Nonsingular solutions for s-branes

Exact, nonsingular, time-dependent solutions of Maxwell-Einstein gravity with and without dilatons are constructed by double Wick rotating a variety of static, axisymmetric solutions. This procedure transforms arrays of charged or neutral black holes into s-brane (spacelike brane) solutions, i.e., extended, short-lived spacelike defects. Along the way, new static solutions corresponding to arrays of alternating-charge Reissner-Nordstrøm black holes, as well as their dilatonic generalizations, are found. Their double Wick rotation yields s-brane solutions which are periodic in imaginary time and potential large-N duals for the creation or decay of unstable D-branes in string theory.