Scalar cosmological perturbations from inflationary black holes

Abstract

We study the correction to the scale invariant power spectrum of a scalar field on de Sitter space from small black holes that formed during a pre-inflationary matter dominated era. The formation probability of such black holes is estimated from primordial Gaussian density fluctuations. We determine the correction to the spectrum of scalar cosmological perturbations from the Keldysh propagator of a massless scalar field on Schwarzschild-de Sitter space. Our results suggest that the effect is strong enough to be tested — and possibly even ruled out — by observations.