Black holes and gravitational waves sourced by non-linear duality rotation-invariant conformal electromagnetic matter

Maxwell's equations are invariant under both duality rotations and conformal transformations. Recently Bandos, Lechner, Sorokin, and Townsend have found a nonlinear generalisation of electrodynamics which possesses both of these symmetries. We couple this theory to General Relativity and explore self-gravitating configurations with a clear physical interpretation. We find charged black holes and exact gravitational waves. The black hole geometry is Reissner-Nordstrom, however, the non-linearity parameter acts as a screening factor allowing extremal configurations where the mass of the black hole is smaller than its charge. Furthermore, we also discuss the phenomenon of birefringence and determine the optical metrics associated to the propagation of photons. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.

Automated summary

Maxwell's equations exhibit symmetries under duality rotations and conformal transformations. A recent study by Bandos, Lechner, Sorokin, and Townsend has extended electrodynamics to include these symmetries, coupling the theory to General Relativity to investigate self-gravitating configurations. The research reveals charged black holes, exact gravitational waves, Reissner-Nordstrom black hole geometry, and the phenomenon of birefringence in the propagation of photons.