Prospects for probing ultralight primordial black holes using the stochastic gravitational-wave background induced by primordial curvature perturbations
Shasvath J. Kapadia, Kanhaiya Lal Pandey, Teruaki Suyama, Parameswaran Ajith
Ultralight primordial black holes (PBHs) with masses $\lesssim 10^{15}$g and subatomic Schwarzschild radii, produced in the early Universe, are expected to have evaporated by the current cosmic age due to Hawking radiation. Based on this assumption, a number of constraints on the abundance of ultralight PBHs have been made. However, Hawking radiation has thus far not been verified experimentally. It would, therefore, be of interest if constraints on ultralight PBHs could be placed independent of the assumption of Hawking-radiation. In this paper, we explore the possibility of probing these PBHs, within a narrow mass range, using gravitational-wave (GW) data from the two LIGO detectors. The idea is that large primordial curvature perturbations that result in the formation of PBHs, would also generate GWs through non-linear mode couplings. These induced GWs would produce a stochastic background. Specifically, we focus our attention on PBHs of mass range $\sim 10^{13} - 10^{15}$g for which the induced stochastic GW background peak falls in the sensitivity band of LIGO. We find that, for both narrow and broad Gaussian PBH mass distributions, the corresponding GW background would be detectable using presently available LIGO data, provided we neglect the existing constraints on the abundance of PBHs, which are based on Hawking radiation. Furthermore, we find that these stochastic backgrounds would be detectable in LIGO's third observing run, even after considering the existing constraints on PBH abundance. A non-detection should enable us to constrain the amplitude of primordial curvature perturbations as well as the abundance of ultralight PBHs. We estimate that by the end of the third observing run, assuming non-detection, we should be able to place constraints that are orders of magnitude better than currently existing ones.
Ultralight primordial black holes (PBHs)($\lesssim10^9$g) completely evaporate via Hawking radiation (HR) and produce all the particles in a given theory regardless of their other interactions. If the right handed (RH) neutrinos are produced from PBH evaporation, successful baryogenesis via leptogenesis predicts mass scale of RH neutrinos as well as black holes. We show that, given the lepton number violation (generation of RH neutrino masses) in the theory is a consequence of a gauged $U(1)$ breaking which is then followed by the formation of PBHs, a network of cosmic strings naturally gives …
We study the effects of ultralight vector field (ULVF) dark matter on gravitational-wave propagation. We find that the coherent oscillations of the vector field induce an anisotropic suppression of the gravitational-wave amplitude as compared to the $Λ$CDM prediction. The effect is enhanced for smaller vector field masses and peaks for modes around $k=H_0/\sqrt{a(H=m)}$. The suppression is negligible for astrophysically generated gravitational waves but could be sizeable for primordial gravity waves. We discuss the possibility of detecting such an effect on the tensor power spectrum with futur…
The formation of ultra rare supermassive black holes (SMBHs), with masses of $\mathcal O(10^9\,M_\odot)$, in the first billion years of the Universe remains an open question in astrophysics. At the same time, ultralight dark matter (DM) with mass in the vicinity of $\mathcal O(10^{-20}~\text{eV})$ has been motivated by small scale DM distributions. Though this type of DM is constrained by various astrophysical considerations, certain observations could be pointing to modest evidence for it. We present a model with a confining first order phase transition at $\sim 10$ keV temperatures, facilita…
This thesis by publication is devoted to the study of aspects of the early universe in the context of primordial black hole (PBH) physics. Firstly, we review the fundamentals of the early universe cosmology and we recap the basics of the PBHs physics. In particular, we propose a refinement in the determination of the PBH formation threshold, a fundamental quantity in PBH physics, in the context of a time-dependent equation-of-state parameter. Afterwards, we briefly present the theory of inflationary perturbations, which is the theoretical framework within which PBHs are studied in this thesis.…
We study the prospects of future gravitational wave (GW) detectors in probing primordial black hole (PBH) binaries. We show that across a broad mass range from $10^{-5}M_\odot$ to $10^7M_\odot$, future GW interferometers provide a potential probe of the PBH abundance that is more sensitive than any currently existing experiment. In particular, we find that galactic PBH binaries with masses as low as $10^{-5}M_\odot$ may be probed with ET, AEDGE and LISA by searching for nearly monochromatic continuous GW signals. Such searches could independently test the PBH interpretation of the ultrashort m…
Ultralight dark matter is a compelling dark matter candidate. In this work, we examine the impact of quadratically-coupled ultralight dark matter on the predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. The presence of ultralight dark matter can modify the effective values of fundamental constants during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, modifying the predicted abundances of the primordial elements such as Helium-4. We improve upon the existing literature in two ways: firstly, we take into account the thermal mass acquired by the ultralight dark matter due to its quadratic interactions with the Standard Model …
