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Mining metrics for buried treasure

D. A. Konkowski·T. M. Helliwell
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Abstract

The same but different: That might describe two metrics. On the surface CLASSI may show two metrics are locally equivalent, but buried beneath one may be a wealth of further structure. This was beautifully described in a paper by M.A.H. MacCallum in 1998. Here I will illustrate the effect with two flat metrics -- one describing ordinary Minkowski spacetime and the other describing a three-parameter family of Gal'tsov-Letelier-Tod spacetimes. I will dig out the beautiful hidden classical singularity structure of the latter (a structure first noticed by Tod in 1994) and then show how quantum considerations can illuminate the riches. I will then discuss how quantum structure can help us understand classical singularities and metric parameters in a variety of exact solutions mined from the Exact Solutions book.

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D. A. Konkowski, T. M. Helliwell. 2005-01-07. Mining metrics for buried treasure. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-006-0289-y

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