We consider constraints on primordial black holes (PBHs) in the mass range $( 10^{-18}text{-}10^{15} ),M_{odot}$ if the dark matter (DM) comprises weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) which form halos around them and generate $gamma$-rays by
annihilations. We first study the formation of the halos and find that their density profile prior to WIMP annihilations evolves to a characteristic power-law form. Because of the wide range of PBH masses considered, our analysis forges an interesting link between previous approaches to this problem. We then consider the effect of the WIMP annihilations on the halo profile and the associated generation of $gamma$-rays. The observed extragalactic $gamma$-ray background implies that the PBH DM fraction is $f^{}_{rm PBH} lesssim 2 times 10^{-9},( m_{chi} / {rm TeV} )^{1.1}$ in the mass range $2 times 10^{-12},M_{odot},( m_{chi} / {rm TeV} )^{-3.2} lesssim M lesssim 5 times 10^{12},M_{odot},( m_{chi} / {rm TeV} )^{1.1}$, where $m_{chi}$ and $M$ are the WIMP and PBH masses, respectively. This limit is independent of $M$ and therefore applies for any PBH mass function. For $M lesssim 2times 10^{-12},M_{odot},( m_{chi}/ {rm TeV} )^{-3.2}$, the constraint on $f^{}_{rm PBH}$ is a decreasing function of $M$ and PBHs could still make a significant DM contribution at very low masses. We also consider constraints on WIMPs if the DM is mostly PBHs. If the merging black holes recently discovered by LIGO/Virgo are of primordial origin, this would rule out the standard WIMP DM scenario. More generally, the WIMP DM fraction cannot exceed $10^{-4}$ for $M > 10^{-9},M_{odot}$ and $m_{chi} > 10,$GeV. There is a region of parameter space, with $M lesssim 10^{-11},M_{odot}$ and $m_{chi} lesssim 100,$GeV, in which WIMPs and PBHs can both provide some but not all of the DM, so that one requires a third DM candidate.
We consider the observational constraints on stupendously large black holes (SLABs) in the mass range $M gtrsim 10^{11},M_{odot}$. These have attracted little attention hitherto and we are aware of no published constraints on a SLAB population in the
range $(10^{12}$ - $10^{18}),M_{odot}$. However, there is already evidence for black holes of up to nearly $10^{11},M_{odot}$ in galactic nuclei, so it is conceivable that SLABs exist and they may even have been seeded by primordial black holes. We focus on limits associated with (i) dynamical and lensing effects, (ii) the generation of background radiation through the accretion of gas during the pregalactic epoch, and (iii) the gamma-ray emission from the annihilation of the halo of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) expected to form around each SLAB if these provide the dark matter. Finally, we comment on the constraints on the mass of ultra-light bosons from future measurements of the mass and spin of SLABs.
Although the dark matter is usually assumed to be some form of elementary particle, primordial black holes (PBHs) could also provide some of it. However, various constraints restrict the possible mass windows to $10^{16}$ - $10^{17},$g, $10^{20}$ - $
10^{24},$g and $10$ - $10^{3},M_{odot}$. The last possibility is contentious but of special interest in view of the recent detection of black-hole mergers by LIGO/Virgo. PBHs might have important consequences and resolve various cosmological conundra even if they have only a small fraction of the dark-matter density. In particular, those larger than $10^{3},M_{odot}$ could generate cosmological structures through the seed or Poisson effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard cold dark-matter scenario, and sufficiently large PBHs might provide seeds for the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. More exotically, the Planck-mass relics of PBH evaporations or stupendously large black holes bigger than $10^{12},M_{odot}$ could provide an interesting dark component.
We update the constraints on the fraction of the Universe that may have gone into primordial black holes (PBHs) over the mass range $10^{-5}text{--}10^{50}$ g. Those smaller than $sim 10^{15}$ g would have evaporated by now due to Hawking radiation,
so their abundance at formation is constrained by the effects of evaporated particles on big bang nucleosynthesis, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the Galactic and extragalactic $gamma$-ray and cosmic ray backgrounds and the possible generation of stable Planck mass relics. PBHs larger than $sim 10^{15}$ g are subject to a variety of constraints associated with gravitational lensing, dynamical effects, influence on large-scale structure, accretion and gravitational waves. We discuss the constraints on both the initial collapse fraction and the current fraction of the CDM in PBHs at each mass scale but stress that many of the constraints are associated with observational or theoretical uncertainties. We also consider indirect constraints associated with the amplitude of the primordial density fluctuations, such as second-order tensor perturbations and $mu$-distortions arising from the effect of acoustic reheating on the CMB, if PBHs are created from the high-$sigma$ peaks of nearly Gaussian fluctuations. Finally we discuss how the constraints are modified if the PBHs have an extended mass function, this being relevant if PBHs provide some combination of the dark matter, the LIGO/Virgo coalescences and the seeds for cosmic structure. Even if PBHs make a small contribution to the dark matter, they could play an important cosmological role and provide a unique probe of the early Universe.
