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17 views3 pages

2022TGR Retake

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Uploaded by

Pythonraptor
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Theory of General Relativity Resit, fall 2022 27 Jan.

2023

Conventions: unless otherwise stated, the metric has signature (−, +, +, +); Greek
indices α, β, µ, ν = 0, 1, 2, 3 and Planck’s constant h̄ and the speed of light c are set to
unity, h̄ = c = 1. G is Newton’s constant.
Note: This year marks the 150th anniversary of Willem de Sitter’s birth. He is standing
behind Lorentz in the portrait with Einstein, Ehrenfest and Eddington in the de Sitterzaal.
This exam is dedicated to the spacetime that bears his name.

1. [2.5 points]
a) The Riemann tensor contains information about the curvature of spacetime. What is
the condition for a spacetime to be flat?

Answer the following questions by doing the calculation that proves your answer is correct.
Make sure to explain any intermediate steps.
The Riemann tensor has the following property, known as the Bianchi identity:

∇µ Rνρσλ + ∇ν Rρµσλ + ∇ρ Rµνσλ = 0 (∗)

(you do not need to prove this)

b) TRUE OR FALSE: The equation (*) is equivalent to

∇[µ Rνρ]σλ = 0

c) TRUE OR FALSE:
∇µ Gµν = 0 ,
where Gµν is the Einstein Tensor (how is Gµν defined?).

d) In a spacetime with a cosmological constant Λ, Einstein’s equations become


Gµν + Λgµν = 8πGTµν . TRUE OR FALSE:

∇µ (Gµν + Λgµν ) = 0 ,

e) Show that Einstein’s equations with a cosmological constant can also be written as
1
Rµν = 8πG(Tµν − gµν T ) + αΛgµν
2
where T = g µν Tµν is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor and α is a number you
have to find. [Hint: Take the trace of Einstein’s equations].
Exam continues
2. [2.5 points] Consider the metric for the spatially flat (K=0) Friedman-Lemaitre-
Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime

ds2 = −dt2 + a2 (t)[dr2 + r2 (dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 )]

Comoving observers are those with constant spatial coordinates r, θ, φ.


a) TRUE OR FALSE: t is the proper time measured by comoving observers, up to a
constant shift. (If true, explain why. If false, give the correct expression).
The proper distance between two comoving observers at r = 0 and r = r0 is L(t) = a(t)r0 .
Show that this implies Hubble’s law, dL(t)
dt = H(t)L(t), and give the expression for the
Hubble parameter H(t).
Note that, at any time t, we say that points that are further than LH (t) = 1/H(t) are
receding from the origin “faster than the speed of light”. Does this violate any physical
principle? The proper distance LH = 1/H is called the Hubble scale, or Hubble length,
and LH,com = 1/aH is the comoving Hubble scale. Note that both LH and LH,com are
functions of time in general.

b) At t = t0 , a comoving source at r = r0 emits a light ray travelling toward the origin.


Calculate the time tr at which the light ray reaches the origin r = 0 (you can leave it as
an integral).
c) Solve the integral in the case where the spacetime is full of radiation, a(t) = a0 (t/t0 )1/2
(this is the case in the very early universe). Calculate the Hubble parameter H(t) as a
function of time and its value H0 at the moment of emission, H0 = H(t0 )
• How long do you have to wait if the light ray is emitted from a point very close to
the Hubble scale a0 r0 = 1/H0 ? Calculate tr − t0
• Does the comoving Hubble horizon grow or shrink with time?

d) Now answer the same two questions in the case when the expansion is exponential,
a(t) = a0 eH(t−t0 ) (this may be a good approximation to the future of our universe). Here
H is constant.
Comment on your results. Can we talk about a horizon in either of these spaces? Is the
existence of a horizon due to the Hubble recession speed exceeding the speed of light?

Exam continues
3. Let us focus on the case with exponential expansion
ds2 = −dt2 + e2Ht [dr2 + r2 (dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 )] H = const.
We are now going to change coordinates to make the metric look static. [We will go from
coordinates xµ = (t, r, θ, φ) to coords. x̃µ = (t, ρ, θ, φ) and then to x̂µ = (T, ρ, θ, φ) ]
a) First, change the radial coordinate to r = e−Ht ρ. Write down ds2 in the (t, ρ, θ, φ)
coordinate system. Notice that the metric you have obtained is not diagonal, g̃tρ 6= 0.
What is g̃tρ ? (write it down)
b) Before you continue, consider the vectors
∂ 1 ∂
Ũ = , Ṽ =
∂ρ (Hρ + 1) ∂t
in this non-diagonal metric
• Calculate their Lie Bracket W̃ = [Ũ , Ṽ ]
• Find the norm (squared) of the vectors Ũ , Ṽ and Ũ + Ṽ (that is, Ũµ Ũ µ , etc)
c) To make the metric diagonal we can introduce a new time coordinate T , t = t(T, ρ),
such that ĝρT = 0. Show that this is equivalent to requiring
∂t ∂t
−(1 − H 2 ρ2 ) − Hρ = 0
∂T ∂ρ

d) Introduce a trial solution of the form t = T +f (ρ). The condition on f (ρ) is an ordinary
differential equation, write it down. You do not need to solve it.
Notice you already have all the information needed to write down the (diagonal) metric.
e) The result of this calculation is that the exponentially expanding FLRW metric has the
following form in coordinates (T, ρ, θ, φ) (you do not need to show this):
dρ2
ds2 = −(1 − H 2 ρ2 )dT 2 + 2 2
+ ρ2 (dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 ) H = const. > 0
(1 − H ρ )
∂
This spacetime has a horizon at ρ = 1/H. Show that ∂T is a Killing vector field. Is it
timelike? [Think carefully: if your answer is yes then the exponentially expanding universe
also has a timelike Killing vector]
4. [2.5 points] The (weak) Equivalence Principle states that the inertial and gravitational
mass are equal (or, rather, proportional) to each other mi = mg . As a consequence, motion
in a uniformly accelerating frame is indistinguishable from motion in a constant, uniform
gravitational field. Einstein’s version of the Equivalence Principle (EEP) expands this idea
to include all physical processes, not just motion.
a) The EEP implies that the path of a lightray will bend in a gravitational field. Explain
briefly why, with the help of a diagram
b) It also implies that light will redshift as it climbs out of a gravitational potential.
Explain why.
Exam ends

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