Primordial Black Holes Mass Research Articles

Non-Minimally Coupled Electromagnetic Fields and Observable Implications for Primordial Black Holes

General relativity (GR) postulates have been verified with high precision, yet our understanding of how gravity interacts with matter fields remains incomplete. Various modifications to GR have been proposed in both classical and quantum realms to address these interactions within the strong gravity regime. One such approach is non-minimal coupling (NMC), where the space-time curvature (scalar and tensor) interacts with matter fields, resulting in matter fields not following the geodesics. To probe the astrophysical implications of NMC, in this work, we investigate non-minimally coupled electromagnetic (EM) fields in the presence of black holes. Specifically, we show that primordial black holes (PBHs) provide a possible tool to constrain the NMC parameter. PBHs represent an intriguing cosmological black hole class that does not conform to the no-hair theorem. We model the PBH as a Sultana–Dyer black hole and compare it with Schwarzschild. We examine observables such as the radius of the photon sphere, critical impact parameter, and total deflection angles for non-minimally coupled photons for Schwarzschild and Sultana–Dyer black holes. Both the black hole space-times lead to similar constraints on the NMC parameter. For a PBH of mass M=10−5 M⊙, the photon sphere will not be formed for one mode. Hence, the photons forming the photon sphere will be highly polarized, potentially leading to observable implications.

Constraining primordial black holes as dark matter using AMS-02 data

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are the plausible candidates for the cosmological dark matter. Theoretically, PBHs with masses MPBH\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$M_{\ extrm{PBH}}$$\\end{document} in the range of 4×1014∼1017g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$4\ imes 10^{14}\\sim 10^{17}\\,\ extrm{g}$$\\end{document} can emit sub-GeV electrons and positrons through Hawking radiation. Some of these particles could undergo diffusive reacceleration during propagation in the Milky Way, potentially reaching energies up to the GeV level observed by AMS-02. In this work, we utilize AMS-02 data to constrain the PBH abundance fPBH\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$f_{\ extrm{PBH}}$$\\end{document} by employing the reacceleration mechanism. Under the assumption of a monochromatic PBH mass distribution, our findings reveal that the limit is stricter than that derived from Voyager 1 data. This difference is particularly pronounced when MPBH≲1015g\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$M_{\ extrm{PBH}}\\lesssim 10^{15}\\,\ extrm{g}$$\\end{document}, exceeding an order of magnitude. The constraints are even more robust in a more realistic scenario involving a log-normal mass distribution of PBHs. Moreover, we explore the impact of varying propagation parameters and solar modulation potential within reasonable ranges, and find that such variations have minimal effects on the final results.

Primordial black holes and induced gravitational waves in non-singular matter bouncing cosmology

We present a novel model-independent generic mechanism for primordial black hole formation within the context of non-singular matter bouncing cosmology. In particular, considering a short transition from the matter contracting phase to the Hot Big Bang expanding Universe, we find naturally enhanced curvature perturbations on very small scales which can collapse and form primordial black holes. Interestingly, the primordial black hole masses that we find can lie within the observationally unconstrained asteroid-mass window, potentially explaining the totality of dark matter. Remarkably, the enhanced curvature perturbations, collapsing to primordial black holes, can induce as well a stochastic gravitational-wave background, being potentially detectable by future experiments, in particular by SKA, PTAs, LISA and ET, hence serving as a new portal to probe the bouncing nature of the initial conditions prevailing in the early Universe.

Prospects of detection of subsolar mass primordial black hole and white dwarf binary mergers

Prospects of detection of subsolar mass primordial black hole and white dwarf binary mergers

Impact of primordial black holes on heavy neutral leptons searches in the framework of resonant leptogenesis

We investigate the effects on sub-TeV resonant leptogenesis of primordial black holes with masses from 106 g to ∼109 g. The latter might dominate the energy content of the Universe altering its evolution and, eventually, diluting the final baryon asymmetry. We find that, depending on the mass and abundance of primordial black holes, the parameter space of sub-TeV resonant leptogenesis shrinks towards higher right-handed neutrino masses and smaller active-sterile mixing. Remarkably, this translates into important implications for the experimental searches of heavy neutral leptons. Conversely, we demonstrate that a possible future detection of sub-TeV heavy neutral leptons would disfavor regions of the parameter space of primordial black holes currently allowed. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Percolating cosmic string loops from evaporating primordial black holes

