Paper 3, Section II, E

General Relativity | Part II, 2018

The Schwarzschild metric in isotropic coordinates xˉαˉ=(tˉ,xˉ,yˉ,zˉ),αˉ=0,…,3\bar{x}^{\bar{\alpha}}=(\bar{t}, \bar{x}, \bar{y}, \bar{z}), \bar{\alpha}=0, \ldots, 3, is given by:

ds2=gˉαˉβˉdxˉαˉdxˉβˉ=−(1−A)2(1+A)2dtˉ2+(1+A)4(dxˉ2+dyˉ2+dzˉ2)d s^{2}=\bar{g}_{\bar{\alpha} \bar{\beta}} d \bar{x}^{\bar{\alpha}} d \bar{x}^{\bar{\beta}}=-\frac{(1-A)^{2}}{(1+A)^{2}} d \bar{t}^{2}+(1+A)^{4}\left(d \bar{x}^{2}+d \bar{y}^{2}+d \bar{z}^{2}\right)

where

A=m2rˉ,rˉ=xˉ2+yˉ2+zˉ2A=\frac{m}{2 \bar{r}}, \quad \bar{r}=\sqrt{\bar{x}^{2}+\bar{y}^{2}+\bar{z}^{2}}

and mm is the mass of the black hole.

(a) Let xμ=(t,x,y,z),μ=0,…,3x^{\mu}=(t, x, y, z), \mu=0, \ldots, 3, denote a coordinate system related to xˉαˉ\bar{x}^{\bar{\alpha}} by

tˉ=γ(t−vx),xˉ=γ(x−vt),yˉ=y,zˉ=z,\bar{t}=\gamma(t-v x), \quad \bar{x}=\gamma(x-v t), \quad \bar{y}=y, \quad \bar{z}=z,

where γ=1/1−v2\gamma=1 / \sqrt{1-v^{2}} and −1<v<1-1<v<1. Write down the transformation matrix ∂xˉαˉ/∂xμ\partial \bar{x}^{\bar{\alpha}} / \partial x^{\mu}, briefly explain its physical meaning and show that the inverse transformation is of the same form, but with v→−vv \rightarrow-v.

(b) Using the coordinate transformation matrix of part (a), or otherwise, show that the components gμνg_{\mu \nu} of the metric in coordinates xμx^{\mu} are given by

ds2=gμνdxμdxν=f(A)(−dt2+dx2+dy2+dz2)+γ2g(A)(dt−vdx)2d s^{2}=g_{\mu \nu} d x^{\mu} d x^{\nu}=f(A)\left(-d t^{2}+d x^{2}+d y^{2}+d z^{2}\right)+\gamma^{2} g(A)(d t-v d x)^{2}

where ff and gg are functions of AA that you should determine. You should also express AA in terms of the coordinates (t,x,y,z)(t, x, y, z).

(c) Consider the limit v→1v \rightarrow 1 with p=mγp=m \gamma held constant. Show that for points x≠tx \neq t the function A→0A \rightarrow 0, while γ2A\gamma^{2} A tends to a finite value, which you should determine. Hence determine the metric components gμνg_{\mu \nu} at points x≠tx \neq t in this limit.

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