Spherically symmetric solutions in five-dimensional general relativity

The most general time-independent spherically symmetric (in the usual three space dimensions) solution to the five-dimensional vacuum Einstein equations is found, subject to the existence of a Killing vector in the fifth direction. The significance of these solutions is discussed within the context of a previously proposed extension of the Kaluza-Klein model in which the universe, although (4+1)-dimensional, has evolved over cosmic times into an effectively (3+1)-dimensional one. (author)