Structures of general relativity in dilaton-Maxwell electrodynamics

Abstract

It is shown that electro (magneto) static sector of Maxwell’s electrodynamics coupled to the dilaton field in a string theory form possesses the symmetry group of the stationary General Relativity in vacuum. Performing the Ernst formalism, we develope a technique for generation of exact solutions in this modified electrodynamics on the base of the normalized Ehlers symmetry transformation. In the electrostatic case, we construct and study a general class of spherically symmetric solutions that describes a pointlike source of the Coulomb type. It is demonstrated that this source is characterized by finite and singularity-free interaction at short distances. Also it is established that the total electrostatic energy of this source is finite and inversely proportional to the dilaton-Maxwell coupling constant.