Some observations on degenerate metrics

There are some polynomial formulations of Einstein's equations in which the metric is allowed to become degenerate. We examine some known exact solutions to see whether they may be smoothly joined to solutions with degenerate metrics. If one uses a lapse function which is a spatial scalar, this is very easy. If the lapse function has a small and negative tensor density weight, the joining together may take place across the horizons in the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions. For large and negative weights, we have been unable to find any examples.