A numerical analysis shows that a class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity with a scalar field minimally and nonminimally coupled to the curvature allows static and spherically symmetric black hole solutions with scalar-field hair in asymptotically
flat spacetimes. In the limit when the horizon radius of the black hole tends to zero, regular scalar solitons are found. The asymptotically flat solutions are obtained provided that the scalar potential $V(phi)$ of the theory is not positive semidefinite and such that its local minimum is also a zero of the potential, the scalar field settling asymptotically at that minimum. The configurations for the minimal coupling case, although unstable under spherically symmetric linear perturbations, are regular and thus can serve as counterexamples to the no-scalar-hair conjecture. For the nonminimal coupling case, the stability will be analyzed in a forthcoming paper.
We discuss scenarios in which the galactic dark matter in spiral galaxies is described by a long range coherent field which settles in a stationary configuration that might account for the features of the galactic rotation curves. The simplest possib
ility is to consider scalar fields, so we discuss in particular, two mechanisms that would account for the settlement of the scalar field in a non-trivial configuration in the absence of a direct coupling of the field with ordinary matter: topological defects, and spontaneous scalarization.
We perform a numerical analysis of the gravitational field of a global monopole coupled nonminimally to gravity, and find that, for some given nonminimal couplings (in constrast with the minimal coupling case), there is an attractive region where bou
nd orbits exist. We exhibit the behavior of the frequency shifts that would be associated with `rotation curves of stars in circular orbits in the spacetimes of such global monopoles.
