* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Primordial black holes

Blobrana · L

Title: Primordial Black Holes: sirens of the early Universe
Author: Anne M. Green

Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are, typically light, black holes which can form in the early Universe. There are a number of formation mechanisms, including the collapse of large density perturbations, cosmic string loops and bubble collisions. The number of PBHs formed is tightly constrained by the consequences of their evaporation and their lensing and dynamical effects. Therefore PBHs are a powerful probe of the physics of the early Universe, in particular models of inflation. They are also a potential cold dark matter candidate.

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Blobrana · L

Title: Black Holes in the Early Universe
Authors: Marta Volonteri, Jillian Bellovary

The existence of massive black holes was postulated in the sixties, when the first quasars were discovered. In the late nineties their reality was proven beyond doubt, in the Milky way and a handful nearby galaxies. Since then, enormous theoretical and observational efforts have been made to understand the astrophysics of massive black holes. We have discovered that some of the most massive black holes known, weighing billions of solar masses, powered luminous quasars within the first billion years of the Universe. The first massive black holes must therefore have formed around the time the first stars and galaxies formed. Dynamical evidence also indicates that black holes with masses of millions to billions of solar masses ordinarily dwell in the centers of today's galaxies. Massive black holes populate galaxy centers today, and shone as quasars in the past; the quiescent black holes that we detect now in nearby bulges are the dormant remnants of this fiery past. In this review we report on basic, but critical, questions regarding the cosmological significance of massive black holes. What physical mechanisms lead to the formation of the first massive black holes? How massive were the initial massive black hole seeds? When and where did they form? How is the growth of black holes linked to that of their host galaxy? Answers to most of these questions are work in progress, in the spirit of these Reports on Progress in Physics.

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Blobrana · L

Title: Cosmological dinosaurs
Authors: V. K. Dubrovich, S. I. Glazyrin

The hypothesis of existence of primordial black holes with large masses (\geq 10^6 solar masses), formed at the earliest stages of the Universe evolution, is considered in the paper. The possibility does not contradict some theories, see e.g. Barkana & Loeb (2001), and may match new observational data. In particular, this scenario of evolution could describe some peculiarities in distant galaxies and quasars. Calculations of evolution of central body mass in protogalaxies for different initial conditions are presented. It is shown that the sufficient rate of BH mass growth is not achieved in the standard scheme without complex additional assumptions. Moreover, the appearance of a primordial black hole in the epoch of primordial nucleosynthesis could significantly change the chemical composition around it. This can lead to different exotic stars with low mass and non-standard metals enrichment. The proposed scheme is not considered as universal. On the other hand, if only tiny part of existed objects have the considered nature, it gives a unique possibility to study extreme stages of matter and fields evolution in our Universe.

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