https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7583-9
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
A class of solitons in Maxwell-scalar and Einstein–Maxwell-scalar models
1
Departamento de Matemática da Universidade de Aveiro, CIDMA, Campus de Santiago, 3810-183, Aveiro, Portugal
2
Centro de Matemática, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
* e-mail: jmiguel.oliveira@ua.pt
Received:
29
October
2019
Accepted:
21
December
2019
Published online:
11
January
2020
Recently, no-go theorems for the existence of solitonic solutions in Einstein–Maxwell-scalar (EMS) models have been established (Herdeiro and Oliveira in Class Quantum Gravity 36(10):105015, 2019). Here we discuss how these theorems can be circumvented by a specific class of non-minimal coupling functions between a real, canonical scalar field and the electromagnetic field. When the non-minimal coupling function diverges in a specific way near the location of a point charge, it regularises all physical quantities yielding an everywhere regular, localised lump of energy. Such solutions are possible even in flat spacetime Maxwell-scalar models, wherein the model is fully integrable in the spherical sector, and exact solutions can be obtained, yielding an explicit mechanism to de-singularise the Coulomb field. Considering their gravitational backreaction, the corresponding (numerical) EMS solitons provide a simple example of self-gravitating, localised energy lumps.
© The Author(s), 2020
