Primordial black holes: constraints, potential evidence and prospects
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
2026-04-02 v2 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
Primordial black holes (PBHs) may have formed in the early Universe and may account for all or part of the dark matter. In this review, we summarize the current observational constraints on PBHs across the full mass range, highlight potential evidence for their existence, and outline the prospects for future searches, particularly with gravitational-wave observatories. We also discuss different PBH formation scenarios, identify the corresponding mass functions, and present the observational constraints in each case.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.06024,
title = {Primordial black holes: constraints, potential evidence and prospects},
author = {Bernard Carr and Antonio J. Iovino and Gabriele Perna and Ville Vaskonen and Hardi Veermäe},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.06024},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
34 pages, 9 figures, 430 references, matches the version published in La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento