Detection prospects for the GW background of galactic (sub)solar mass primordial black holes

Frans van Die, Ivan Rapoport, Yonadav Barry Ginat, Vincent Desjacques

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In multi-component dark matter models, a fraction f pbh of the dark matter could be in the form of primordial black holes (PBHs) with (sub)solar masses. Some would have formed binaries that presently trace the Milky Way halo of particle dark matter. We explore the gravitational wave (GW) signal produced by such a hypothetical population of Galactic PBH binaries and assess its detectability by the LISA experiment. For this purpose, we model the formation and evolution of early-type PBH binaries accounting for GW hardening and binary disruption in the Milky Way. Our analysis reveals that the present-day Galactic population of PBH binaries is characterized by very high orbital eccentricities |1-e| ≪ 1. For a PBH mass M pbh ∼ 0.1 - 1M , this yields a GW background that peaks in the millihertz frequency range where the LISA instrumental noise is minimum. While this signal remains below the LISA detection threshold for viable f pbh ≲ 0.01, future GW observatories such as DECIGO and BBO could detect it if 0.01 ≲ M pbh ≲ 0.1M . Furthermore, we anticipate that, after 5 years of observations, LISA should be able to detect O(100) (resp. O(1)) loud Galactic PBH binaries of mass M pbh ≲ 0.1 - 1M with a SNR ≥ 5 if f pbh = 0.01 (resp. f pbh = 0.001). Nonlinear effects not considered here such as mass accretion and dynamical capture could alter these predictions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number036
JournalJournal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Volume2025
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2025

Keywords

  • gravitational wave detectors
  • gravitational waves / sources
  • primordial black holes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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