Scalar Polynomial Singularities in Power-Law Spacetimes

Recently, Helliwell and Konkowski (\texttt{gr-qc/0701149}) have examined the quantum "healing" of some classical singularities in certain power-law spacetimes. Here I further examine classical properties of these spacetimes and show that some of them contain naked strong curvature singularities.Comment: 7 pages revtex4 two figures extended discussio

Willi Graf of the White Rose: Transformation of an Image (poster session)

My dissertation focuses on Willi Graf of the student resistance group called the White Rose. While the history of the White Rose is well known in Germany and possibly Europe in general, Willi Graf’s story and significant contribution to the group is relatively unknown, especially in the United States. The main reason is that the majority of primary sources are in German and there are no books or films specifically about Graf in the English language. Executed by the Nazis at age 25, it might also appear that there isn’t much to tell about this young medical student and his short life. In addition, Graf was the most reserved and mature member of the group and is often overshadowed by the more intriguing siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl. Unlike the other members however, Graf, a devout Catholic, played an integral role in the distribution of the group’s flyers and opposed Hitler and the National Socialists from the very beginning. I am interested in presenting at this conference to demonstrate just what made this ordinary German so extraordinary when it came to passive resistance and empathy for the victims of Nazi atrocities, both Jews and Gentiles

Wage growth and career patterns of German low-wage workers

"Using administrative linked employer-employee data from Germany, this paper analyses the real wage growth and career patterns of full-time employed low-wage workers between 2001 and 2006. Multivariate models accounting for sample selection demonstrate the relevance of individual characteristics and firm heterogeneity in this context. I observe substantial upward and downward wage mobility in the low-wage sector, with the worst-paid workers having considerably higher relative wage growth than better-paid workers. The majority of those lowwage workers who had escaped the low-wage sector by 2004 were still higher-paid two years later, indicating that their upward mobility is not just a transitory phenomenon." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Niedriglohn, Reallohn, Lohnentwicklung, Niedrigqualifizierte, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien, Geringverdiener, Berufsverlauf

A note on cosmological Levi-Civita spacetimes in higher dimensions

We find a class of solutions to cosmological Einstein equations that generalizes the four dimensional cylindrically symmetric spacetimes to higher dimensions. The AdS soliton is a special member of this class with a unique singularity structure.Comment: 3 pages; version to appear in Phys. Rev.