A new gravitational wave event reveals a binary black hole merger with total mass 190-265 solar masses, indicating black holes can form via gravitational-wave driven mergers beyond standard stellar channels.
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Did LIGO detect dark matter?
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abstract
We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses $20\,M_\odot \lesssim M_{\rm bh} \lesssim 100\, M_\odot$ where primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute the dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. The bound BHs will rapidly spiral inward due to emission of gravitational radiation and ultimately merge. Uncertainties in the rate for such events arise from our imprecise knowledge of the phase-space structure of galactic halos on the smallest scales. Still, reasonable estimates span a range that overlaps the $2-53$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ rate estimated from GW150914, thus raising the possibility that LIGO has detected PBH dark matter. PBH mergers are likely to be distributed spatially more like dark matter than luminous matter and have no optical nor neutrino counterparts. They may be distinguished from mergers of BHs from more traditional astrophysical sources through the observed mass spectrum, their high ellipticities, or their stochastic gravitational wave background. Next generation experiments will be invaluable in performing these tests.
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The first search for scalar-induced gravitational waves via pulsar parameter drifts yields f_PBH < 10^{-10} (95% CL) for PBH masses 0.3 to 4e4 solar masses, strongly disfavoring a primordial black hole origin for LVK binary black holes.
Vector modes from primordial magnetic fields remain constant in a kination epoch and source second-order curvature perturbations scaling as P_R(k) ∝ k^{-5}, sufficient for PBH dark matter abundance in a Ratra-type magnetogenesis model.
Stupendously large black holes cast shadows on the CMB that rule out masses above 10^17 solar masses within the last scattering surface and limit their density parameter to below 10^-5 for masses 10^15 to 10^18 solar masses.
Bumblebee gravity enhances primordial black hole abundance through three mechanisms, but the model harbors a ghost instability and a tachyonic instability that make it cosmologically unviable.
BHL-type post-recombination accretion can raise late three-body PBH merger rates enough for TianQin detections at f~10^{-6} and for LVK limits to bound delayed virialization.
Curvaton self-interactions in non-quadratic potentials produce a local non-Gaussian map that enables supermassive primordial black hole formation at peak amplitudes of order 10^{-5} while remaining consistent with μ-distortion bounds.
Mass ratio reversals produce qualitatively different contributions to BBH merger rates and masses in COMPAS versus SEVN simulations, with core-growth dominating and most systems arising from massive low-metallicity progenitors.
Primordial black holes generate up to 30% amplitude VAO wiggles in 21 cm signals from the Dark Ages at redshifts 20-40 even at dark matter fractions as low as 10^-13.
GW231123's masses and high spins are consistent with primordial black holes that accreted mass and angular momentum in the early universe within the standard PBH framework.
Future high-frequency-sensitive GW detectors can distinguish binary neutron star from low-mass black hole mergers in late phases, enabling separation of merger rates and constraints on heavy non-annihilating dark matter via transmuted black holes.
Analytic gravitational waveforms from radial test-particle infall into a thin-shell traversable wormhole exhibit a characteristic pulse-gap structure from repeated throat crossings and lie within reach of ground-based detectors at ~500 Mpc.
Supersymmetry with heavy particles above ~10^5 GeV enhances asteroid-mass PBH production via transient equation-of-state softening, allowing them to comprise all dark matter unlike in the Standard Model.
Monte Carlo solutions of the Smoluchowski equation for PBH clusters yield finite runaway timescales and evolving mass distributions that form high-redshift SMBHs, shortened further by mass segregation.
EDE models increase inferred α_s from CMB data, strengthening tension with USR PBH models that predict negative running.
One-loop time dependence in superhorizon curvature perturbations cancels when all-scale contributions and boundary terms are included consistently via the δN formalism.
BlackHawk v3.0 adds Hawking temperatures and greybody factors for multiple regular black hole metrics to an existing public code via numerical routines.
PBH masses near 10^3 kg allow Hawking evaporation to reheat the universe while Planckian remnants comprise all present-day DM without fine-tuning initial abundance, yielding testable GW signals.
