Abstract
Primordial black holes in the solar mass range are a possibly significant component of dark matter. We show how an argument relating the deflection of light by such black holes in the density spike likely to exist around the M87 supermassive black hole, combined with the high resolution observations of the EHT collaboration, can lead to a strong limits on the primordial black hole mass fraction in an astrophysically relevant mass range. The results depend on the model assumed for the dark matter spike and suggest the interest of further understanding of such spikes as well as further high resolution observations on supermassive black holes.
Highlights
Ascertaining the nature of dark matter remains one of the outstanding problems in cosmology
There have been numerous studies that constrain the mass range of primordial black holes as a significant contributor to dark matter
It has been argued that the core/cusp transition in dwarfs may be due to primordial black holes (PBHs) heating of cold dark matter [5]
Summary
Ascertaining the nature of dark matter remains one of the outstanding problems in cosmology. In recent times there have been active discussions of primordial black holes (PBHs) as a possible dark matter candidate or as a component thereof. These discussions are motivated both by the standard lambda cold dark matter (LCDM) model of cosmology, which can plausibly generate PBHs in abundance, and by the absence of any need to postulate new physics in order to establish their existence [1]. There have been numerous studies that constrain the mass range of primordial black holes as a significant contributor to dark matter. These include gravitational microlensing [2] and ultrafaint dwarf galaxy heating [3].
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