A universal mechanism may be responsible for several unresolved cosmic conundra. The sudden drop in the pressure of relativistic matter at $W^{pm}/Z^{0}$ decoupling, the quark--hadron transition and $e^{+}e^{-}$ annihilation enhances the probability
of primordial black hole (PBH) formation in the early Universe. Assuming the amplitude of the primordial curvature fluctuations is approximately scale-invariant, this implies a multi-modal PBH mass spectrum with peaks at $10^{-6}$, 1, 30, and $10^{6},M_{odot}$. This suggests a unified PBH scenario which naturally explains the dark matter and recent microlensing observations, the LIGO/Virgo black hole mergers, the correlations in the cosmic infrared and X-ray backgrounds, and the origin of the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei at high redshift. A distinctive prediction of our model is that LIGO/Virgo should observe black hole mergers in the mass gaps between 2 and $5,M_{odot}$ (where no stellar remnants are expected) and above $65,M_{odot}$ (where pair-instability supernovae occur) and low-mass-ratios in between. Therefore the recent detection of events GW190425, GW190814 and GW190521 with these features is striking confirmation of our prediction and may indicate a primordial origin for the black holes. In this case, the exponential sensitivity of the PBH abundance to the equation of state would offer a unique probe of the QCD phase transition. The detection of PBHs would also offer a novel way to probe the existence of new particles or phase transitions with energy between $1,{rm MeV}$ and $10^{10},$GeV.
The origin of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe (BAU) and the nature of dark matter are two of the most challenging problems in cosmology. We propose a scenario in which the gravitational collapse of large inhomogeneities at the quark-hadron epoch
generates both the baryon asymmetry and dark matter in the form of primordial black holes (PBHs). This is due to the sudden drop in radiation pressure during the transition from a quark-gluon plasma to non-relativistic hadrons. The collapse to a PBH is induced by fluctuations of a light spectator scalar field in rare regions and is accompanied by the violent expulsion of surrounding material, which might be regarded as a sort of primordial supernova . The acceleration of protons to relativistic speeds provides the ingredients for efficient baryogenesis around the collapsing regions and its subsequent propagation to the rest of the Universe. This scenario naturally explains why the observed BAU is of order the PBH collapse fraction and why the baryons and dark matter have comparable densities. The predicted PBH mass distribution ranges from sub-solar to several hundred solar masses. This is compatible with current observational constraints and could explain the rate, mass and low spin of the black hole mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo. Future observations will soon be able to test this scenario.
If primordial black holes (PBHs) formed at the quark-hadron epoch, their mass must be close to the Chandrasekhar limit, this also being the characteristic mass of stars. If they provide the dark matter (DM), the collapse fraction must be of order the
cosmological baryon-to-photon ratio $sim 10^{-9}$, which suggests a scenario in which a baryon asymmetry is produced efficiently in the outgoing shock around each PBH and then propagates to the rest of the Universe. We suggest that the temperature increase in the shock provides the ingredients for hot spot electroweak baryogenesis. This also explains why baryons and DM have comparable densities, the precise ratio depending on the size of the PBH relative to the cosmological horizon at formation. The observed value of the collapse fraction and baryon asymmetry depends on the amplitude of the curvature fluctuations which generate the PBHs and may be explained by an anthropic selection effect associated with the existence of galaxies. We propose a scenario in which the quantum fluctuations of a light stochastic spectator field during inflation generate large curvature fluctuations in some regions, with the stochasticity of this field providing the basis for the required selection. Finally, we identify several observational predictions of our scenario that should be testable within the next few years. In particular, the PBH mass function could extend to sufficiently high masses to explain the black hole coalescences observed by LIGO/Virgo.
Primordial black holes (PBHs) could provide the dark matter but a variety of constraints restrict the possible mass windows to $10^{16} - 10^{17}$g, $10^{20} - 10^{24}$g and $10 - 10^3M_{odot}$. The last possibility is of special interest in view of
the recent detection of black-hole mergers by LIGO. PBHs larger than $10^3 M_{odot}$ might have important cosmological consequences even if they have only a small fraction of the dark matter density. In particular, they could generate cosmological structures either individually through the seed effect or collectively through the Poisson effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard cold dark matter scenario.
If primordial black holes (PBHs) form directly from inhomogeneities in the early Universe, then the number in the mass range $10^5 -10^{12}M_{odot}$ is severely constrained by upper limits to the $mu$ distortion in the cosmic microwave background (CM
B). This is because inhomogeneities on these scales will be dissipated by Silk damping in the redshift interval $5times 10^4lesssim zlesssim2times 10^6$. If the primordial fluctuations on a given mass scale have a Gaussian distribution and PBHs form on the high-$sigma$ tail, as in the simplest scenarios, then the $mu$ constraints exclude PBHs in this mass range from playing any interesting cosmological role. Only if the fluctuations are highly non-Gaussian, or form through some mechanism unrelated to the primordial fluctuations, can this conclusion be obviated.
The existence of exact solutions which represent a lattice of black holes at a scalar-field-dominated cosmological bounce suggests that black holes could persist through successive eras of a cyclic cosmology. Here we explore some remarkable cosmologi
cal consequences of this proposal. In different mass ranges pre-big-bang black holes could explain the dark matter, provide seeds for galaxies, generate entropy and even drive the bounce itself. The cycles end naturally when the filling factor of the black holes reaches unity and this could entail a dimensional transition.
