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At least 1,315 records · Page 73
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DOE OSTI2016

Influence of large local and non-local bispectra on primordial black hole abundance

Primordial black holes represent a unique probe to constrain the early universe on small scales—providing the only constraints on the primordial power spectrum on the majority of scales. However, these constraints are strongly dependent on even small amounts of non-Gaussianity, which is unconstrained on scales significantly smaller than those visible in the CMB. This paper goes beyond previous considerations to consider the effects of a bispectrum of the equilateral, orthogonal and local shapes with arbitrary magnitude upon the abundance of primordial black holes. Non-Gaussian density maps of the early universe are generated from a given bispectrum and used to place constraints on the small scale power spectrum. When small, we show that the skewness provides an accurate estimate for how the constraint depends on non-Gaussianity, independently of the shape of the bispectrum. We show that the orthogonal template of non-Gaussianity has an order of magnitude weaker effect on the constraints than the local and equilateral templates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ultra high energy cosmic rays and possible signature of black strings

Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) probably originate in extreme conditions in which extra dimension effects might be important. In this paper we calculate the correction in black hole accretion mechanisms due to extra dimension effects in the static and rotating cases. A parametrization of the external Kerr horizons in both cases is presented and analysed. We use previous calculations of upper limits on the UHECR flux to set limits on the UHECR production efficiency of nine sources. The upper limit on the UHECR luminosity calculation is based on GeV-TeV gamma-ray measurements. The total luminosity due to the accretion mechanism is compared to the upper limit on UHECRs. The dependence of the UHECR production efficiency upper limit on black hole mass is also presented and discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Membrane paradigm of black holes in Chern-Simons modified gravity

The membrane paradigm of black hole is studied in the Chern-Simons modified gravity. Derived with the action principle a la Parikh-Wilczek, the stress tensor of membrane manifests a rich structure arising from the Chern-Simons term. The membrane stress tensor, if related to the bulk stress tensor in a special form, obeys the low-dimensional fluid continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equation. This paradigm is applied to spherically symmetric static geometries, and in particular, the Schwarzschild black hole, which is a solution of a large class of dynamical Chern-Simons gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Can mixed star-plus-wormhole systems mimic black holes?

We consider mixed strongly gravitating configurations consisting of a wormhole threaded by two types of ordinary matter. For such systems, the possibility of obtaining static spherically symmetric solutions describing compact massive central objects enclosed by high-redshift surfaces (black-hole-like configurations) is studied. Using the standard thin accretion disk model, we exhibit potentially observable differences allowing to distinguish the mixed systems from ordinary black holes with the same masses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Can massive primordial black holes be produced in mild waterfall hybrid inflation?

We studied the possibility whether the massive primordial black holes (PBHs) surviving today can be produced in hybrid inflation. Though it is of great interest since such PBHs can be the candidate for dark matter or seeds of the supermassive black holes in galaxies, there have not been quantitatively complete works yet because of the non-perturbative behavior around the critical point of hybrid inflation. Therefore, combining the stochastic and δ N formalism, we numerically calculated the curvature perturbations in a non-perturbative way and found, without any specific assumption of the types of hybrid inflation, PBHs are rather overproduced when the waterfall phase of hybrid inflation continues so long that the PBH scale is well enlarged and the corresponding PBH mass becomes sizable enough.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Black hole accretion discs and screened scalar hair

We present a novel way to investigate scalar field profiles around black holes with an accretion disc for a range of models where the Compton wavelength of the scalar is large compared to other length scales. By analysing the problem in ''Weyl' coordinates, we are able to calculate the scalar profiles for accretion discs in the static Schwarzschild, as well as rotating Kerr, black holes. We comment on observational effects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Light propagation through black-hole lattices