The Pulsar timing data from NANOGrav Collaboration has regenerated interest in the possibility of observing stochastic gravitational wave background arising from cosmic strings. Standard theory of formation of cosmic strings is based on a spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) phase transition in the early universe, with a string network forming via the so called Kibble mechanism. This string network rapidly evolves and reaches a scaling solution with a given spectrum of string loops and long strings at any given time. This scenario necessarily requires that the entire observable Universe goes through the SSB phase transition. This would not be possible, e.g., in models of low energy inflation, where the reheat temperature is much lower than the energy scale of cosmic strings. We point out a very different possibility, where a network of even high energy scale cosmic strings can form when the temperature of the Universe is much lower. We consider local heating of plasma in the early universe by evaporating primordial black holes (PBHs). It is known that for suitable masses of PBHs, Hawking radiation of evaporating primordial black holes may re-heat the surrounding plasma to high temperatures, restoring certain symmetries locally which are broken at the ambient temperature of the Universe at that stage. Expansion of the hot plasma cools it so that the locally restored symmetry is spontaneously broken again. If this SSB supports formation of cosmic strings, then string loops will form in this region around the PBH. Further, resulting temperature gradients lead to large pressure gradients such that plasma will develop radial flow with the string loops getting stretched as they get dragged by the flow. For a finite density of PBHs of suitable masses, one will get local hot spots, each one contributing to expanding cosmic string loops. For suitable PBH density, the loops from different regions may intersect. If that happens, then intercommutation of strings can lead to percolation, leading to the possibility of formation of infinite string network, even when the entire universe never goes through the respective SSB phase transition.

Smooth vs instant inflationary transitions: steepest growth re-examined and primordial black holes

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can be produced by a range of mechanisms in the early universe. A particular formation channel that connects PBHs with inflationary phenomenology invokes enhanced primordial curvature perturbations at small scales. In this paper, we examine how rapidly the background can transition between different values of the parameters of the Hubble hierarchy in the context of single-clock inflation, which must ultimately derive from a consistent derivative expansion for the background inflaton field. We discuss artefacts associated with instant or very rapid transitions, and consider the impact on the steepest power spectrum growth and the formation of PBHs. In particular, we highlight the robustness of the k 4 steepest growth previously found for single-field inflation with conservatively smoothed transitions and limits on how much the amplitude of the power spectrum can grow, and demonstrate that the PBH mass distribution is sensitive to the artefacts, which go away when the transitions are smoothed. We also show that the mass distribution is relatively insensitive to the steepness of the growth and subsequent decay of the power spectrum, depending primarily on the peak amplitude and the presence of any plateaus that last more than an e-fold. The shape of the power spectrum can of course be constrained by other tracers, and so understanding the physical limitations on its shape remains a pertinent question.

Supermassive black holes triggered by QCD axion bubbles

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are ubiquitous in the center of galaxies, although the origin of their massive seeds is still unknown. In this paper, we investigate the formation of SMBHs from the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion bubbles. In this case, primordial black holes (PBHs) are considered as the seeds of SMBHs, which are generated from the QCD axion bubbles due to an explicit Peccei–Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking after inflation. The QCD axion bubbles are formed when the QCD axion starts to oscillate during the QCD phase transition. We consider a general case in which the axion bubbles are formed with the bubble effective angle θ eff ∈ (0, π], leading to the minimum PBH mass ∼O(104−107)M⊙ for the axion decay constant fa∼O(1016)GeV . The PBHs at this mass region may account for the seeds of SMBHs.

