Transient solar oscillations driven by primordial black holes

TL;DR

This paper proposes that primordial black holes passing through stars induce detectable seismic oscillations, offering a novel method to identify such black holes and explore their cosmological significance.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for detecting primordial black holes via seismic signals in stars, expanding the potential for astrophysical detection methods.

Findings

PBHs > 10^21 g produce detectable seismic signals in the Sun

Seismic signatures peak at large scales and high frequencies

Existing solar observatories could detect these signals

Abstract

Stars are transparent to the passage of primordial black holes (PBHs) and serve as seismic detectors for such objects. The gravitational field of a PBH squeezes a star and causes it to ring acoustically. We calculate the seismic signature of a PBH passing through the Sun. The background for this signal is the observed spectrum of solar oscillations excited by supersonic turbulence. We predict that PBHs more massive than 10^21 g (comparable in mass to an asteroid) are detectable by existing solar observatories. The oscillations excited by PBHs peak at large scales and high frequencies, making them potentially detectable in other stars. The discovery of PBHs would have profound implications for cosmology and high-energy physics.