The apparent properties of distant objects encode information about the way the light they emit propagates to an observer, and therefore about the curvature of the underlying spacetime. Measuring the relationship between the redshift z and the luminosity distance D {sub L} of a standard candle, for example, yields information on the Universe's matter content. In practice, however, in order to decode this information the observer needs to make an assumption about the functional form of the D {sub L}( z ) relation; in other words, a cosmological model needs to be assumed. In this work, we use numerical-relativity simulations, equipped with a new ray-tracing module, to numerically obtain this relation for a few black-hole-lattice cosmologies and compare it to the well-known Friedmann-Lema(ȋtre-Robertson-Walker case, as well as to other relevant cosmologies and to the Empty-Beam Approximation. We find that the latter provides the best estimate of the luminosity distance and formulate a simple argument to account for this agreement. We also find that a Friedmann-Lema(ȋtre-Robertson-Walker model can reproduce this observable exactly, as long as a time-dependent cosmological constant is included in the fit. Finally, the dependence of these results on the lattice mass-to-spacing ratio μ is discussed: we discover that, unlike the expansion rate, the D {sub L}( z ) relation in a black-hole lattice does not tend to that measured in the corresponding continuum spacetime as 0μ → .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Globular cluster seeding by primordial black hole population

Primordial black holes (PBHs) that form in the early Universe in the modified Affleck-Dine (AD) mechanism of baryogenesis should have intrinsic log-normal mass distribution of PBHs. We show that the parameters of this distribution adjusted to provide the required spatial density of massive seeds (≥ 10{sup 4} M {sub ⊙}) for early galaxy formation and not violating the dark matter density constraints, predict the existence of the population of intermediate-mass PBHs with a number density of 0∼ 100 Mpc{sup −3}. We argue that the population of intermediate-mass AD PBHs can also seed the formation of globular clusters in galaxies. In this scenario, each globular cluster should host an intermediate-mass black hole with a mass of a few thousand solar masses, and should not obligatorily be immersed in a massive dark matter halo.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Primordial black holes in linear and non-linear regimes

We revisit the formation of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the radiation-dominated era for both linear and non-linear regimes, elaborating on the concept of an apparent horizon. Contrary to the expectation from vacuum models, we argue that in a cosmological setting a density fluctuation with a high density does not always collapse to a black hole. To this end, we first elaborate on the perturbation theory for spherically symmetric space times in the linear regime. Thereby, we introduce two gauges. This allows to introduce a well defined gauge-invariant quantity for the expansion of null geodesics. Using this quantity, we argue that PBHs do not form in the linear regime irrespective of the density of the background. Finally, we consider the formation of PBHs in non-linear regimes, adopting the spherical collapse picture. In this picture, over-densities are modeled by closed FRW models in the radiation-dominated era. The difference of our approach is that we start by finding an exact solution for a closed radiation-dominated universe. This yields exact results for turn-around time and radius. It is important that we take the initial conditions from the linear perturbation theory. Additionally, instead of using uniform Hubble gauge condition, both density and velocity perturbations are admitted in this approach. Thereby, the matching condition will impose an important constraint on the initial velocity perturbations δ {sup h} {sub 0} = −δ{sub 0}/2. This can be extended to higher orders. Using this constraint, we find that the apparent horizon of a PBH forms when δ > 3 at turn-around time. The corrections also appear from the third order. Moreover, a PBH forms when its apparent horizon is outside the sound horizon at the re-entry time. Applying this condition, we infer that the threshold value of the density perturbations at horizon re-entry should be larger than δ {sub th} > 0.7.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Gravitational instability of polytropic spheres containing region of trapped null geodesics: a possible explanation of central supermassive black holes in galactic halos

We study behaviour of gravitational waves in the recently introduced general relativistic polytropic spheres containing a region of trapped null geodesics extended around radius of the stable null circular geodesic that can exist for the polytropic index N > 2.138 and the relativistic parameter, giving ratio of the central pressure p {sub c} to the central energy density ρ{sub c}, higher than σ = 0.677. In the trapping zones of such polytropes, the effective potential of the axial gravitational wave perturbations resembles those related to the ultracompact uniform density objects, giving thus similar long-lived axial gravitational modes. These long-lived linear perturbations are related to the stable circular null geodesic and due to additional non-linear phenomena could lead to conversion of the trapping zone to a black hole. We give in the eikonal limit examples of the long-lived gravitational modes, their oscillatory frequencies and slow damping rates, for the trapping zones of the polytropes with N element of (2.138,4). However, in the trapping polytropes the long-lived damped modes exist only for very large values of the multipole number ℓ > 50, while for smaller values of ℓ the numerical calculations indicate existence of fast growing unstable axial gravitational modes. We demonstrate that for polytropes with N ≥ 3.78, the trapping region is by many orders smaller than extension of the polytrope, and the mass contained in the trapping zone is about 10{sup −3} of the total mass of the polytrope. Therefore, the gravitational instability of such trapping zones could serve as a model explaining creation of central supermassive black holes in galactic halos or galaxy clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Single field double inflation and primordial black holes

