Lyman-α Forest Constraints on Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter.

The renewed interest in the possibility that primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute a significant part of dark matter has provided motivation for revisiting old observational constraints, as well as developing new ones. We present new limits on the PBH abundance, from a comprehensive analysis of high-resolution high-redshift Lyman-α forest data. Poisson fluctuations in the PBH number density induce a small-scale power enhancement which departs from the standard cold dark matter prediction. Using a grid of hydrodynamic simulations exploring different values of astrophysical parameters, we obtain a marginalized upper limit on the PBH mass of f_{PBH}M_{PBH}∼60M_{⊙} at 2σ, when a Gaussian prior on the reionization redshift is imposed, preventing its posterior distribution from peaking on very high values, which are disfavored by the most recent estimates obtained both through cosmic microwave background and intergalactic medium observations. Such a bound weakens to f_{PBH}M_{PBH}∼170M_{⊙} when a conservative flat prior is instead assumed. Both limits significantly improve on previous constraints from the same physical observable. We also extend our predictions to nonmonochromatic PBH mass distributions, ruling out large regions of the parameter space for some of the most viable PBH extended mass functions.

Did LIGO Detect Dark Matter?

We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses 20M_{⊙}≲M_{bh}≲100M_{⊙} where primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute the dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. The bound BHs will rapidly spiral inward due to the emission of gravitational radiation and ultimately will merge. Uncertainties in the rate for such events arise from our imprecise knowledge of the phase-space structure of galactic halos on the smallest scales. Still, reasonable estimates span a range that overlaps the 2-53 Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1} rate estimated from GW150914, thus raising the possibility that LIGO has detected PBH dark matter. PBH mergers are likely to be distributed spatially more like dark matter than luminous matter and have neither optical nor neutrino counterparts. They may be distinguished from mergers of BHs from more traditional astrophysical sources through the observed mass spectrum, their high ellipticities, or their stochastic gravitational wave background. Next-generation experiments will be invaluable in performing these tests.

Redshift-space distortions.

Comparing measurements of redshift-space distortions (RSDs) with geometrical observations of the expansion of the Universe offers tremendous potential for testing general relativity on very large scales. The basic linear theory of RSDs in the distant-observer limit has been known for 25 years and the effect has been conclusively observed in numerous galaxy surveys. The next generation of galaxy survey will observe many millions of galaxies over volumes of many tens of Gpc(3). They will provide RSD measurements of such exquisite precision that we will have to carefully analyse and correct for many systematic deviations from this simple picture in order to fully exploit the statistical precision obtained. We review RSD theory and show how ubiquitous RSDs actually are, and then consider a number of potential systematic effects, shamelessly highlighting recent work in which we have been involved. This review ends by looking ahead to the future surveys that will make the next generation of RSD measurements.