The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) satellite has yielded unprecedented measurements of the soft gamma-ray spectrum of our Galaxy. Here we use those measurements to set constraints on dark matter (DM) that decays or annihilates into photons with energies $E\approx 0.02-2$ MeV. First, we revisit the constraints on particle DM that decays or annihilates to photon pairs. In particular, for decaying DM, we find that previous limits were overstated by roughly an order of magnitude. Our new, conservative analysis finds that the DM lifetime must satisfy $τ\gtrsim 5\times 10…
Prospects for Direct Detection of Ultralight Dark Matter candidates in deci-Hz Band with IndIGO-D
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics（萨哈核物理研究所）；Homi Bhabha National Institute（霍米·巴巴国立研究所）；International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)（中国科学院大学亚太理论物理中心（ICTP-AP））；Taiji Laboratory for Gravitational Wave Universe, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学太极引力波宇宙实验室）
The light relic density affects the thermal and expansion history of the early Universe leaving a number of observable imprints. We focus on the primordial abundances of light elements produced during the process of Big Bang nucleosynthesis which are influenced by the light relic density. Primordial abundances can be used to infer the density of light relics and thereby serve as a probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. We calculate the observational uncertainty on primordial light element abundances and associated quantities that would be required in order for these measurements to achiev…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) are dark matter candidates that span broad mass ranges from $10^{-17}$ $M_\odot$ to $\sim 100$ $M_\odot$. We show that the stochastic gravitational wave background can be a powerful window for the detection of sub-solar mass PBHs and shed light on their formation channel via third-generation gravitational wave detectors such as Cosmic Explorer and the Einstein Telescope. By using the mass distribution of the compact objects and the redshift evolution of the merger rates, we can distinguish astrophysical sources from PBHs and will be able to constrain the fraction …
In all inflationary scenarios of primordial black holes (PBH) formation, amplified scalar perturbations inevitably accompany an induced stochastic gravitational waves background (ISGWB) at smaller scales. In this paper, we study the ISGWB originating from the inflationary model, introduced in our previous paper [1] wherein PBHs can be produced with a nearly monochromatic mass fraction in the asteroid mass window accounting for the total dark matter in the universe. We numerically calculate the ISGWB in our scenario for frequencies ranging from nanoHz to KHz that covers the observational scales…
For a variety of on-going and planned gravitational-wave (GW) experiments, we study expected constraints on the fraction ($f_{\rm PBH}$) of primordial black holes (PBHs) in dark matter by evaluating the energy-density spectra of two kinds of stochastic GW backgrounds. The first one is produced from an incoherent superposition of GWs emitted from coalescences of all the binary PBHs. The second one is induced through non-linear mode couplings of large primordial curvature perturbations inevitably associated with the generation of PBHs in the early Universe. In this paper, we focus on the PBHs wi…
Assuming that the early universe had (i) a description using perturbative string theory and its field theory limit (ii) an epoch of slow-roll inflation within a four-dimensional effective field theory and a hierarchy of scales $M_{inf} < m_{kk} < m_s \lesssim M_{pl}$ that keeps the latter under control, we derive an upper bound on the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves. The bound is very sensitive to mild changes in numerical coefficients and the expansion parameters. For example, allowing couplings and mass-squared hierarchies $\lesssim 0.2$, implies $r \lesssim 0.05$, but asking mor…
We update the constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbation spectrum by using the latest data from the WMAP7 and ACT Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The inclusion of new data significantly improves the constraints with respect to older work, especially to smaller angular scales. While we found no clear statistical evidence in the data for extensions to the simplest, featureless, inflationary model, models with a step provide a significantly better fit than standard featureless power-law spectra. We show that the possibility of a step in the infla…
Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) that form from the collapse of density perturbations are more clustered than the underlying density field. In a previous paper, we showed the constraints that this has on the prospects of PBH dark matter. In this paper we examine another consequence of this clustering: the formation of bound systems of PBHs in the early universe. These would hypothetically be the earliest gravitationally collapsed structures, forming when the universe is still radiation dominated. Depending upon the size and occupation of the clusters, PBH merging occurs before they would have oth…
