Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe

Abstract It is intriguing to ask whether the existence of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early universe could significantly reduce the abundance of certain stable massive particles (SMP) via gravitational capture, after which the PBHs evaporate before BBN to avoid conflict with stringent bound...

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Main Authors: Chen Zhang, Xin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2023-10-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2023)037
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author Chen Zhang
Xin Zhang
author_facet Chen Zhang
Xin Zhang
author_sort Chen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract It is intriguing to ask whether the existence of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early universe could significantly reduce the abundance of certain stable massive particles (SMP) via gravitational capture, after which the PBHs evaporate before BBN to avoid conflict with stringent bounds. For example, this mechanism is relevant to an alternative solution of the monopole problem proposed by Stojkovic and Freese, in which magnetic monopoles produced in the early universe are captured by PBHs, thus freeing inflation from having to occur during or after the corresponding phase transitions that produced the monopoles. In this work, we reanalyze the solution by modelling the capture process in the same way as the coexisting monopole annihilation. A subtle issue which is not handled properly in the previous literature is the choice of an effective capture cross section for diffusive capture. We model this aspect properly and justify our treatment. A monochromatic PBH mass function and a radiation-dominated era before PBH evaporation are assumed. We find that for Pati-Salam monopoles corresponding to a symmetry breaking scale between 1010 GeV and 1015 GeV, the capture rate is many orders of magnitude below what is needed to cause a significant reduction of the monopole density. Within our assumptions, we also find that the magnetic charge that is large enough to make an extremal magnetic black hole cosmologically stable cannot be obtained from magnetic charge fluctuation via monopole capture. The large magnetic charged required by cosmological stability can nevertheless be obtained from magnetic charge fluctuation at PBH formation, and if later the monopole abundance can be reduced significantly by some non-inflationary mechanism, long-lived near-extremal magnetic black holes of observational relevance might result.
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spelling doaj.art-37c301516e82456893624bfb628bcfac2024-01-28T12:10:44ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792023-10-0120231014010.1007/JHEP10(2023)037Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universeChen Zhang0Xin Zhang1Key Laboratory of Cosmology and Astrophysics (Liaoning) & College of Sciences, Northeastern UniversityKey Laboratory of Cosmology and Astrophysics (Liaoning) & College of Sciences, Northeastern UniversityAbstract It is intriguing to ask whether the existence of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early universe could significantly reduce the abundance of certain stable massive particles (SMP) via gravitational capture, after which the PBHs evaporate before BBN to avoid conflict with stringent bounds. For example, this mechanism is relevant to an alternative solution of the monopole problem proposed by Stojkovic and Freese, in which magnetic monopoles produced in the early universe are captured by PBHs, thus freeing inflation from having to occur during or after the corresponding phase transitions that produced the monopoles. In this work, we reanalyze the solution by modelling the capture process in the same way as the coexisting monopole annihilation. A subtle issue which is not handled properly in the previous literature is the choice of an effective capture cross section for diffusive capture. We model this aspect properly and justify our treatment. A monochromatic PBH mass function and a radiation-dominated era before PBH evaporation are assumed. We find that for Pati-Salam monopoles corresponding to a symmetry breaking scale between 1010 GeV and 1015 GeV, the capture rate is many orders of magnitude below what is needed to cause a significant reduction of the monopole density. Within our assumptions, we also find that the magnetic charge that is large enough to make an extremal magnetic black hole cosmologically stable cannot be obtained from magnetic charge fluctuation via monopole capture. The large magnetic charged required by cosmological stability can nevertheless be obtained from magnetic charge fluctuation at PBH formation, and if later the monopole abundance can be reduced significantly by some non-inflationary mechanism, long-lived near-extremal magnetic black holes of observational relevance might result.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2023)037Cosmology of Theories BSMEarly Universe Particle PhysicsBlack HolesPhase Transitions in the Early Universe
spellingShingle Chen Zhang
Xin Zhang
Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
Journal of High Energy Physics
Cosmology of Theories BSM
Early Universe Particle Physics
Black Holes
Phase Transitions in the Early Universe
title Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
title_full Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
title_fullStr Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
title_full_unstemmed Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
title_short Gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
title_sort gravitational capture of magnetic monopoles by primordial black holes in the early universe
topic Cosmology of Theories BSM
Early Universe Particle Physics
Black Holes
Phase Transitions in the Early Universe
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2023)037
work_keys_str_mv AT chenzhang gravitationalcaptureofmagneticmonopolesbyprimordialblackholesintheearlyuniverse
AT xinzhang gravitationalcaptureofmagneticmonopolesbyprimordialblackholesintheearlyuniverse