Novel Solar System Probes for Primordial Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper proposes new Solar System-based methods to detect primordial black holes across various mass ranges, utilizing pulsar timing and accretion signatures, expanding the observational tools beyond traditional cosmological techniques.

Contribution

It introduces innovative local observational strategies for primordial black hole detection, leveraging Solar System dynamics and precision measurements.

Findings

Asteroid to dwarf planet mass PBHs can cause measurable pulsar timing signatures.

Planetary mass PBHs can produce detectable accretion flares in the Kuiper Belt.

These methods extend the mass range of PBH constraints beyond conventional cosmological probes.

Abstract

Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) represent one of the more interesting ways to address dark matter, at the interface of both cosmology and quantum gravity. It is no surprise then that testing PBHs is a venue of active interest, with several cosmological and astrophysical probes constraining different mass ranges. In this work, we propose novel Solar System scale searches for PBHs, motivated by the unique precision and coverage of local observables. We show that asteroid to dwarf planet mass PBHs can induce measurable dipolar timing signatures in pulsar timing arrays, while planetary mass PBHs can generate detectable ADAF accretion flares through interactions with Kuiper Belt bodies. Together, these complementary approaches open a new observational frontier for probing PBHs across mass ranges that remain unconstrained by conventional cosmological methods.