Primordial black holes: constraints, potential evidence and prospects

Abstract

Primordial black holes (PBHs) may have formed in the early Universe and may account for all or part of the dark matter. In this review, we summarize the current observational constraints on PBHs across the full mass range, highlight potential evidence for their existence, and outline the prospects for future searches, particularly with gravitational-wave observatories. We also discuss different PBH formation scenarios, identify the corresponding mass functions, and present the observational constraints in each case.

34 pages, 9 figures, 430 references, matches the version published in La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento

References in corpus (294)

• GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
• Non-Gaussian features of primordial fluctuations in single field inflationary models
• GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
• GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the Second Part of the Third Observing Run
• The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Evidence for a Gravitational-Wave Background
• Generating the curvature perturbation without an inflaton
• Did LIGO detect dark matter?
• Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array
• Non-Gaussianity from Inflation: Theory and Observations
• Searching for the nano-Hertz stochastic gravitational wave background with the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array Data Release I
• New cosmological constraints on primordial black holes
• Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array III. Search for gravitational wave signals
• The MACHO Project: Microlensing Results from 5.7 Years of LMC Observations
• Black Holes at the LHC
• High Energy Colliders as Black Hole Factories: The End of Short Distance Physics
• Limits on the Macho Content of the Galactic Halo from the EROS-2 Survey of the Magellanic Clouds
• Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter: Recent Developments
• Gravitational Wave Spectrum Induced by Primordial Scalar Perturbations
• Density Perturbations and Black Hole Formation in Hybrid Inflation
• Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• The cosmological gravitational wave background from primordial density perturbations
• Second-Order Cosmological Perturbations from Inflation
• The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE): A Nulling Polarimeter for Cosmic Microwave Background Observations
• Primordial Non-Gaussianities from Inflation Models
• Semianalytic Calculation of Gravitational Wave Spectrum Nonlinearly Induced from Primordial Curvature Perturbations
• Microlensing constraints on primordial black holes with the Subaru/HSC Andromeda observation
• The Mass Distribution of Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• The Three--Point Correlation Function of the Cosmic Microwave Background in Inflationary Models
• The merger rate of primordial-black-hole binaries
• Primordial black hole constraints for extended mass functions
• Gravitational Waves Induced by non-Gaussian Scalar Perturbations
• Relativistic second-order perturbations of the Einstein-de Sitter Universe
• Gravitational wave background as a probe of the primordial black hole abundance
• Effect of Primordial Black Holes on the Cosmic Microwave Background and Cosmological Parameter Estimates
• Constraints on Earth-mass primordial black holes from OGLE 5-year microlensing events
• Non-Gaussianity of the primordial perturbation in the curvaton model
• Near-Critical Gravitational Collapse and the Initial Mass Function of Primordial Black Holes
• Horizon crossing and inflation with large η
• Gravitational Waves from Coalescing Black Hole MACHO Binaries
• Wave Effects in Gravitational Lensing of Gravitational Waves from Chirping Binaries
• A Cosmological Signature of the SM Higgs Instability: Gravitational Waves
• AEDGE: Atomic Experiment for Dark Matter and Gravity Exploration in Space
• Dynamics of Primordial Black Hole Formation
• MACHO Project Limits on Black Hole Dark Matter in the 1-30 Solar Mass Range
• Steepest growth of the power spectrum and primordial black holes
• AION: An Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network
• Constraints on MACHO Dark Matter from Compact Stellar Systems in Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies
• The Mass Distribution of Stellar Black Holes
• Ultra Slow-Roll Inflation and the non-Gaussianity Consistency Relation
• Radiation Backgrounds at Cosmic Dawn: X-Rays from Compact Binaries
• Large Nongaussianity in Axion Inflation
• Formation and Evolution of Primordial Black Hole Binaries in the Early Universe
• Primordial Black Holes and Slow-Roll Violation
• Threshold for primordial black holes: Dependence on the shape of the cosmological perturbations
• NANOGrav Hints to Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• The abundance of high-redshift objects as a probe of non-Gaussian initial conditions
• CMB polarization from secondary vector and tensor modes
• Probing the inflaton: Small-scale power spectrum constraints from measurements of the CMB energy spectrum
• Primordial black holes as a dark matter candidate are severely constrained by the Galactic Center 511 keV gamma-ray line
• General Relativistic Dynamics of Irrotational Dust: Cosmological Implications
• Primordial Black Holes as Generators of Cosmic Structures
• Parity violation in the Cosmic Microwave Background from a pseudoscalar inflaton
• Scalaron from $R^2$-gravity as a Heavy Field
• Primordial black hole formation in the radiative era: investigation of the critical nature of the collapse
• Cosmic microwave background bounds on primordial black holes including dark matter halo accretion
• INTEGRAL constraints on primordial black holes and particle dark matter
• Femtolensing by Dark Matter Revisited
• The First Three Seconds: a Review of Possible Expansion Histories of the Early Universe
• The abundance of primordial black holes depends on the shape of the inflationary power spectrum
• Did NANOGrav see a signal from primordial black hole formation?