In excursion set theory with colored noises, the low-mass tail of the PBH mass function differs from Carr's formula because correlated noises end the degeneracy of formation probabilities, though Carr's formula remains practical near the characteristic mass for smooth Fourier-space window functions.
Inflaton accretion during reheating drives non-linear PBH mass growth that extends lifetimes and amplifies emitted SGWB by multiple orders of magnitude.
Tensor perturbations from FOPT and domain-wall sources are claimed to induce second-order scalar perturbations large enough to form primordial black holes, potentially all of the dark matter.
3D simulations of cosmological first-order phase transitions find density perturbation spectra with k^3 and k^{-1.5} slopes and GW spectra with k^3 and k^{-2}, confirming slow transitions can produce PBHs.
Memory-burden backreaction deforms the Hawking spectrum to suppress its high-energy tail, lowering total luminosity and neutrino flux by a factor set by a single suppression parameter and thereby relaxing IceCube bounds on primordial black hole dark matter.
For monochromatic primordial black holes, the low-frequency scalar-induced gravitational-wave peak and the high-frequency binary-merger ISCO frequency are linked by fISCO ≈ 3.4×10^20 Hz × (fSIGW/Hz)^2.
citing papers explorer
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GW231123: a Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190-265 $M_{\odot}$
A new gravitational wave event reveals a binary black hole merger with total mass 190-265 solar masses, indicating black holes can form via gravitational-wave driven mergers beyond standard stellar channels.
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Constraints on the Primordial Black Hole Abundance using Pulsar Parameter Drifts
The first search for scalar-induced gravitational waves via pulsar parameter drifts yields f_PBH < 10^{-10} (95% CL) for PBH masses 0.3 to 4e4 solar masses, strongly disfavoring a primordial black hole origin for LVK binary black holes.
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Primordial Black Holes from Vector-Induced Curvature Perturbations Sourced by Primordial Magnetic Fields
Vector modes from primordial magnetic fields remain constant in a kination epoch and source second-order curvature perturbations scaling as P_R(k) ∝ k^{-5}, sufficient for PBH dark matter abundance in a Ratra-type magnetogenesis model.
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Shadows of Giants: Constraints on Stupendously Large Black Holes from Negative Sources against the Cosmic Microwave Background
Stupendously large black holes cast shadows on the CMB that rule out masses above 10^17 solar masses within the last scattering surface and limit their density parameter to below 10^-5 for masses 10^15 to 10^18 solar masses.
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Primordial black hole in Lorentz-violating theories: Insights from Bumblebee gravity
Bumblebee gravity enhances primordial black hole abundance through three mechanisms, but the model harbors a ghost instability and a tachyonic instability that make it cosmologically unviable.
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Effect of post-recombination accretion on primordial binary black hole mergers within virialized dark matter halos
BHL-type post-recombination accretion can raise late three-body PBH merger rates enough for TianQin detections at f~10^{-6} and for LVK limits to bound delayed virialization.
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Memoirs of the curvaton: non-perturbative non-Gaussianity and supermassive primordial black holes
Curvaton self-interactions in non-quadratic potentials produce a local non-Gaussian map that enables supermassive primordial black hole formation at peak amplitudes of order 10^{-5} while remaining consistent with μ-distortion bounds.
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Massquerade: Impacts of Mass Ratio Reversals on Binary Black Hole Merger Rates and Mass Distributions
Mass ratio reversals produce qualitatively different contributions to BBH merger rates and masses in COMPAS versus SEVN simulations, with core-growth dominating and most systems arising from massive low-metallicity progenitors.
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Primordial black holes and the velocity acoustic oscillations features in 21 cm signals from the cosmic Dark Ages
Primordial black holes generate up to 30% amplitude VAO wiggles in 21 cm signals from the Dark Ages at redshifts 20-40 even at dark matter fractions as low as 10^-13.
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GW231123: A Possible Primordial Black Hole Origin
GW231123's masses and high spins are consistent with primordial black holes that accreted mass and angular momentum in the early universe within the standard PBH framework.
