On black hole structures in scalar–tensor theories of gravity

Abstract

We review some properties of black hole structures appearing in gravity with a massless scalar field, with both minimal and nonminimal coupling. The main properties of the resulting cold black holes are described. The study of black holes in scalar-gravity systems is extended to [Formula: see text]-essence theories, and some examples are explicitly worked out. In these cases, even while the existence of horizons is possible, the metric regularity requirement on the horizon implies either a cold black type structure or a singular behavior of the scalar field.