Structure formation with primordial black holes to alleviate early star formation tension revealed by JWST

This Letter explores the potential role of primordial black holes (PBHs) to address cosmological tensions as the presence of more massive than expected galaxies at high redshifts, as indicated by recent James Webb Space Telescope observations. Motivated by inflation models that enhance the power at scales beyond the observable range that produce PBHs with Schechter-like mass functions, we aim to explain the excess of high redshift galaxies via a modification of the Lambda cold dark matter power spectrum that consists in adding (i) a blue spectral index $n_b$ at $k_ piv =10/$Mpc and (ii) Poisson and isocurvature contributions from massive PBHs that only make up $0.5<!PCT!>$ of the dark matter. We simulated these models using the SWIFT code and find an increased abundance of high redshift galaxies in simulations that include PBHs. We compared these models to estimates from James Webb Space Telescope observations. Unlike the Lambda cold dark matter model, the inclusion of PBHs allowed us to reproduce the the observations with reasonable values for the star formation efficiency. Furthermore, the power spectra we adopted potentially produce PBHs that can serve as seeds for supermassive black holes with masses $7.57 odot

Constraining scotogenic dark matter and primordial black holes using induced gravitational waves

The lightest Z2 odd particle in the scotogenic model, referred to as scotogenic dark matter (DM), is a widely studied candidate for DM. This scotogenic DM is generated through well-known thermal processes as well as via the evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs). Recent reports suggested that the curvature fluctuations of PBHs during an epoch dominated by these entities in the early universe can serve as the source of so-called induced gravitational waves (GWs). In this study, we demonstrate that stringent constraints on the mass of scotogenic DM and PBHs can be obtained through the detection of induced GWs using future detectors.

Primordial black hole mass functions as a probe of cosmic origin

Primordial black hole mass functions as a probe of cosmic origin

Primordial Black hole formation from overlapping cosmological fluctuations

We consider the formation of primordial black holes (PBHs), during the radiation-dominated Universe, generated from the collapse of super-horizon curvature fluctuations that are overlapped with others on larger scales. Using a set of different curvature profiles, we show that the threshold for PBH formation (defined as the critical peak of the compaction function) can be decreased by several percentages, thanks to the overlapping between two peaks in the profile of the compaction function. In the opposite case, when the fluctuations are sufficiently decoupled the threshold values behave as having the fluctuations isolated (isolated peaks). We find that the analytical estimates of ref. [1] can be used accurately when applied to the corresponding peak that is leading to the gravitational collapse. We also study in detail the dynamics and estimate the final PBH mass for different initial configurations, showing that the profile dependence has a significant effect on that.

Gravitation wave signal from asteroid mass primordial black hole dark matter

Primordial black holes (PBHs) in the mass range ∼1017–1023 g are currently unconstrained, and can constitute the full dark matter (DM) density of the universe. Motivated by this, in the current work, we aim to relate the existence of PBHs in the said mass range to the production of observable gravitational waves (GWs) in the upcoming GW detectors. We follow a relatively model-independent approach assuming that the PBHs took birth in a radiation dominated era from enhanced primordial curvature perturbation at small scales produced by inflation. We show that the constraints from cosmic microwave background and BAO data allow for the possibility of PBHs being the whole of DM density of the universe. Finally, we derive the GW spectrum induced by the enhanced curvature perturbations and show that they are detectable in the future GW detectors like eLISA, LISA, BBO, and DECIGO. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Superradiant leptogenesis

We investigate how superradiance affects the generation of baryon asymmetry in a universe with rotating primordial black holes, considering a scenario where a scalar boson is coupled to the heavy right-handed neutrinos. We identify the regions of the parameter space where the scalar production is enhanced due to superradiance. This enhancement, coupled with the subsequent decay of the scalar into right handed neutrinos, results in the non-thermal creation of lepton asymmetry. We show that successful leptogenesis is achieved for masses of primordial black holes in the range of order O(0.1 g) − O(10 g) and the lightest of the heavy neutrino masses, MN ~ O(1012) GeV. Consequently, regions of the parameter space, which in the case of Schwarzchild PBHs were incompatible with viable leptogenesis, can produce the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry.

