| Summary: | Abstract Scalar hair of black holes in theories with a shift symmetry are constrained by the no-hair theorem of Hui and Nicolis, assuming spherical symmetry, time-independence of the scalar field and asymptotic flatness. The most studied counterexample is a linear coupling of the scalar with the Gauss-Bonnet invariant. However, in this case the norm of the shift-symmetry current J 2 diverges at the horizon casting doubts on whether the solution is physically sound. We show that this is not an issue since J 2 is not a scalar quantity, since J μ is not a diffinvariant current in the presence of Gauss-Bonnet. The same theory can be written in Horndeski form with a non-analytic function G 5 ∼ log X . In this case the shift-symmetry current is diff-invariant, but contains powers of X in the denominator, so that its divergence at the horizon is again immaterial. We confirm that other hairy solutions in the presence of non-analytic Horndeski functions are pathological, featuring divergences of physical quantities as soon as one departs from time-independence and spherical symmetry. We generalise the no-hair theorem to Beyond Horndeski and DHOST theories, showing that the coupling with Gauss-Bonnet is necessary to have hair.
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