Primordial black holes in light of LIGO-Virgo observations

Abstract: Assuming that a fraction of dark matter is in primordial black holes (PBHs), a population of PBH binaries is formed before matter-radiation equality from large Poisson fluctuations in their spatial distribution. Though many of these binaries are disrupted by a nearby PBH or a small cluster of PBHs, a large fraction of them survives until they merge. In this talk I will describe the calculation of the PBH merger rate and show that the LIGO-Virgo observations give strong constraints on the abundance of O(10) solar mass PBHs. I will also discuss the possibility that some of the observed GW events are from PBH mergers.

general relativity and quantum cosmologyHEP - latticeHEP - phenomenologyHEP - theorymathematical physics

Audience: researchers in the topic

High Energy Theory, Gravity and Cosmology Seminars @ NTUA