Revisiting Constraints on Primordial Curvature Power Spectrum from PBH Abundances

TL;DR

This paper refines constraints on the primordial curvature power spectrum by analyzing primordial black hole abundances, comparing different theoretical formalisms, and emphasizing the importance of non-sphericity effects in early Universe models.

Contribution

It systematically compares Press-Schechter and peak theory formalisms, incorporating non-sphericity effects, to improve the accuracy of primordial power spectrum constraints from PBH data.

Findings

Including non-sphericity increases the inferred amplitude of the primordial spectrum.

Constraints differ significantly between formalisms for broad spectra.

Current constraints are sensitive to the choice of statistical formalism.

Abstract

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can form in the early Universe, for instance during radiation domination, from the collapse of large-amplitude density perturbations shortly after horizon re-entry. This mechanism establishes an approximate one-to-one correspondence between the PBH mass and the scale of the peak in the primordial curvature perturbations. Consequently, the constraints on PBH abundances can be translated into upper limits on the amplitude of the primordial curvature power spectrum, thereby providing an indirect probe of the last e-folds of inflation corresponding to these smaller scales. We derive constraints on the amplitude of primordial curvature power spectra with both narrow and broad peaks using the most up-to-date bounds on PBH abundances. Given the theoretical uncertainties in PBH formation, we systematically compare the constraints obtained using the Press-Schechter (PS) formalism and peak theory, accounting for the nonlinear relation between curvature perturbations and density contrast. We quantify the impact of spherical versus non-spherical collapse criteria and show that including non-sphericity significantly increases the inferred amplitude of the primordial power spectrum, reflecting the larger threshold density contrast required for PBH formation. We also find that whereas the constraints obtained using the PS formalism and peak theory remain largely similar for the monochromatic case, they differ significantly toward smaller scales in the case of a broad primordial power spectrum. This discrepancy underscores that current constraints remain sensitive to the choice of statistical formalism. Our consistent treatment of monochromatic and extended mass functions provides a systematic mapping based on existing methodologies, while highlighting that reducing these theoretical uncertainties is a crucial step toward probing the early Universe through PBHs.