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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Milagro Limits and HAWC Sensitivity for the Rate-Density of Evaporating Primordial Black Holes

Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are gravitationally collapsed objects that may have been created by density fluctuations in the early universe and could have arbitrarily small masses down to the Planck scale. Hawking showed that due to quantum effects, a black hole has a temperature inversely proportional to its mass and will emit all species of fundamental particles thermally. PBHs with initial masses of approx.5.0 x 10(exp 14) g should be expiring in the present epoch with bursts of high-energy particles, including gamma radiation in the GeV-TeV energy range. The Milagro high energy observatory, which operated from 2000 to 2008, is sensitive to the high end of the PBH evaporation gamma-ray spectrum. Due to its large field-of-view, more than 90% duty cycle and sensitivity up to 100 TeV gamma rays, the Milagro observatory is well suited to perform a search for PBH bursts. Based on a search on the Milagro data, we report new PBH burst rate density upper limits over a range of PBH observation times. In addition, we report the sensitivity of the Milagro successor, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, to PBH evaporation events.

HAWC Milagro Very High↗
DOE OSTI2015

Milagro limits and HAWC sensitivity for the rate-density of evaporating primordial black holes

Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are gravitationally collapsed objects that may have been created by density fluctuations in the early universe and could have arbitrarily small masses down to the Planck scale. Hawking showed that due to quantum effects, a black hole has a temperature inversely proportional to its mass and will emit all species of fundamental particles thermally. PBHs with initial masses of ~ 5.0 × 10¹⁴ g should be expiring in the present epoch with bursts of high-energy particles, including gamma radiation in the GeV – TeV energy range. The Milagro high energy observatory, which operated from 2000 to 2008, is sensitive to the high end of the PBH evaporation gamma-ray spectrum. Due to its large field-of-view, more than 90% duty cycle and sensitivity up to 100 TeV gamma rays, the Milagro observatory is well suited to perform a search for PBH bursts. Based on a search on the Milagro data, we report new PBH burst rate density upper limits over a range of PBH observation times. In addition, we report the sensitivity of the Milagro successor, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, to PBH evaporation events.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

EXPLORING THE UNUSUALLY HIGH BLACK-HOLE-TO-BULGE MASS RATIOS IN NGC 4342 AND NGC 4291: THE ASYNCHRONOUS GROWTH OF BULGES AND BLACK HOLES

We study two nearby early-type galaxies, NGC 4342 and NGC 4291, that host unusually massive black holes relative to their low stellar mass. The observed black-hole-to-bulge mass ratios of NGC 4342 and NGC 4291 are 6.9{sup +3.8}{sub -2.3}% and 1.9% {+-} 0.6%, respectively, which significantly exceed the typical observed ratio of {approx}0.2%. As a consequence of the exceedingly large black-hole-to-bulge mass ratios, NGC 4342 and NGC 4291 are Almost-Equal-To 5.1{sigma} and Almost-Equal-To 3.4{sigma} outliers from the M{sub .}-M{sub bulge} scaling relation, respectively. In this paper, we explore the origin of the unusually high black-hole-to-bulge mass ratio. Based on Chandra X-ray observations of the hot gas content of NGC 4342 and NGC 4291, we compute gravitating mass profiles, and conclude that both galaxies reside in massive dark matter halos, which extend well beyond the stellar light. The presence of dark matter halos around NGC 4342 and NGC 4291 and a deep optical image of the environment of NGC 4342 indicate that tidal stripping, in which {approx}> 90% of the stellar mass was lost, cannot explain the observed high black-hole-to-bulge mass ratios. Therefore, we conclude that these galaxies formed with low stellar masses, implying that the bulge and black hole did not grow in tandem. We also find that the black hole mass correlates well with the properties of the dark matter halo, suggesting that dark matter halos may play a major role in regulating the growth of the supermassive black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Can direct collapse black holes launch gamma-ray bursts and grow to supermassive black holes?

The existence of black holes (BHs) of mass ∼10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} at z≳6 is a big puzzle in astrophysics because even optimistic estimates of the accretion time are insufficient for stellar-mass BHs of ∼10 M{sub ⊙} to grow into such supermassive BHs. A resolution of this puzzle might be the direct collapse of supermassive stars with mass M∼10{sup 5} M{sub ⊙} into massive seed BHs. We find that if a jet is launched from the accretion disk around the central BH, the jet can break out of the star because of the structure of the radiation-pressure-dominated envelope. Such ultralong gamma-ray bursts with duration of ∼10{sup 4}–10{sup 6} s and flux of 10{sup −11}–10{sup -8} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} could be detectable by Swift. We estimate an event rate of ≲1 yr{sup −1}. The total explosion energy is ≳10{sup 55}–10{sup 56} erg. The resulting negative feedback delays the growth of the remnant BH by about 70 Myr or evacuates the host galaxy completely.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

New X-ray bound on density of primordial black holes

We set a new upper limit on the abundance of primordial black holes (PBH) based on existing X-ray data. PBH interactions with interstellar medium should result in significant fluxes of X-ray photons, which would contribute to the observed number density of compact X-ray objects in galaxies. The data constrain PBH number density in the mass range from a few M {sub ⊙} to 2× 10{sup 7} M {sub ⊙}. PBH density needed to account for the origin of black holes detected by LIGO is marginally allowed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Orbital Evolution of Binary Black Holes in Active Galactic Nucleus Disks: A Disk Channel for Binary Black Hole Mergers?