Cascade of particles injected as Hawking Radiation from Primordial Black Holes (PBH) can potentially change the cosmic recombination history by ionizing and heating the intergalactic medium, which results in altering the anisotropy spectra of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). In this paper, we study the expected sensitivity of several future CMB experiments in constraining the abundance of PBHs distributed in $10^{15}\sim10^{17}$ g mass window according to four mass functions: the monochromatic, log-normal, power-law and critical collapse models. Our result shows that future experiments, …
Next-generation cosmological surveys will observe larger cosmic volumes than ever before, enabling us to access information on the primordial Universe, as well as on relativistic effects. We consider forthcoming 21cm intensity mapping surveys (SKAO) and optical galaxy surveys (DESI and Euclid), combining the information via multi-tracer cross-correlations that suppress cosmic variance on ultra-large scales. In order to fully incorporate wide-angle effects and redshift-bin cross-correlations, together with lensing magnification and other relativistic effects, we use the angular power spectra, $…
Primordial black holes may encode the conditions of the early universe, and may even constitute a significant fraction of cosmological dark matter. Their existence has yet to be established. However, black holes with masses below $\sim1~\mathrm{M}_\odot$ cannot form as an endpoint of stellar evolution, so the detection of even one such object would be a smoking gun for new physics, and would constitute evidence that at least a fraction of the dark matter consists of primordial black holes. Gravitational wave detectors are capable of making a definitive discovery of this kind by detecting merge…
We explore possible non-Gaussian features of primordial gravitational waves by constructing model-independent templates for nonlinearity parameters of tensor bispectrum. Our analysis is based on Effective Field Theory of inflation that relies on no particular model as such and thus the results are quite generic. The analysis further reveals that chances of detecting squeezed limit tensor bispectrum are fairly higher than equilateral limit. We also discuss prospects of detectability in upcoming CMB missions.
There are at least three cosmic backgrounds of primordial gravitational waves coming from inflation: those produced during inflation and associated with the stretching of quantum modes; those produced at the violent stage of preheating after inflation; and those associated with the self-ordering of Goldstone modes if inflation ends via a global symmetry breaking scenario, like in hybrid inflation. Each background has its own characteristic spectrum with specific features. We describe in detail the origin of extra peaks in the PGW background from preheating in the case in which inflation ends w…
The gravitational potential of a gas of initially randomly distributed primordial black holes (PBH) can induce a stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background through second-order gravitational effects. This GW background can be abundantly generated in a cosmic era dominated by ultralight primordial black holes, with masses $m_\mathrm{PBH}<10^{9}\mathrm{g}$. In this work, we consider $f(R)$ gravity as the underlying gravitational theory and we study its effect at the level of the gravitational potential of Poisson distributed primordial black holes. After a general analysis, we focus on the $R…
It is widely accepted that dark matter contributes about a quarter of the critical mass-energy density in our Universe. The nature of dark matter is currently unknown, with the mass of possible constituents spanning nearly one hundred orders of magnitude. The ultralight scalar field dark matter, consisting of extremely light bosons with $m \sim 10^{-22}$ eV and often called "fuzzy" dark matter, provides intriguing solutions to some challenges at sub-Galactic scales for the standard cold dark matter model. As shown by Khmelnitsky and Rubakov, such a scalar field in the Galaxy would produce an o…
We consider a cosmological scenario in which the very early Universe experienced a transient epoch of matter domination due to the formation of a large population of primordial black holes (PBHs) with masses $M \lesssim 10^{9}\,\textrm{g}$, that evaporate before Big Bang nucleosynthesis. In this context, Hawking radiation would be a non-thermal mechanism to produce a cosmic background of axion-like particles (ALPs). We assume the minimal scenario in which these ALPs couple only with photons. In the case of ultralight ALPs ($m_a \lesssim 10^{-9}\,\textrm{eV}$) the cosmic magnetic fields might t…
It is commonly assumed that the stochastic background of gravitational waves on cosmological scales follows an almost scale-independent power spectrum, as generically predicted by the inflationary paradigm. However, it is not inconceivable that the spectrum could have strongly scale-dependent features, generated, e.g., via transient dynamics of spectator axion-gauge fields during inflation. Using the temperature and polarisation maps from the \textit{Planck} and BICEP/Keck datasets, we search for such features, taking the example of a log-normal bump in the primordial tensor spectrum at CMB sc…
We revisit the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) limits on primordial magnetic fields and/or turbulent motions accounting for the decaying nature of turbulent sources between the time of generation and BBN. This leads to larger estimates for the gravitational wave (GW) signal than previously expected. We address the detection prospects through space-based interferometers (for GWs generated around the electroweak energy scale) as well as pulsar timing arrays and astrometric missions (for GWs generated around the quantum chromodynamics energy scale).