• Limits on stellar-mass compact objects as dark matter from gravitational lensing of type Ia supernovae
• Constraints on primordial black holes as dark matter candidates from capture by neutron stars
• The Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter - LISA Serendipity
• Dark Matter Triggers of Supernovae
• Stochastic gravitational waves associated with the formation of primordial black holes
• Calculating the mass spectrum of primordial black holes
• Non-Gaussianity from Inflation
• Cosmic Conundra Explained by Thermal History and Primordial Black Holes
• The Threshold for Primordial Black Hole Formation: a Simple Analytic Prescription
• Revisiting constraints on asteroid-mass primordial black holes as dark matter candidates
• Gravitational waves from a universe filled with primordial black holes
• Voyager 1 $e^{\pm }$ Further Constrain Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• The recent gravitational wave observation by pulsar timing arrays and primordial black holes: the importance of non-gaussianities
• Primordial black holes with an accurate QCD equation of state
• Lower bound on the primordial black hole merger rate
• Signatures of primordial black hole dark matter
• Two populations of LIGO-Virgo black holes
• Observational Evidence for Primordial Black Holes: A Positivist Perspective
• Primordial Black Holes from Inflation and non-Gaussianity
• New constraints on primordial black holes abundance from femtolensing of gamma-ray bursts
• A new calculation of the mass fraction of primordial black holes
• Neutrino and Positron Constraints on Spinning Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter
• Baryon Asymmetry, Dark Matter, and Density Perturbation from PBH
• Primordial black holes in non-Gaussian regimes
• Search for sub-solar mass ultracompact binaries in Advanced LIGO's second observing run
• Primordial black holes as a tool for constraining non-Gaussianity
• Primordial Black Hole Formation during First-Order Phase Transitions
• Imprints of Primordial Non-Gaussianity on Gravitational Wave Spectrum
• LIGO gravitational wave detection, primordial black holes and the near-IR cosmic infrared background anisotropies
• Updated Constraints on Asteroid-Mass Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• Primordial black hole formation from an axion-like curvaton model
• Constraining primordial black hole abundance with the Galactic 511 keV line
• Review of local non-Gaussianity from multi-field inflation
• The Ineludible non-Gaussianity of the Primordial Black Hole Abundance
• The Initial Spin Probability Distribution of Primordial Black Holes
• Experimental Limits on Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter from the First Two Years of Kepler Data
• The end of the MACHO era- revisited: new limits on MACHO masses from halo wide binaries
• Gravitational Wave Production right after a Primordial Black Hole Evaporation
• Spins of primordial black holes formed in the matter-dominated phase of the Universe
• Primordial black hole formation and abundance: contribution from the non-linear relation between the density and curvature perturbation
• Constraints on primordial black holes from Galactic gamma-ray background
• Primordial black hole production during first-order phase transitions
• Black Holes' Dark Dress: On the merger rate of a subdominant population of primordial black holes
• Dynamics of dwarf galaxies disfavor stellar-mass black hole dark matter
• Primordial black hole formation by vacuum bubbles
• Gravitational-Wave Fringes at LIGO: Detecting Compact Dark Matter by Gravitational Lensing
• Melanopogenesis: Dark Matter of (almost) any Mass and Baryonic Matter from the Evaporation of Primordial Black Holes weighing a Ton (or less)
• Primordial black holes from supersymmetry in the early universe
• PBH abundance from random Gaussian curvature perturbations and a local density threshold
• Constraining the primordial black hole scenario with Bayesian inference and machine learning: the GWTC-2 gravitational wave catalog
• Black Hole Genesis of Dark Matter
• Gravitino production by primordial black hole evaporation and constraints on the inhomogeneity of the early Universe
• Primordial black hole formation in the matter-dominated phase of the Universe
• A Hamilton-Jacobi approach to non-slow-roll inflation
• Minimally Parametric Power Spectrum Reconstruction from the Lyman-alpha Forest
• Primordial non-gaussianity up to all orders: theoretical aspects and implications for primordial black hole models
