Primordial black holes from an inflationary potential valley

TL;DR

This paper proposes a toy inflation model with a local minimum that enhances curvature perturbations, leading to primordial black hole formation which could account for dark matter in specific mass ranges.

Contribution

It introduces a new inflationary potential with a local minimum that efficiently amplifies perturbations for PBH production, expanding understanding of dark matter origins.

Findings

Enhanced curvature perturbations near the local minimum.

Potential formation of PBHs in the mass range 10^{16}–10^{20} g.

PBHs could constitute all dark matter within this mass window.

Abstract

Primordial black holes (PBHs) could be formed if large perturbations are generated on small scales in inflation. We study a toy inflation model with a local minimum. The curvature perturbations are enhanced when the inflaton passes through the local minimum, with more efficient amplification rate than that of quasi-inflection point inflation, leading to the production of PBHs on small scales. The PBHs could comprise the total dark matter in the mass window $10^{16}$--$10^{20}$g.