利用LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a数据探测原初黑洞的暴胀起源
Probing Inflationary Origins of Primordial Black Holes with LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data
- Tsinghua University（清华大学）
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
- The University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。
AI总结：
本研究利用LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a数据约束两种暴胀机制产生的原初黑洞，未发现证据，但设定了95%置信上限，证明随机引力波观测是探测小尺度暴胀物理和PBH形成的强大互补手段。
AI中文摘要：
大的原初曲率扰动不仅会产生原初黑洞（PBHs），而且在视界重返时不可避免地会产生一个标量诱导的随机引力波背景。我们分析了LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a的联合数据，以约束两种代表性的产生此类扰动的暴胀机制：超慢滚暴胀和暴胀相变。由于未检测到任一情景的证据，我们在地面干涉仪可及的频率范围内，对曲率谱振幅设置了95%置信度的上限。转化为PBH背景时，这些限制已经超过了常规约束，探测到的丰度分数远低于1。即使PBH本身过于稀少而无法直接探测或已经蒸发，我们的结果仍然稳健。这项工作表明，随机引力波观测为小尺度暴胀物理和PBH形成提供了一个强大且互补的探测手段，即将到来的干涉仪有望将灵敏度扩展到更广泛的暴胀时期和PBH质量范围。
英文摘要：
Large primordial curvature perturbations not only produce primordial black holes (PBHs) but also inevitably source a scalar-induced stochastic gravitational-wave background upon horizon reentry. We analyze the combined LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data to constrain two representative inflationary mechanisms for generating such perturbations: ultra-slow-roll inflation and an inflationary phase transition. Detecting no evidence for either scenario, we place 95% credible upper limits on the curvature-spectrum amplitude across the frequency range accessible to ground-based interferometers. Translated into the PBH context, these limits already exceed conventional constraints, probing abundance fractions far below unity. Our results remain robust even when the PBHs themselves are too rare to be directly detected or have evaporated. This work demonstrates that stochastic gravitational-wave observations offer a powerful and complementary probe of small-scale inflationary physics and PBH formation, with upcoming interferometers promising to extend sensitivity to a wider range of inflationary epochs and PBH masses.