• Exploring Primordial Black Holes from the Multiverse with Optical Telescopes
• From inflation to black hole mergers and back again: Gravitational-wave data-driven constraints on inflationary scenarios with a first-principle model of primordial black holes across the QCD epoch
• Primordial black hole formation with non-Gaussian curvature perturbations
• Planck Constraint on Relic Primordial Black Holes
• Accelerating early massive galaxy formation with primordial black holes
• Constraints on Primordial Black Holes with Extended Mass Functions
• Lyman-$\alpha$ forest constraints on Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• Local non-Gaussianity from inflation
• Non-Gaussian tail of the curvature perturbation in stochastic ultra-slow-roll inflation: implications for primordial black hole production
• Gravitational waves induced from primordial black hole fluctuations: The effect of an extended mass function
• Black Hole Metamorphosis and Stabilization by Memory Burden
• GW231123: a Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190-265 $M_{\odot }$
• Primordial black holes from inflaton and spectator field perturbations in a matter-dominated era
• Non-Cold Dark Matter from Primordial Black Hole Evaporation
• Anatomy of single-field inflationary models for primordial black holes
• Primordial Black Holes from the inflating curvaton
• New X-ray bound on density of primordial black holes
• Bayesian Evidence for Both Astrophysical and Primordial Black Holes: Mapping the GWTC-2 Catalog to Third-Generation Detectors
• Gravitational wave production by Hawking radiation from rotating primordial black holes
• Constraining primordial black holes as dark matter using the global 21-cm signal with X-ray heating and excess radio background
• Unified treatment of cosmological perturbations from super-horizon to small scales
• Non-linear statistics of primordial black holes from gaussian curvature perturbations
• Constraining Primordial Black Holes with the EDGES 21-cm Absorption Signal
• GUT-Scale Primordial Black Holes: Consequences and Constraints
• Non-perturbative non-Gaussianity and primordial black holes
• The Formation Probability of Primordial Black Holes
• Primordial black hole production due to preheating
• Exploring Evaporating Primordial Black Holes with Gravitational Waves
• Primordial Black Holes and $r$-Process Nucleosynthesis
• Primordial black holes from strong first-order phase transitions
• Curvature perturbation at the local extremum of the inflaton's potential
• Primordial black holes from scalar field evolution in the early universe
• Logarithmic Duality of the Curvature Perturbation
• Constraining the abundance of primordial black holes with gravitational lensing of gravitational waves at LIGO frequencies
• Planck scale black hole dark matter from Higgs inflation
• Constraints on primordial black holes as dark matter candidates from star formation
• Analytical thresholds for black hole formation in general cosmological backgrounds
• Abundance of primordial black holes with local non-Gaussianity in peak theory
• CMB spectral distortions from small-scale isocurvature fluctuations
• Constraints on Primordial Black Holes: the Importance of Accretion
• CMB and BBN constraints on evaporating primordial black holes revisited
• Constraints on Stupendously Large Black Holes
• Non-thermal Production of Dark Matter from Primordial Black Holes
• Primordial Black Holes from the QCD axion
• Primordial Black Holes from Supercooled Phase Transitions
• Effect of nonlinearity between density and curvature perturbations on the primordial black hole formation
• Formation of Black Holes from Collapsed Cosmic String Loops
• No massive black holes in the Milky Way halo
• Primordial Black Holes and Primordial Nucleosynthesis I: Effects of Hadron Injection from Low Mass Holes
• Relic gravitational waves from light primordial black holes
• Primordial Extremal Black Holes as Dark Matter
• Breakdown of Hawking Evaporation opens new Mass Window for Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter Candidate
• Constraints on Primordial Black Holes From Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Revisited
• Testing Stochastic Gravitational Wave Signals from Primordial Black Holes with Optical Telescopes
• Non-Gaussian Formation of Primordial Black Holes: Effects on the Threshold
• Primordial black hole constraints with Hawking radiation -- a review
• Did JWST observe imprints of axion miniclusters or primordial black holes?
