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3w ago

Peer-Reviewed Study Models Early-Universe Collapse Into Primordial Black Holes and Exotic Stars

The authors describe a brief post‑inflation matter phase enabling gravothermal collapse of self‑interacting halos, producing objects that either evaporate early or survive at asteroid masses as possible dark matter.

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Overview

  • Published in Physical Review D, the theoretical work from SISSA, INFN, IFPU, and the University of Warsaw models structure formation less than a second after the Big Bang.
  • It assumes a short Early Matter-Dominated Era that allows tiny density fluctuations to grow into particle halos capable of gravothermal collapse.
  • The modeled outcomes include primordial black holes, boson stars, and so-called cannibal stars powered by particle self-annihilation rather than fusion.
  • For halo masses below roughly 10^28 grams, the study finds parameter-dependent results: PBHs could evaporate before nucleosynthesis, overproduce beyond observational limits, or persist at asteroid-scale masses consistent with dark matter.
  • The authors propose potential tests via the collapse of self-interacting dark-matter halos in today’s universe, noting that the results are model-based with no direct observational confirmation yet.