Within the framework of scalar-tensor theories, we study the conditions that allow single field inflation dynamics on small cosmological scales to significantly differ from that of the large scales probed by the observations of cosmic microwave background. The resulting single field double inflation scenario is characterised by two consequent inflation eras, usually separated by a period where the slow-roll approximation fails. At large field values the dynamics of the inflaton is dominated by the interplay between its non-minimal coupling to gravity and the radiative corrections to the inflaton self-coupling. For small field values the potential is, instead, dominated by a polynomial that results in a hilltop inflation. Without relying on the slow-roll approximation, which is invalidated by the appearance of the intermediate stage, we propose a concrete model that matches the current measurements of inflationary observables and employs the freedom granted by the framework on small cosmological scales to give rise to a sizeable population of primordial black holes generated by large curvature fluctuations. We find that these features generally require a potential with a local minimum. We show that the associated primordial black hole mass function is only approximately lognormal.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Accretion onto a moving Reissner-Nordström black hole

We obtain an analytic solution for accretion of a gaseous medium with a adiabatic equation of state ( P =ρ) onto a Reissner-Nordström black hole which moves at a constant velocity through the medium. We obtain the specific expression for each component of the velocity and present the mass accretion rate which depends on the mass and the electric charge. The result we obtained may be helpful to understand the physical mechanism of accretion onto a moving black hole.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Cosmological implications of primordial black holes

The possibility that a relevant fraction of the dark matter might be comprised of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) has been seriously reconsidered after LIGO's detection of a ∼ 30 M {sub ⊙} binary black holes merger. Despite the strong interest in the model, there is a lack of studies on possible cosmological implications and effects on cosmological parameters inference. We investigate correlations with the other standard cosmological parameters using cosmic microwave background observations, finding significant degeneracies, especially with the tilt of the primordial power spectrum and the sound horizon at radiation drag. However, these degeneracies can be greatly reduced with the inclusion of small scale polarization data. We also explore if PBHs as dark matter in simple extensions of the standard ΛCDM cosmological model induces extra degeneracies, especially between the additional parameters and the PBH's ones. Finally, we present cosmic microwave background constraints on the fraction of dark matter in PBHs, not only for monochromatic PBH mass distributions but also for popular extended mass distributions. Our results show that extended mass distribution's constraints are tighter, but also that a considerable amount of constraining power comes from the high-ℓ polarization data. Moreover, we constrain the shape of such mass distributions in terms of the correspondent constraints on the PBH mass fraction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

A PRECISION TEST FOR AN EXTRA SPATIAL DIMENSION USING BLACK-HOLE-PULSAR BINARIES

We discuss the observable effects of enhanced black hole mass loss in a black hole-neutron star (BH-NS) binary, due to the presence of a warped extra spatial dimension of curvature radius L in the braneworld scenario. For some masses and orbital parameters in the expected ranges the binary components would outspiral-the opposite of the behavior due to energy loss from gravitational radiation alone. If the NS is a pulsar, observations of the rate of change of the orbital period with a precision obtained for the binary pulsar B1913+16 could easily detect the effect of mass loss. For M{sub BH} = 7 M{sub sun}, M{sub NS} = 1.4 M{sub sun}, eccentricity e = 0.1, and L = 10 {mu}m, the critical orbital period dividing systems that inspiral from systems that outspiral is P {approx} 6.5 hr, which is within the range of expected orbital periods; this value drops to P {approx} 4.2 hr for M{sub BH} = 5 M{sub sun}. Observations of a BH-pulsar system could set considerably better limits on L in these braneworld models than could be determined by torsion-balance gravity experiments in the foreseeable future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

