On regular charged black holes in three dimensions

Abstract: As argued in arXiv:2104.10172, introducing a non-minimally coupled scalar field, three-dimensional Einstein gravity can be extended by infinite families of theories which admit simple analytic generalizations of the charged BTZ black hole. Depending on the gravitational couplings, the solutions may describe black holes with one or several horizons and with curvature or BTZ-like singularities. In other cases, the metric function behaves as $f(r)\overset{(r\rightarrow 0)}{\sim} \mathcal{O}(r^{2s})$ with $s\geq 1$, and the black holes are completely regular -- a feature unique to three dimensions. Regularity arises generically i.e., without requiring any fine-tuning of parameters. In this paper we show that all these theories satisfy Birkhoff theorems, so that the most general spherically-symmetric solutions are given by the corresponding static black holes. We perform a thorough characterization of the Penrose diagrams of the solutions, finding a rich structure which includes, in particular, cases which tessellate the plane and others in which the diagrams cannot be drawn in a single plane. We also study the motion of probe particles on the black holes, finding that observers falling to regular black holes reach the center after a finite proper time. Contrary to the singular cases, the particles are not torn apart by tidal forces, so they oscillate between antipodal points describing many-universe orbits. We argue that in those cases the region $r=0$ can be interpreted as a horizon with vanishing surface gravity, giving rise to generic inner-extremal regular black hole solutions. We also analyze the deep interior region of the solutions identifying the presence of Kasner eons and the conditions under which they take place. Finally, we construct new black hole solutions in the case in which infinite towers of terms are included in the action.