Constraints on primordial black holes for nonstandard cosmologies

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-standard cosmological phases after inflation affect primordial black hole constraints and power spectrum bounds, using a new computational library and analyzing different expansion scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a new library, PBHBeta, to compute PBH and power spectrum constraints considering non-standard expansion phases after inflation.

Findings

Longer matter-dominated phases weaken constraints on power spectrum.

Stiff fluid scenarios can enhance PBH abundance due to dust-like redshifting.

Different non-standard phases lead to distinct modifications in PBH bounds.

Abstract

We study how the bounds on the abundance of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) and the constraints on power spectrum are modified if a non-standard evolution phase takes place between the end of inflation and the Standard radiation-dominated (RD) universe after inflation. The constraints on PBH abundance and power spectrum are computed using the new, freely available, \href{https://github.com/TadeoDGAguilar/PBHBeta}{\faGithubSquare}~\texttt{PBHBeta} library, which accounts for the effects of non-standard expansion and specific criteria for PBH formation in such non-standard scenarios. As working examples, we consider three different cases: a pure matter-dominated (MD) phase, a scalar field-dominated ($\varphi$D) universe, and a stiff fluid-dominated (SD) scenario. While the background expansion is the same for the MD and $\varphi$D scenarios, the PBH formation criteria lead to different constraints to power spectrum. On the other hand, the duration of the non-standard expansion phase alters the bounds, with longer MD periods resulting in weaker constraints on power spectrum, and longer SD scenarios leading to an enhanced abundance due to the dust-like redshifting of PBHs. The modifications to the constraints are reported in all cases and we highlight those where the power spectrum may be significantly constrained.