Spherically Symmetric Solutions of Einstein's Vacuum Equations in Five Dimensions

Multi-dimensional spherically symmetric spacetimes are of interest in the study of higher-dimensional black holes (and solitons) and higher-dimensional cosmological models. In this paper we shall present a comprehensive investigation of solutions of the five-dimensional spherically symmetric vacuum Einstein field equations subject only to the condition of separability in the radial coordinate (but not necessarily in the remaining two coordinates). A variety of new solutions are found which generalize a number of previous results. The properties of these solutions are discussed with particular attention being paid to their possible astrophysical and cosmological applications. In addition, the four-dimensional properties of matter can be regarded as geometrical in origin by a reduction of the five-dimensional vacuum field equations to Einstein's four-dimensional theory with a non-zero energy-momentum tensor constituting the material source; we shall also be interested in the induced matter associated with the new five-dimensional solutions obtained.