THE FATE OF Cyg X-1: AN EMPIRICAL LOWER LIMIT ON BLACK-HOLE-NEUTRON-STAR MERGER RATE

The recent distance determination allowed precise estimation of the orbital parameters of Cyg X-1, which contains a massive 14.8 M{sub Sun} black hole (BH) with a 19.2 M{sub Sun} O star companion. This system appears to be the clearest example of a potential progenitor of a black hole + neutron star (BH-NS) system. We follow the future evolution of Cyg X-1, and show that it will soon encounter a Roche lobe overflow episode, followed shortly by a Type Ib/c supernova and the formation of a neutron star (NS). It is demonstrated that in majority of cases ({approx}> 70%) the supernova and associated natal kick disrupt the binary due to the fact that the orbit expanded significantly in the Roche lobe overflow episode. In the reminder of cases ({approx}< 30%) the newly formed BH-NS system is too wide to coalesce in the Hubble time. Only sporadically ({approx}1%) may a Cyg X-1-like binary form a coalescing BH-NS system given a favorable direction and magnitude of the natal kick. If a Cyg X-1-like channel (comparable mass BH-O star bright X-ray binary) is the only or dominant way to form BH-NS binaries in the Galaxy, then we can estimate the empirical BH-NS merger rate in the Galaxy at the level of {approx}0.001 Myr{sup -1}. This rate is so low that the detection of BH-NS systems in gravitational radiation is highly unlikely, generating Advanced LIGO/VIRGO detection rates at the level of only {approx}1 per century. If BH-NS inspirals are in fact detected, it will indicate that the formation of these systems proceeds via some alternative and yet unobserved channels.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE FAST SPIRAL-IN OF THE COMPANION STAR TO THE BLACK HOLE XTE J1118+480

We report the detection of an orbital period decay of P-dot =-1.83{+-}0.66 ms yr{sup -1} in the black hole X-ray binary XTE J1118+480. This corresponds to a period change of -0.85 {+-} 0.30 {mu}s per orbital cycle, which is {approx}150 times larger than expected from the emission of gravitational waves. These observations cannot be reproduced by conventional models of magnetic braking even when including significant mass loss from the system. The spiral-in of the star is either driven by magnetic braking under extremely high magnetic fields in the secondary star or by a currently unknown process, which will have an impact on the evolution and lifetime of black hole X-ray binaries.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

GENERAL RELATIVISTIC SIMULATIONS OF MAGNETIZED PLASMAS AROUND MERGING SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES

Coalescing supermassive black hole binaries are produced by the mergers of galaxies and are the most powerful sources of gravitational waves accessible to space-based gravitational observatories. Some such mergers may occur in the presence of matter and magnetic fields and hence generate an electromagnetic counterpart. In this Letter, we present the first general relativistic simulations of magnetized plasma around merging supermassive black holes using the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code Whisky. By considering different magnetic field strengths, going from non-magnetically dominated to magnetically dominated regimes, we explore how magnetic fields affect the dynamics of the plasma and the possible emission of electromagnetic signals. In particular, we observe a total amplification of the magnetic field of {approx}2 orders of magnitude, which is driven by the accretion onto the binary and that leads to much stronger electromagnetic signals, more than a factor of 10{sup 4} larger than comparable calculations done in the force-free regime where such amplifications are not possible.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE CENTRAL ENGINE STRUCTURE OF 3C120: EVIDENCE FOR A RETROGRADE BLACK HOLE OR A REFILLING ACCRETION DISK

The broad-line radio galaxy 3C120 is a powerful source of both X-ray and radio emission including superluminal jet outflows. We report on our reanalysis of 160 ks of Suzaku data taken in 2006, previously examined by Kataoka et al. Spectral fits to the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer and Hard X-ray Detector/positive intrinsic negative data over a range of 0.7-45 keV reveal a well-defined iron K line complex with a narrow K{alpha} core and relativistically broadened features consistent with emission from the inner regions of the accretion disk. Furthermore, the inner region of the disk appears to be truncated, with an inner radius of r{sub in} = 11.7{sup +3.5}{sub -5.2} r{sub g} . If we assume that fluorescent iron line features terminate at the inner-most stable circular orbit (ISCO), then we measure a black hole spin of a-hat < -0.1 at a 90% confidence level. A rapidly spinning prograde black hole ( a-hat > 0.8) can be ruled out at the 99% confidence level. Alternatively, the disk may be truncated well outside of the ISCO of a rapid prograde hole. The most compelling scenario is the possibility that the inner regions of the disk were destroyed/ejected by catastrophic instabilities just prior to the time these observations were made.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