• Looking at cosmic near-infrared background radiation anisotropies
• Limits on Black Hole Formation from Cosmic String Loops
• On the Primordial Black Hole Mass Function for Broad Spectra
• Peaks and primordial black holes: the effect of non-Gaussianity
• No-go Theorem for Scalar-Trispectrum-Induced Gravitational Waves
• Primordial black hole constraints for curvaton models with predicted large non-Gaussianity
• Prospects for probing gravitational waves from primordial black hole binaries
• PBH formation from overdensities in delayed vacuum transitions
• Small-scale structure of primordial black hole dark matter and its implications for accretion
• Direct detection of primordial black hole relics as dark matter
• Exploring the high-redshift PBH-$\Lambda$CDM Universe: early black hole seeding, the first stars and cosmic radiation backgrounds
• Strong constraints on primordial black hole dark matter from 16 years of INTEGRAL/SPI observations
• Simulations of PBH formation at the QCD epoch and comparison with the GWTC-3 catalog
• Constraints on compact dark matter from gravitational wave microlensing
• Calculation of the emergent spectrum and observation of primordial black holes
• Effect of Inhomogeneity on Primordial Black Hole Formation in the Matter Dominated Era
• Evaporation of a Kerr black hole by emission of scalar and higher spin particles
• Lensing of gravitational waves as a probe of compact dark matter
• The Primordial Black Holes that Disappeared: Connections to Dark Matter and MHz-GHz Gravitational Waves
• Evaporation of Primordial Black Holes in the Early Universe: Mass and Spin Distributions
• Primordial black hole formation during the QCD phase transition: threshold, mass distribution and abundance
• Cosmic String Loop Collapse in Full General Relativity
• Collisions of neutron stars with primordial black holes as fast radio bursts engines
• On Primordial Black Holes and secondary gravitational waves generated from inflation with solo/multi-bumpy potential
• Astrophysical uncertainties on stellar microlensing constraints on multi-Solar mass primordial black hole dark matter
• Primordial Gravitational Waves From Black Hole Evaporation in Standard and Non-Standard Cosmologies
• Primordial black holes in the curvaton model: possible connections to pulsar timing arrays and dark matter
• On the Density of PBH's in the Galactic Halo
• The signature of primordial black holes in the dark matter halos of galaxies
• Mirror matter and primordial black holes
• Primordial black hole dark matter from inflation: the reverse engineering approach
• One-loop correction to the enhanced curvature perturbation with local-type non-Gaussianity for the formation of primordial black holes
• Stochastic constant-roll inflation and primordial black holes
• Double-peaked inflation model: Scalar induced gravitational waves and primordial-black-hole suppression from primordial non-Gaussianity
• Curbing PBHs with PTAs
• Constraints on primordial curvature spectrum from primordial black holes and scalar-induced gravitational waves
• Constraints on primordial black holes from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA O3 events
• Microlensing of X-ray Pulsars: a Method to Detect Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter
• Primordial black holes as dark matter: Interferometric tests of phase transition origin
• Adiabatic contraction revisited: implications for primordial black holes
• Primordial non-Gaussianities after Planck 2015: an introductory review
• GUT-Scale Primordial Black Holes: Mergers and Gravitational Waves
• Primordial Black Holes from QCD Axion Bubbles
• New constraints on the primordial black hole number density from Galactic gamma-ray astronomy
• Forming sub-horizon black holes at the end of inflation
• Cusp-to-core transition in low-mass dwarf galaxies induced by dynamical heating of cold dark matter by primordial black holes
• 21-cm constraints on spinning primordial black holes
• Ruling out Initially Clustered Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• Solving peak theory in the presence of local non-gaussianities
• Gravitational waves induced by scalar-tensor mixing
• Primordial Black Holes in Matter-Dominated Eras: the Role of Accretion
• Primordial black hole mergers from three-body interactions
• Primordial black hole dark matter from catastrogenesis with unstable pseudo-Goldstone bosons
• Close encounters of the primordial kind: a new observable for primordial black holes as dark matter
• Effect of clustering on primordial black hole microlensing constraints
• Limits on planetary-mass primordial black holes from the OGLE high-cadence survey of the Magellanic Clouds
• Probing compact dark matter with gravitational wave fringes detected by the Einstein Telescope
• Exploring a primordial solution for early black holes detected with the JWST
• Primordial Black Holes from Thermal Inflation
• A new mechanism for primordial black hole formation during reheating
• Light Primordial Exotic Compact Objects as All Dark Matter
• Implications for primordial black holes from cosmological constraints on scalar-induced gravitational wave
• The Primordial Black Hole Abundance: The Broader, the Better
• Microlensing constraints on clustered primordial black holes
• Constraints on primordial black holes from observation of stars in dwarf galaxies
• Primordial Black Holes from Axion Domain Wall Collapse
• New evidence for a cosmological distribution of stellar mass primordial black holes
• Can Primordial Black Holes as all Dark Matter explain Fast Radio Bursts?