We perform a series of high-resolution 2D hydrodynamical simulations of equal-mass binary black holes (BBHs) embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretion disks to study whether these binaries can be driven to merger by the surrounding gas. We find that the gravitational softening adopted for the BBH has a profound impact on this result. When the softening is less than 10% of the binary separation, we show that, in agreement with recent simulations of isolated equal-mass binaries, prograde BBHs expand in time rather than contract. Eventually, however, the binary separation becomes large enough that the tidal force of the central AGN disrupts them. Only when the softening is relatively large do we find that prograde BBHs harden. We determine through detailed analysis of the binary torque, that this dichotomy is due to a loss of spiral structure in the circum-single disks orbiting each black hole when the softening is a significant fraction of the binary separation. Properly resolving these spirals—both with high resolution and small softening—results in a significant source of binary angular momentum. Only for retrograde BBHs do we find consistent hardening, regardless of softening, as these BBHs lack the important spiral structure in their circum-single disks. This suggests that the gas-driven inspiral of retrograde binaries can produce a population of compact BBHs in the gravitational-wave-emitting regime in AGN disks, which may contribute a large fraction to the observed BBH mergers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Using LISA-like gravitational wave detectors to search for primordial black holes

Primordial black holes (PBHs), which could be naturally produced in the early universe, remain a promising dark matter candidate. They can merge with a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of a galaxy and generate a gravitational wave (GW) signal in the favored frequency region of laser interferometer space antenna (LISA)-like experiments. In this study, we investigated the event rate calculation for extreme mass ratio inspirals and the sensitivities of various proposed GW detectors. We determined that such experiments offer a novel and effective tool for testing scenario where PBHs constitute (a fraction of) dark matter. Here, the PBH energy density fraction of dark matter ( f PBH ) can potentially be explored for values as small as 10 –3 – 10 –4 . Further the LISA can search for PBH masses up to 10 –2 – 10 –1 M ⊙ . Other proposed GW experiments can investigate lower PBH mass regimes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

BLACK HOLE MASS AND BULGE LUMINOSITY FOR LOW-MASS BLACK HOLES

We study the scaling between bulge magnitude and central black hole (BH) mass in galaxies with virial BH masses {approx}< 10{sup 6} M{sub sun}. Based on careful image decomposition of a snapshot Hubble Space Telescope I-band survey, we found that these BHs are found predominantly in galaxies with pseudobulges. Here we show that the M{sub BH}-L{sub bulge} relation for the pseudobulges at low mass is significantly different from classical bulges with BH masses {>=}10{sup 7} M{sub sun}. Specifically, bulges span a much wider range of bulge luminosity, and on average the luminosity is larger, at fixed M{sub BH}. The trend holds both for the active galaxies from Bentz et al. and the inactive sample of Gueltekin et al. and cannot be explained by differences in stellar populations, as it persists when we use dynamical bulge masses. Put another way, the ratio between bulge and BH mass is much larger than {approx}1000 for our sample. This is consistent with recent suggestions that M{sub BH} does not scale with the pseudobulge luminosity. The low-mass scaling relations appear to flatten, consistent with predictions from Volonteri and Natarajan for massive seed BHs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1987

A simplified derivation of stimulated emission by black holes

A black hole, when acting as a scatterer for quanta in a single mode of a massless scalar field, is known to convert any ingoing Gibbs state of that mode into an outgoing Gibbs state (with some other mean particle number). The paper presents a simple derivation for this property which may help to clarify what relation, if any, it bears to the microscopic structure of the black hole horizon.

Sorkin, Rafael D.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Merging Black Holes

Black-hole mergers take place in regions of very strong and dynamical gravitational fields, and are among the strongest sources of gravitational radiation. Probing these mergers requires solving the full set of Einstein's equations of general relativity numerically. For more than 40 years, progress towards this goal has been very slow, as numerical relativists encountered a host of difficult problems. Recently, several breakthroughs have led to dramatic progress, enabling stable and accurate calculations of black-hole mergers. This article presents an overview of this field, including impacts on astrophysics and applications in gravitational wave data analysis.

