is a global-topology distinction in the source: unrestricted gives the universal cover of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. The usual two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime has periodic modulo . Indeed its standard embedding is , , , and is unchanged by . The local metric and the null-coordinate calculation apply to either choice.
