Professor Konkowski will study the behavior of particles and fields in spacetimes which contain mild singularities. Theorems in general relativity predict singularities in large classes of spacetimes but the nature of these singularities is mostly unknown. If mathematical tests prove that a singularity is present in a spacetime, then it can be classified as one of three types depending on its strength: Quasiregular, nonscalar curvature and scalar curvature. The first two types are mild. Konkowski plans to study physical processes in spacetimes with mild singularities since they have unusual effects on particles and fields.