• Neutron Stars Harboring a Primordial Black Hole: Maximum Survival Time
• Primordial Black Holes from First-Order Cosmological Phase Transitions
• Constraining the primordial black hole abundance through Big-Bang nucleosynthesis
• Primordial black holes and scalar-induced gravitational waves from the perturbations on the inflaton potential in peak theory
• Induced gravitational waves: the effect of first order tensor perturbations
• Horizonless ultracompact objects and dark matter in quadratic gravity
• How do Primordial Black Holes change the Halo Mass Function and Structure?
• Constraints on the cosmic string loop collapse fraction from Primordial Black Holes
• Structure formation with primordial black holes: collisional dynamics, binaries, and gravitational waves
• Searching for Exploding Black Holes
• Relaxing CMB bounds on Primordial Black Holes: the role of ionization fronts
• Gravitational wave microlensing by dressed primordial black holes
• Can primordial black holes explain the overabundance of bright super-early galaxies?
• The Irrelevance of Primordial Black Hole Clustering in the LVK mass range
• Black holes and gravitational waves from phase transitions in realistic models
• Search for a gravitational wave background from primordial black hole binaries using data from the first three LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs
• Constraining primordial black holes as dark matter using AMS-02 data
• Analysis of the subsolar-mass black hole candidate SSM200308 from the second part of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO-Virgo
• Through the Looking Glass into the Dark Dimension: Searching for Bulk Black Hole Dark Matter with Microlensing of X-ray Pulsars
• Constraining the impact of standard model phase transitions on primordial black holes
• Microlensing optical depth, event rate, and limits on compact objects in dark matter based on 20 yr of OGLE observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Stronger Constraints on Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter Derived from the Thermal Evolution of the Intergalactic Medium over the Last Twelve Billion Years
• Hunting Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter in Lyman-$\alpha$ Forest
• Investigation of Primordial Black Hole Bursts using Interplanetary Network Gamma-ray Bursts
• Ultra-Slow-Roll Inflation on the Lattice II: Nonperturbative Curvature Perturbation
• Revisiting Primordial Black Hole Capture by Neutron Stars
• The properties of primordially-seeded black holes and their hosts in the first billion years: implications for JWST
• Stellar mass Primordial Black Holes as Cold Dark Matter
• Constraints on asteroid-mass primordial black holes in dwarf galaxies using Hubble Space Telescope photometry
• Robust μ-distortion constraints on primordial supermassive black holes from cubic (gNL) non-Gaussian perturbations
• Primordial black holes in cosmological simulations: growth prospects for supermassive black holes
• Rescuing The Primordial Black Holes all-Dark Matter Hypothesis from The Fast Radio Bursts Tension
• A critical analysis of the recent OGLE limits on stellar mass primordial black holes in the halo of the Milky Way
• Comment on "Formation of primordial black holes by cosmic strings"
• Primordial Black Holes Evaporating before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Explaining the PeV Neutrino Fluxes at KM3NeT and IceCube with Quasi-Extremal Primordial Black Holes
• Implications for Pulsar Timing Arrays of Sub-solar Black Hole Detections: From LVK to Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer
• Thermal curvature perturbations in thermal inflation
• Microlensing of dark matter models in the Milky Way
• Astrophysical uncertainties challenge 21-cm forecasts: A primordial black hole case study
• Primordial black holes in Randall-Sundrum: Cosmological signatures
• Tidal effects on primordial black hole capture in neutron stars

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Revisiting PBH accretion, evaporation and their cosmological consequences
• Numerical simulations of primordial black hole formation via delayed first-order phase transitions
• Hard thermal contributions to phase transition observables at NNLO
• Primordial Black Holes: A Review of Formation and Evolution
• A non-perturbative framework for N-point functions of locally non-Gaussian fields
• The Dark Side of the Moon: Listening to Scalar-Induced Gravitational Waves
• Smoluchowski Coagulation Equation and the Evolution of Primordial Black Hole Clusters