Abstract
We consider static, spherically symmetric configurations of nonlinear electromagnetic fields with Lagrangians $$L(f)$$ , where $$f=F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$$ , in general relativity (GR) and other metric theories of gravity. The corresponding exact solutions are well known in the framework of GR in cases where only an electric charge ( $$q_{e}$$ ) or a magnetic charge ( $$q_{m}$$ ) are present, but only a few solutions in particular examples of $$L(f)$$ are known for dyonic systems with both nonzero $$q_{e}$$ and $$q_{m}$$ . We study the properties of such systems in the special case of equal electric and magnetic charges and, assuming a correct Maxwell limit of $$L(f)$$ , show that there always exists such a configuration of the electromagnetic field that the invariant $$f$$ is zero in the whole space. It leads to the existence of the corresponding families of solutions both in GR in the presence of other sources of gravity (like fluids or scalar fields) and in a wide range of extended theories of gravity (e.g., scalar-tensor and $$f(R)$$ gravity), in which the nonlinear electromagnetic field behaves in an especially simple manner.