  Apart from the flat space with an angular deficit, Einstein general
relativity possesses another cylindrically symmetric solution. Because this
configuration displays circles whose "circumferences" tend to zero when their
"radius" go to infinity, it has not received much attention in the past. We
propose a geometric interpretation of this feature and find that it implies
field boundary conditions different from the ones found in the literature if
one considers a source consisting of the scalar and the vector fields of a U(1)
system . To obtain a non increasing energy density the gauge symmetry must be
unbroken . For the Higgs potential this is achieved only with a vanishing
vacuum expectation value but then the solution has a null scalar field. A non
trivial scalar behaviour is exhibited for a potential of sixth order. The
trajectories of test particles in this geometry are studied, its causal
structure discussed. We find that this bosonic background can support a
normalizable fermionic condensate but not such a current.
