Determining the origin of LIGO's merging black holes
- đ¤ Speaker: Christian Byrnes, University of Sussex
- đ Date & Time: Wednesday 19 February 2020, 14:15 - 15:15
- đ Venue: MR2, Centre for Mathematical Sciences
Abstract
Although black holes can be the remnants of dead stars, it is also possible that primordial black holes exist, which formed long before stars. Such black holes are a dark matter candidate, and they could also explain some of the unexpected properties of the black hole mergers that LIGO has detected. I will summarise the evidence and challenges behind this claim, and then focus on how current and future data can be used to discriminate between astrophysical and primordial black holes. Finally, I will explain why the QCD transition during the early universe may lead to a large enhancement in the formation rate of primordial black holes with mass below the Chandrasekhar mass limit.
Series This talk is part of the Theoretical Physics Colloquium series.
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Wednesday 19 February 2020, 14:15-15:15