Implications of primordial black holes on the first stars and the origin of the super--massive black holes

TL;DR

If dark matter includes primordial black holes, they could significantly alter the evolution of the first stars, leading to early formation of black hole seeds for supermassive black holes, impacting cosmic history.

Contribution

This paper explores how primordial black holes influence early star evolution and the formation of supermassive black hole seeds, a novel perspective on cosmic structure formation.

Findings

Primordial black holes can be captured by first stars, forming larger black holes.

Heavy primordial black holes shorten the lifespan of first stars.

Resulting black holes could seed supermassive black holes at high redshifts.

Abstract

If the cosmological dark matter has a component made of small primordial black holes, they may have a significant impact on the physics of the first stars and on the subsequent formation of massive black holes. Primordial black holes would be adiabatically contracted into these stars and then would sink to the stellar center by dynamical friction, creating a larger black hole which may quickly swallow the whole star. If these primordial black holes are heavier than $\sim 10^{22} {\rm g}$, the first stars would likely live only for a very short time and would not contribute much to the reionization of the universe. They would instead become $10 - 10^3 M_\odot$ black holes which (depending on subsequent accretion) could serve as seeds for the super--massive black holes seen at high redshifts as well as those inside galaxies today.