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Past Events
Public Seminar of RPg Student:
Could Primordial Black Holes Be Dark Matter Theoretical Study on the Binary Merger Scenario
| Speaker: | Mr. Yuan GAO |
| Affiliation: | The University of Hong Kong |
| Date: | August 29, 2017 (Tuesday) |
| Time: | 1:15 p.m. |
| Venue: | Rm 522, 5/F, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, HKU |
Abstract
Although Dark Matter (DM) has been widely accepted as constituting around a quarter of the energy-mass content of the universe, the actual form of DM has not been resolved. While proposed particle DM candidates, such as Weak Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), have been evading detection, the other candidate, primordial black holes (PBHs), has gained popularity kindled by the recent gravitational wave (GW) detection by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (aLIGO). Two of the three confirmed detections in 2015 and 2017 feature binary black hole (BH) components of mass around 30 solar mass, which is unexpected for stellar BHs formed from dying stars, which usually have mass on the order of 1 solar mass. PBHs, on the other hand, are formed from collapsed density fluctuations in the infant days of the universe, thus have broader mass range, suggesting itself as the possible source of the GW signals. Then it becomes very intriguing why these heavy PBHs are so frequently detected in GW. One possibility is that PBH might constitute some or all of DM. This research project would try to explore such possibility by investigating the binary BH merger scenario, the specific process that offered us the inspiration.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend.