Spherically-symmetric solutions with internal Ricci-flat spaces in Brans-Dicke theory

Abstract

We construct a new family of exact spherically symmetric solutions in $D$-dimensional Brans-Dicke theory with $n$ internal Ricci-flat spaces. The spacetime is assumed to be a product of a four-dimensional spherical sector and $n$ Ricci-flat internal manifolds. By performing a conformal transformation to the Einstein frame, the problem is reduced to Einstein gravity with a minimally coupled scalar field, for which the exact solution is already known. Applying the inverse transformation to the Jordan frame yields explicit expressions for the metric and the Brans-Dicke scalar field, together with a generalized algebraic constraint on the exponents. The obtained solutions generalize the four-dimensional Brans solutions and the multidimensional solutions with Ricci-flat internal spaces. We analyze the causal structure of the four-dimensional section and derive the necessary condition for the surface $R=L$ to be an event horizon, $ν\equiv \left|a+b+\frac12\sum_i a_iN_i\right| \ge 1$. A Kretschmann-scalar analysis shows that, apart from the Schwarzschild limit and the case of frozen internal spaces, a regular horizon is generically absent when the extra dimensions are dynamical. For the four-dimensional section we also obtain the photon-sphere and ISCO radii and discuss their Schwarzschild limits. The results clarify the role of nonminimal Brans-Dicke coupling in multidimensional black-hole geometries with Ricci-flat internal factors.