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Distinguishing Neutron Star vs. Low-Mass Black Hole Binaries with Late Inspiral & Postmerger Gravitational Waves $-$ Sensitivity to Transmuted Black Holes and Non-Annihilating Dark Matter
Future high-frequency-sensitive GW detectors can distinguish binary neutron star from low-mass black hole mergers in late phases, enabling separation of merger rates and constraints on heavy non-annihilating dark matter via transmuted black holes.
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Gravitational Waves from a Black Hole Falling Radially into a Thin-Shell Traversable Wormhole
Analytic gravitational waveforms from radial test-particle infall into a thin-shell traversable wormhole exhibit a characteristic pulse-gap structure from repeated throat crossings and lie within reach of ground-based detectors at ~500 Mpc.
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Asteroid-mass Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter from Supersymmetry
Supersymmetry with heavy particles above ~10^5 GeV enhances asteroid-mass PBH production via transient equation-of-state softening, allowing them to comprise all dark matter unlike in the Standard Model.
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Smoluchowski Coagulation Equation and the Evolution of Primordial Black Hole Clusters
Monte Carlo solutions of the Smoluchowski equation for PBH clusters yield finite runaway timescales and evolving mass distributions that form high-redshift SMBHs, shortened further by mass segregation.
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Running into tension: primordial black holes from ultra-slow-roll inflation, spectral running, and the Hubble tension
EDE models increase inferred α_s from CMB data, strengthening tension with USR PBH models that predict negative running.
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Cancellation of one-loop time dependence in superhorizon curvature perturbations from all scales
One-loop time dependence in superhorizon curvature perturbations cancels when all-scale contributions and boundary terms are included consistently via the δN formalism.
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$\tt BlackHawk$ $\tt v3.0$: Hawking Radiation from Regular Black Holes
BlackHawk v3.0 adds Hawking temperatures and greybody factors for multiple regular black hole metrics to an existing public code via numerical routines.
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Signatures of loop quantum gravity in primordial black hole cosmologies
PBH masses near 10^3 kg allow Hawking evaporation to reheat the universe while Planckian remnants comprise all present-day DM without fine-tuning initial abundance, yielding testable GW signals.
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Primordial black holes in excursion set theory: Formation probabilities, mass functions, and window functions
In excursion set theory with colored noises, the low-mass tail of the PBH mass function differs from Carr's formula because correlated noises end the degeneracy of formation probabilities, though Carr's formula remains practical near the characteristic mass for smooth Fourier-space window functions.
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Inflaton Accretion onto Primordial Black Holes During Reheating
Inflaton accretion during reheating drives non-linear PBH mass growth that extends lifetimes and amplifies emitted SGWB by multiple orders of magnitude.
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Primordial Black Hole from Tensor-induced Density Fluctuation: First-order Phase Transitions and Domain Walls
Tensor perturbations from FOPT and domain-wall sources are claimed to induce second-order scalar perturbations large enough to form primordial black holes, potentially all of the dark matter.
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Numerical simulations of density perturbation and gravitational wave production from cosmological first-order phase transition
3D simulations of cosmological first-order phase transitions find density perturbation spectra with k^3 and k^{-1.5} slopes and GW spectra with k^3 and k^{-2}, confirming slow transitions can produce PBHs.
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Memory-Burden Suppression of Hawking Radiation and Neutrino Constraints on Primordial Black Holes
Memory-burden backreaction deforms the Hawking spectrum to suppress its high-energy tail, lowering total luminosity and neutrino flux by a factor set by a single suppression parameter and thereby relaxing IceCube bounds on primordial black hole dark matter.
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Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Holes: Connecting Low-Frequency Scalar-Induced Signatures to High-Frequency Binary Mergers
For monochromatic primordial black holes, the low-frequency scalar-induced gravitational-wave peak and the high-frequency binary-merger ISCO frequency are linked by fISCO ≈ 3.4×10^20 Hz × (fSIGW/Hz)^2.