Centrella, Joan↗
NASA NTRS2012

A 200-Second Quasi-Periodicity After the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Dormant Black Hole

Supermassive black holes are known to exist at the center of most galaxies with sufficient stellar mass, In the local Universe, it is possible to infer their properties from the surrounding stars or gas. However, at high redshifts we require active, continuous accretion to infer the presence of the SMBHs, often coming in the form of long term accretion in active galactic nuclei. SMBHs can also capture and tidally disrupt stars orbiting nearby, resulting in bright flares from otherwise quiescent black holes. Here, we report on a approx.200-s X-ray quasi-periodicity around a previously dormant SMBH located in the center of a galaxy at redshift z = 0.3534. This result may open the possibility of probing general relativity beyond our local Universe.

Reis, R. C.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Black Hole Entropy from Bondi-Metzner-Sachs Symmetry at the Horizon

Near the horizon, the obvious symmetries of a black hole spacetime—the horizon-preserving diffeomorphisms—are enhanced to a larger symmetry group with a BMS3 algebra. Using dimensional reduction and covariant phase space techniques, I explore this augmented symmetry, and demonstrate that it is strong enough to determine the black hole entropy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Gravitational wave signatures of inflationary models from Primordial Black Hole dark matter

Primordial Black Holes (PBH) could be the cold dark matter of the universe. They could have arisen from large (order one) curvature fluctuations produced during inflation that reentered the horizon in the radiation era. At reentry, these fluctuations source gravitational waves (GW) via second order anisotropic stresses. These GW, together with those (possibly) sourced during inflation by the same mechanism responsible for the large curvature fluctuations, constitute a primordial stochastic GW background (SGWB) that unavoidably accompanies the PBH formation. We study how the amplitude and the range of frequencies of this signal depend on the statistics (Gaussian versus χ{sup 2}) of the primordial curvature fluctuations, and on the evolution of the PBH mass function due to accretion and merging. We then compare this signal with the sensitivity of present and future detectors, at PTA and LISA scales. We find that this SGWB will help to probe, or strongly constrain, the early universe mechanism of PBH production. The comparison between the peak mass of the PBH distribution and the peak frequency of this SGWB will provide important information on the merging and accretion evolution of the PBH mass distribution from their formation to the present era. Different assumptions on the statistics and on the PBH evolution also result in different amounts of CMB μ-distortions. Therefore the above results can be complemented by the detection (or the absence) of μ-distortions with an experiment such as PIXIE.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Investigation of primordial black hole bursts using interplanetary network gamma-ray bursts

The detection of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) in the solar neighborhood would have very important implications for GRB phenomenology. The leading theories for cosmological GRBs would not be able to explain such events. The final bursts of evaporating primordial black holes (PBHs), however, would be a natural explanation for local GRBs. We present a novel technique that can constrain the distance to GRBs using detections from widely separated, non-imaging spacecraft. This method can determine the actual distance to the burst if it is local. We applied this method to constrain distances to a sample of 36 short-duration GRBs detected by the Interplanetary Network (IPN) that show observational properties that are expected from PBH evaporations. These bursts have minimum possible distances in the 10 13 –10 18 cm (7–10 5 au) range, which are consistent with the expected PBH energetics and with a possible origin in the solar neighborhood, although none of the bursts can be unambiguously demonstrated to be local. Furthermore, assuming that these bursts are real PBH events, we estimate lower limits on the PBH burst evaporation rate in the solar neighborhood.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Implications of Binary Black Hole Detections on the Merger Rates of Double Neutron Stars and Neutron Star–Black Holes

We show that the inferred merger rate and chirp masses of binary black holes (BBHs) detected by advanced LIGO (aLIGO) can be used to constrain the rate of double neutron star (DNS) and neutron star–black hole (NSBH) mergers in the universe. We explicitly demonstrate this by considering a set of publicly available population synthesis models of Dominik et al. and show that if all the BBH mergers, GW150914, LVT151012, GW151226, and GW170104, observed by aLIGO arise from isolated binary evolution, the predicted DNS merger rate may be constrained to be 2.3–471.0 Gpc{sup −3} yr{sup −1} and that of NSBH mergers will be constrained to 0.2–48.5 Gpc{sup −3} yr{sup −1}. The DNS merger rates are not constrained much, but the NSBH rates are tightened by a factor of ∼4 as compared to their previous rates. Note that these constrained DNS and NSBH rates are extremely model-dependent and are compared to the unconstrained values 2.3–472.5 Gpc{sup −3} yr{sup −1} and 0.2–218 Gpc{sup −3} yr{sup −1}, respectively, using the same models of Dominik et al. (2012a). These rate estimates may have implications for short Gamma Ray Burst progenitor models assuming they are powered (solely) by DNS or NSBH mergers. While these results are based on a set of open access population synthesis models, which may not necessarily be the representative ones, the proposed method is very general and can be applied to any number of models, thereby yielding more realistic constraints on the DNS and NSBH merger rates from the inferred BBH merger rate and chirp mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