Identifying conical singularities

A method based upon the concept of holonomy of a metric space-time (M,g), in order to identify the presence of conical singularities in M is proposed. The validity and usefulness of this so-called holonomy method is proven by applying it to a set of four-dimensional space-times and one three-dimensional space-time. The holonomy method predictions are confirmed by the comparison with the predictions obtained after coordinate transformations which take the metrics g, to a new basis where the global properties of conical singularities are explicitly seen. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.