New thresholds for primordial black hole formation during the QCD phase transition

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Sobrinho, JLG (Author) Other; Augusto, P (Author) FMUP; Goncalves, AL (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Vol. 463

Pages: 2348-2357

ISSN: 0035-8711

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 9 Citations

Scopus - 9 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00M-GPK

DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw2138

Abstract (EN): Primordial black holes (PBHs) might have formed in the early Universe as a consequence of the collapse of density fluctuations with an amplitude above a critical value delta(c): the formation threshold. Although for a radiation-dominated Universe delta(c) remains constant, if the Universe experiences some dust-like phases (e.g. phase transitions) delta(c) might decrease, improving the chances of PBH formation. We studied the evolution of delta(c) during the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase transition epoch within three different models: bag model (BM), lattice fit model, and crossover model. We found that the reduction on the background value of delta(c) can be as high as 77 per cent (BM), which might imply a similar to 10(-10) probability of PBHs forming at the QCD epoch.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 10