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arxiv: 2602.21295 · v2 · submitted 2026-02-24 · 🌌 astro-ph.CO · astro-ph.HE

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Implications for Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter from a Single Subsolar Mass Gravitational-wave Detection in LVK O1--O4

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classification 🌌 astro-ph.CO astro-ph.HE
keywords blackmassdetectionholesmergerodotprimordialrate
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The detection of sub-solar mass black holes is a milestone of modern astrophysics as it would open a window either onto new stellar physics or could potentially unveil the nature of Dark Matter as Primordial Black Holes (PBHs). On November 12, 2025, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration reported the compact binary merger candidate S251112cm, a system with no obvious electromagnetic counterpart, consistent with binary black hole merger with a chirp mass in the range $0.1-0.87 \, M_\odot$. The probability that at least one component has mass $<$1 $M_{\odot}$ is $>99\%$. Inspired by this trigger, we tested if a population of PBHs formed at Quantum Chromodynamics epoch with a broad mass function could account for a signal of this type. Our results, corresponding to a predicted event rate of $0.8 \,\text{yr}^{-1}$ as seen by LVK O3b, suggest that the observed merger rate of $0.23^{+0.86}_{-0.218}\,\text{yr}^{-1}\;(95\%\;\text{C.L.})$ if the trigger is confirmed as an astrophysical event would be compatible with such a model. Our predicted detection rate is also in agreement with current LVK expectations for stellar-mass binaries, remaining consistent with a scenario in which a non-negligible fraction of the $3-200 \;M_\odot$ mergers observed by LVK originate from Primordial Black Holes. If confirmed, this detection would place a lower limit to the PBH abundance $f_{PBH}>0.04$ for our adopted model.

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Cited by 2 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Constraints on the Primordial Black Hole Abundance using Pulsar Parameter Drifts

    astro-ph.CO 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 8.0

    The first search for scalar-induced gravitational waves via pulsar parameter drifts yields f_PBH < 10^{-10} (95% CL) for PBH masses 0.3 to 4e4 solar masses, strongly disfavoring a primordial black hole origin for LVK ...

  2. Microscopic primordial black holes as macroscopic dark matter from large extra dimensions

    astro-ph.CO 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    In the ADD extra-dimension model, microscopic primordial black holes undergo runaway accretion and grow to macroscopic scales, allowing them to comprise all dark matter with initial abundances as low as 10^{-44}.