Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology — Examples 1 — 2024
1. Calculate the gravitational redshift between a point at infinity and the surface of (a)
the Earth, (b) the Sun, (c) a white dwarf and (d) a neutron star, making reasonable
assumptions. Bonus: Could any of these redshifts be measured? If so, how? (You
will need to consider whether any features exist which could be used to measure the
redshift, and if so, whether or not the redshift would be visible in the presence of other
broadening effects.)
2. In the lectures an ‘Einstein Tower’ experiment was discussed and it was shown that
a freely-falling observer who drops from rest from above the top of the tower (height
h) at the moment when the photon begins climbing up from the bottom, finds that to
first order in gh{c2 there is no change in the photon energy between top and bottom
of the tower. Generalise this analysis to the case where instead of falling from rest, the
(unfortunate) observer is projected downwards with an initial speed u. Explain why
these results support the Strong Equivalence Principle.
3. Find the geodesic equations on the surface of a sphere, radius a, using the standard
pθ, ϕq coordinate system. Show that these equations are satisfied by great circles. What
are the geodesics on the surface of a cylinder?
4. It is sometimes said that an astronaut falling into a black hole would feel nothing
peculiar as he or she crossed over the event horizon. Discuss whether this is true, and
how the statement depends upon the black hole mass, using the following approach.
First, use the Newtonian force law to estimate the tidal force affecting two compact
objects each of mass m, joined by a taut wire of length l, falling radially into a distant
black hole of mass M .
The tidal force derived using this Newtonian approach is in fact equal to the proper
result derived using full general relativity (Optional exercise: demonstrate this using
a suitable notion of force in GR), and can therefore be applied all the way up to the
hole. Thus show that at the horizon the wire must support a tension of
mc6 l
.
8G2 M 2
Using this, estimate numerically the tidal force on a human being at the event horizon
for (a) a 1M@ mass black hole, and (b) a black hole of mass 108 M@ .
5. Starting from the Schwarzschild metric, show that photons moving radially travel at a
coordinate speed ˆ ˙
dr 2GM
“ ˘c 1 ´ 2 .
dt cr
Suppose a photon is emitted from a position r0 ą RS (where RS is the Schwarzschild
horizon) at time t0 , and moves radially inwards towards the horizon. Find an equation
for the t coordinate of the photon as a function of r, and sketch this in the pr, tq plane.
What coordinate time does it take the photon to reach the horizon?
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6. A space monkey is happily orbiting a Schwarzschild black hole in a circular geodesic
orbit. An evil snake, far from the black hole, tries to send the monkey to its death
inside the black hole by dropping a carefully timed coconut radially toward the black
hole, knowing that the monkey can’t resist catching the falling coconut. Given the
monkey’s mass and initial orbital radius and the mass of the coconut, explain how you
would go about solving the problem (but do not do the calculation). What are the
possible fates for our intrepid space monkey?
7. Show that a geodesic of spacetime which is timelike at one event is everywhere timelike.
Similarly, show that a geodesic initially spacelike is everywhere spacelike. And that a
geodesic initially null is everywhere null.
8. Use the geodesic energy equation, to show that a particle of non-zero rest mass, falling
from rest at infinity radially towards a black hole, satisfies
ˆ ˙1
dr 2GM 2
“´ ,
dτ r
where τ is the particle’s proper time. Use this to find an expression for the elapse of
proper time between the event that the particle crosses the Schwarzschild horizon, and
the event that it reaches r “ 0. What is this time for a solar mass black hole?
9. A radar signal is sent from Earth towards Venus, when Venus is on the far side of the
Sun. The signal is reflected off Venus and travels back to Earth, where the total round
trip time is recorded. Ignoring the effects of gravitational bending, i.e. assuming
a straight line path between Venus and the Earth, just passing the Sun’s disc, and
approximating all the motion as purely radial, use the results of Question 5 to get
a numerical estimate of the effect of the Sun’s gravity on the total round trip travel
time. Does the Sun’s presence speed up or slow down the arrival of the signal back at
Earth? (R@ “ 7 ˆ 108 m; Earth–Sun distance = 1.5 ˆ 1011 m; Venus–Sun distance =
1.1 ˆ 1011 m.)
10. All massive objects look larger than they really are. Show that a light ray grazing the
surface of a massive sphere of coordinate radius r ą 3GM {c2 will arrive at infinity
with impact parameter
ˆ ˙1{2
r
b“r .
r ´ 2GM {c2
Hence show that the apparent diameter of the Sun (M@ “ 2 ˆ 1030 kg, R@ “ 7 ˆ 108 m)
exceeds the coordinate diameter by nearly 3 km.
11. In Handout 4, two different expressions for ‘mass’ were discussed, mprq and m̃prq.
Show that, in the limit of weak fields, and for a uniform density object, their difference
(times c2 ) at the edge of a star of radius R coincides with the Newtonian gravitational
binding energy of the star.
12. Bonus: Consider an experiment on a sealed space vehicle, with no windows, in circular
near-Earth orbit, in which two test particles are released inside the spacecraft and their
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relative separations are monitored. The experiment is being carried out in order to
determine if there is a gravitating body nearby. The two test particles are released
from rest, with an initial separation vector ξ. If the z axis points away from the Earth,
find the differential equation satisfied by the separation vector ξ between the particles.
(This was given in Handout 2.) If a measurement accuracy of about 1 mm is available,
and the particles are started with a separation in the z direction of 1 m, how long will
it be before the presence of the Earth can be inferred from this experiment?
If, instead of two particles, a spherical shell of particles was released from rest, show
that, for small displacements ξ, the motion of the shell is volume-preserving.