Constraining primordial black hole masses through f(R) gravity scalarons in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is a strong probe for constraining new physics including gravitation. f(R) gravity theory is an interesting alternative to general relativity which introduces additional degrees of freedom known as scalarons. In this work we demonstrate the existence of black hole solutions in f(R) gravity and develop a relation between scalaron mass and black hole mass. We have used observed bound on the freezeout temperature to constrain scalaron mass range by modifying the cosmic expansion rate at the BBN epoch. The mass range of primordial black holes (PBHs) which are astrophysical dark matter candidates is deduced. The range of scalaron mass which does not spoil the BBN era is found to be 10-16–104 eV for both relativistic and non-relativistic scalarons. The window 10-16–10-14 eV of scalaron mass obtained from solar system constraint on PPN parameter is compatible with the BBN bound derived in this work. The PBH mass range is obtained as 106–10-14 M ⊙. Scalarons constrained by BBN are also eligible to accommodate axion like dark matter particles. The problem of ultra-light PBHs (M ≤ 10-24 M ⊙) not constrained by the present study of BBN is still open. Estimation of deuterium (D) fraction and relative D+3He abundance in the f(R) gravity scenario shows that the BBN history mimics that of general relativity. While the PBH mass range is eligible for non-baryonic dark matter, the BBN bounded scalarons provide with an independent strong field test of f(R) gravity. The PBH mass range obtained in the study is discussed in relation to future astronomical measurements.

Magnetic monopole meets primordial black hole: an extended analysis

We investigate gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes (PBH) that evaporate before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), a hypothetical process which was once proposed as an alternative solution to the monopole problem. Magnetic monopoles produced in phase transitions of a grand or partially unified gauge theory are considered. We prove analytically that for all extended PBH mass functions that preserve radiation domination, it is impossible to reduce the monopole abundance via gravitational capture by PBHs to values significantly below the one set by monopole annihilation (or below its initial abundance if it is smaller), regardless of the nature of the capture process (diffusive or non-diffusive). Therefore, the monopole problem cannot be solved by PBH capture in a radiation-dominated era in the early universe.

Primordial black hole versus inflaton

We compare the dark matter (DM) production processes and its parameters space in the background of reheating obtained from two chief systems in the early Universe: the inflaton ϕ and the primordial black holes (PBHs). We concentrated on the mechanism where DMs are universally produced only from the PBH decay and the generation of the standard model plasma from both inflaton and PBHs. Whereas the distribution of primordial black holes behaves like dust, the inflaton phenomenology depends strongly on its equation of state after the inflationary phase, which in turn is conditioned by the nature of the potential V(ϕ). Depending upon the initial mass and population of PBHs, a large range of DM mass is shown to be viable if reheating is controlled by PBHs itself. Inflaton-dominated reheating is observed to further widen such possibilities depending on the initial population of black holes and its mass as well as the coupling of the inflaton to the standard model sector. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Primordial non-Gaussianity from ultra slow-roll Galileon inflation

We present a detailed study of the generation of large primordial non-Gaussianities during the slow-roll (SR) to ultra-slow roll (USR) transitions in the framework of Galileon inflation. We found out that due to having sharp transitions in the USR phase, which persist with a duration of Δ𝒩USR ∼ 2 e-folds, we are able to generate the non-Gaussianity amplitude of the order: |f NL| ∼ 𝒪(10-2) in the SRI, -5 < f NL < 5 in the USR, and -2 < f NL < 2 in the SRII phases. As a result, we are able to achieve a cumulative average value of |f NL| ∼ 𝒪(1). This implies that our results strictly satisfy Maldacena's no-go theorem in the squeezed limit only for SRI, while they strictly violate the same condition in both the USR and SRII phases.The non-renormalization theorem in the Galileon theory helps to support our results regarding the generation of large mass primordial black holes along with large non-Gaussianities, which we show to be dependent on the specific positions of the transition wave numbers fixed at low scales.

Ultralow mass primordial black holes in the early Universe can explain the pulsar timing array signal

Ultralow mass primordial black holes in the early Universe can explain the pulsar timing array signal

Primordial black hole collision with neutron stars and astrophysical black holes and the observational signatures

In this paper, we examine whether low-mass Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) can be considered a plausible dark matter candidate in galactic halos. We derive the relativistic dynamics of PBHs around the heavy compact objects and evaluate their collision rate, as well as the likelihood of PBH capture in neutron stars and black holes. Although the rate of these collisions in the Milky Way is lower than our lifetime (i.e. almost one collision per hundred years), it may still be observable on cosmological scales. Additionally, we investigate the gravitational wave emission as an important observable window for PBH-astrophysical black hole merging. For the allowed range of PBH mass, gravitational wave signal is smaller than the sensitivity of present gravitational wave detectors. We provide observational prospect for detection of these events in future.