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Primordial Black Holes

All articles tagged with #primordial black holes

Spacetime crystals could spawn miniature black holes
space1 month ago

Spacetime crystals could spawn miniature black holes

Goethe University and TU Wien physicists propose that if spacetime can crystallize into a regular four‑dimensional lattice, a tiny energy perturbation could trigger a critical collapse that births microscopic black holes. Their work provides simple, exact solutions to Einstein’s equations for this process and suggests a possible primordial-black-hole pathway, but it does not prove such holes exist and notes they would evaporate quickly via Hawking radiation.

When a Star Eats a Primordial Black Hole: Explosive or Quiet Endings
space1 month ago

When a Star Eats a Primordial Black Hole: Explosive or Quiet Endings

New research models how a star capturing a primordial black hole (PBH) would evolve, finding that capture is most likely in three-body systems and leads to two possible fates: a rapid, disk-driven explosion (a Hawking-star) that destroys the star, or a slower, quasi-steady consumption that leaves a massive, high-spin remnant. The explosive path would produce multimodal electromagnetic signals (X-ray flash, UV/blue transient, possibly a low-luminosity GRB) while the quiet path could emit gravitational waves in the future. Observing these outcomes could constrain how much PBHs contribute to dark matter.

Moon-Mass Primordial Black Hole Hinted by Stellar Microlensing Event
space1 month ago

Moon-Mass Primordial Black Hole Hinted by Stellar Microlensing Event

Astronomers analyzing a 2019 microlensing flare of a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud say the signal is best explained by a moon-mass primordial black hole—Phoebe—likely in the Milky Way's dark matter halo about 60,000 light-years away. While a rogue exoplanet could cause similar lensing, the PBH explanation is favored and, if confirmed, would illuminate dark matter and early-universe physics and spur high-cadence microlensing surveys with the Roman and Vera Rubin observatories. Some related analyses (e.g., Andromeda PBH candidates) have contested the PBH interpretation, so confirmation will require more sensitive observations.

Dark Matter as Relic Black Holes From Cosmic Cycles
science2 months ago

Dark Matter as Relic Black Holes From Cosmic Cycles

A new study proposes that dark matter could be relic primordial black holes surviving a prior cosmic collapse in a Big Bounce, meaning dark structures in galaxies might be remnants from a previous universe. These relic black holes (and associated gravitational waves and density fluctuations) could constitute a significant fraction of dark matter, though the idea must be tested against data from gravitational waves, galaxy surveys, and the cosmic microwave background.

Dark Matter Might Be Black Holes From a Pre-Big-Bang Cosmos
science2 months ago

Dark Matter Might Be Black Holes From a Pre-Big-Bang Cosmos

A new cosmological model argues dark matter could be a population of pre-existing black holes that survived a prior universe’s collapse and rebound in a cyclic cosmos. If cosmic bounces allow relic structures to endure, the current universe could be born with these black holes rather than needing exotic particles, potentially solving both the dark-matter question and black-hole origins—but the idea must be tested against data from gravitational waves, galaxy surveys, and the cosmic microwave background.

LIGO Signals Point to Primordial Black Holes from the Big Bang
science3 months ago

LIGO Signals Point to Primordial Black Holes from the Big Bang

A LIGO detection involving an object lighter than a solar mass challenges standard stellar-black-hole formation, with researchers proposing a primordial black hole created in the early universe as the explanation. If confirmed, PBHs could account for dark matter, but further detections and next‑gen observatories like LISA and Cosmic Explorer are needed to build stronger evidence.

Hawking’s Tiny 1974 Paper: Black Holes That Could Explode
science4 months ago

Hawking’s Tiny 1974 Paper: Black Holes That Could Explode

In 1974 Stephen Hawking published a short Nature paper proposing that tiny primordial black holes, formed in the early universe, could evaporate and explode via Hawking radiation, flipping the view that black holes only grow. The idea, which connects quantum mechanics to gravity, later sparked the black hole information paradox as it suggested information might be lost; Hawking and collaborators’ later work proposed mechanisms for information escape, including wormholes, though direct evidence remains elusive. Ongoing research, including gravitational waves and James Webb observations, continues to investigate primordial black holes and their potential cosmological signatures.

Dark-Charge Black Holes May Explain Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Burst
space5 months ago

Dark-Charge Black Holes May Explain Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Burst

KM3NeT detected a 100 PeV neutrino (KM3-230213A) with no known source. A Physical Review Letters study proposes exploding quasi-extremal primordial black holes with a dark charge as a possible origin, invoking Hawking radiation that heavier, lighter PBHs would emit high-energy particles in a final burst. IceCube has not observed a comparable event, possibly due to its different energy window. If correct, such PBH evaporations could occur roughly every decade, linking ultra-high-energy neutrinos to PBH physics.

Ultra‑Energy Neutrino Sparks Dark-Electron Black Hole Theory
science5 months ago

Ultra‑Energy Neutrino Sparks Dark-Electron Black Hole Theory

A rare, ultrahigh-energy neutrino detected by KM3NeT in 2023 prompts a bold hypothesis: a quasi-extremal primordial black hole dumping dark electrons, triggering a rapid explosion that emits a narrow band of neutrinos; the idea, outlined in a Physical Review Letters preprint and set for formal publication, could explain why KM3NeT saw the event while IceCube did not, but it remains speculative pending more data and analysis.

Ultra-Powerful Neutrino Sparks Dark Matter Clue From Ancient Black Hole
science5 months ago

Ultra-Powerful Neutrino Sparks Dark Matter Clue From Ancient Black Hole

A 220 PeV neutrino detected by KM3NeT's ARCA detector in February 2023 far exceeds energies from any accelerator and challenges existing models; a University of Massachusetts Amherst team suggests it came from a primordial black hole evaporating via Hawking radiation, offering a potential link to dark matter and a window into new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Ultra-energetic neutrino hints at exploding primordial black holes and dark matter link
space5 months ago

Ultra-energetic neutrino hints at exploding primordial black holes and dark matter link

A 2023 ultra-high-energy neutrino detected by KM3NeT is proposed to be debris from an exploding primordial black hole, potentially evidencing Hawking radiation and primordial black holes as dark matter candidates, though IceCube’s non-detection and a proposed dark-charge model for quasi-extremal black holes add complexity to the interpretation.