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Gravitational Waves from Multiple First-Order Phase Transitions in a Scenario with Early Matter Domination
Early matter domination with time-dependent decay rates produces multiple first-order phase transitions whose gravitational wave signatures encode the transition and reheating temperatures.
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Ultralight dark matter mixed with primordial black holes
In mixed ULDM-PBH halos the continuum PBH contribution alters soliton structure at the tens-of-percent level while discrete shot noise induces mode transitions too slow to matter on galactic timescales.
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Exploring Gravitational Wave Signatures Due to Primordial Non-gaussianity and Large Scale Structure Using SKAO
Explores SKAO detection of scalar-induced GW backgrounds as probes of primordial non-Gaussianity and parity violation, with LSS cross-correlation to improve SNR.
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Synergy between CSST and future gravitational-wave detectors: Probing primordial black holes by cross-correlating dark sirens with galaxies
Cross-correlating CSST galaxies with mock GW catalogs from ET2CE and BDET2CE networks can detect PBH merger fractions above ~40% and ~20% respectively via clustering bias differences.
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Limits on primordial black holes from the extragalactic gamma-ray background; current status and future projections
Sets upper limits on primordial black hole dark matter fraction using extragalactic gamma-ray background, claiming these are the tightest indirect constraints for the mass range.
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Primordial Black Hole Triggered Type Ia Supernovae II: Comparison with Supernova Remnants and Galactic Chemical Evolution
PBH-triggered SN Ia models across metallicities match some observed light curves and remnants, constrain the explosion channel fraction via chemical evolution modeling, and indicate PBHs as a potentially major early-universe SN Ia source.
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Constraints on Primordial Black Holes
Updated compilation shows PBHs are tightly constrained across 55 orders of magnitude in mass, ruling out dominant dark matter contributions except in narrow windows, with many limits carrying observational uncertainties.
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Cosmological searches for the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering
Thesis summarizing an upper limit of 0.12 eV on the neutrino mass sum, bias calibration via CMB lensing cross-correlations, and tighter limits plus stronger normal-ordering preference in non-phantom dynamical dark energy models.
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Precision Analysis for $\boldsymbol{H_0}$ Using Upcoming Multi-band Gravitational Wave Observations
Multi-band GW observations of PBHs can reduce H0 uncertainty to ≲2 km/s/Mpc (conservative) or O(0.1) km/s/Mpc (optimistic) via Fisher forecasts on M_PBH and f_PBH.
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In-depth analysis of the clustering of dark matter particles around primordial black holes. Part III: CMB constraints
CMB data limits the s-wave annihilation cross section of thermal dark matter particles to ≲ 10^{-30} cm³/s scaled by PBH fraction and mass for PBHs heavier than ~10^{-10} solar masses.
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Using SKAO to Understand the Clustering of Gravitational Wave Sources
Forecasts show SKA-Mid cross-correlations with ET/CE gravitational wave events can constrain GW source bias and time-delay distributions.
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Science with the Einstein Telescope: a comparison of different designs
The paper evaluates how triangular versus two-L-shaped geometries, arm lengths, and presence of low-frequency instruments affect the science reach of the Einstein Telescope for compact binaries, multi-messenger events, and stochastic backgrounds.
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Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter: Recent Developments
Primordial black holes in specific mass ranges could account for some or all dark matter while resolving structure-formation and seed problems in standard cosmology.
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Machine Learning for Multi-messenger Probes of New Physics and Cosmology: A Review and Perspective
A review summarizing machine learning methods for multi-messenger probes of dark matter and new physics, with a proposed plan for future integrated analyses.
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Stellar microlensing surveys as a probe of Primordial Black Holes: status and prospects
Stellar microlensing surveys exclude compact objects between 10^{-11} and 10^4 solar masses from making up all dark matter under standard assumptions.
- Primordial Black Holes: A Review of Formation and Evolution
- Exciting the Vacuum: Non-Thermal Particle Bursts and Multi-Messenger Signals from Binary Black Holes
- Microscopic primordial black holes as macroscopic dark matter from large extra dimensions