Solutions and basic properties of regularized Maxwell theory

Abstract

The regularized Maxwell theory is a recently discovered theory of nonlinear electrodynamics that admits many important gravitating solutions within the Einstein theory. Namely, it was originally derived as the unique nonlinear electrodynamics (that depends only on the field invariant ${F}_{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}{F}^{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}$) whose radiative solutions can be found in the Robinson-Trautman class. At the same time, it is the only electrodynamics of this type (apart from Maxwell) whose slowly rotating solutions are fully characterized by the electrostatic potential. In this paper, after discussing the basic properties of the regularized Maxwell theory, we concentrate on its spherical electric solutions. These not only provide ``the simplest'' regularization of point electric field and its self-energy, but also feature complex thermodynamic behavior (in both canonical and grand canonical ensembles) and admit an unprecedented phase diagram with multiple first-order, second-order, and zeroth-order phase transitions. Among other notable solutions, we construct a novel C-metric describing accelerated AdS black holes in the regularized Maxwell theory. We also present a generalization of the regularized Maxwell Lagrangian applicable to magnetic solutions, and find the corresponding spherical, slowly rotating, and weakly Newman-Unti-Tamburino charged solutions.