A stochastic background of primordial gravitational waves could be detected soon in the polarization of the CMB and/or with laser interferometers. There are at least three GWB coming from inflation: those produced during inflation and associated with the stretching of space-time modes; those produced at the violent stage of preheating after inflation; and those associated with the self-ordering of Goldstone modes if inflation ends via a global symmetry breaking scenario, like in hybrid inflation. Each GW background has its own characteristic spectrum with specific features. We discuss the pros…
Ultra-light primordial black holes (PBHs) in the mass range of 10$^{16}$ - 10$^{22}$ g are allowed by current observations to constitute a significant fraction, if not all, of the dark matter in the Universe. In this work, we present limits on ultra-light, non-rotating PBHs which arise from the non-detection of the Hawking radiation signals from such objects in the keV-MeV energy band. Namely, we consider observations from the current-generation missions XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL/SPI and discuss the observational perspectives of the future missions Athena, eXTP, and THESEUS for PBH searches. Bas…
Constraining primordial non-Gaussianity and parity-violation through Scalar-Induced Gravitational Waves with next-generation ground-based interferometers
Università di Pisa（比萨大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)（意大利国家核物理研究所）；Università degli Studi di Padova（帕多瓦大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)（意大利国家天体物理研究所）
We study the impacts of reheating temperature on the inflationary predictions of the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio. Assuming sinusoidal oscillations and that reheating process is very fast, the reheating temperature can be constrained for sinusoidal oscillation within a factor of 10 - 100 or even better with the prospect of future observations. Beyond this, we find that the predictions can also be insensitive to the reheating temperature in certain models, including Higgs inflation.
We study the possibility of cogenesis of baryon and dark matter (DM) from the out-of-equilibrium CP violating decay of right handed neutrino (RHN) that are dominantly of non-thermal origin. While the RHN and its heavier partners can take part in light neutrino mass generation via Type-I seesaw mechanism, the decay of RHN into dark and visible sectors can create respective asymmetries simultaneously. The non-thermal sources of RHN considered are {\bf (a)} on-shell decay of inflaton, and {\bf (b)} evaporation of ultralight primordial black holes (PBH). After setting up the complete set of Boltzm…
The ability to test and constrain theories of cosmic inflation will advance substantially over the next decade. Key data sources include cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements and observations of the distribution of matter at low-redshift from optical, near-infrared, and 21cm intensity surveys. A positive detection of a CMB B-mode consistent with a primordial stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) is widely viewed as a smoking gun for an inflationary phase. Still, a null result does not exclude inflation. However, in a significant class of inflationary scenarios, a low SGWB am…
The most direct probe of non-Gaussian initial conditions has come from bispectrum measurements of temperature fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background and of the matter and galaxy distribution at large scales. Such bispectrum estimators are expected to continue to provide the best constraints on the non-Gaussian parameters in future observations. We review and compare the theoretical and observational problems, current results and future prospects for the detection of a non-vanishing primordial component in the bispectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background and large-scale structure, and…
Primordial magnetic fields (PMF) can create polarization $B$-modes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) through Faraday rotation (FR), leading to non-trivial 2-point and 4-point correlators of the CMB temperature and polarization. We discuss the detectability of primordial magnetic fields using different correlators and evaluate their relative merits. We have fully accounted for the contamination by weak lensing, which contributes to the variance, but whose contribution to the 4-point correlations is orthogonal to that of FR. We show that a Planck-like experiment can detect scale-invariant…
