Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
Abstract
Black holes with masses below approximately 1015 g are expected to emit gamma-rays with energies above a few tens of MeV, which can be detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Although black holes with these masses cannot be formed as a result of stellar evolution, they may have formed in the early universe and are therefore called primordial black holes (PBHs). Previous searches for PBHs have focused on either short-timescale bursts or the contribution of PBHs to the isotropic gamma-ray emission. We show that, in cases of individual PBHs, the Fermi-LAT is most sensitive to PBHs with temperatures above approximately 16 GeV and masses 6 × 1011 g, which it can detect out to a distance of about 0.03 pc. These PBHs have a remaining lifetime of months to years at the start of the Fermi mission. They would appear as potentially moving point sources with gamma-ray emission that become spectrally harder and brighter with time until the PBH completely evaporates. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm to detect the proper motion of gamma-ray point sources, and apply it to 318 unassociated point sources at a high galactic latitude in the third Fermi-LAT source catalog. None of the unassociated point sources with spectra consistent with PBH evaporation show significant proper motion. Finally, using the nondetection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on the PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of Earth, $${\dot{\rho }}_{\mathrm{PBH}}\lt 7.2\times {10}^{3}\ {\mathrm{pc}}^{-3}\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$$. This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.
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- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Contributing Org.:
- Fermi-LAT Collaboration
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1434919
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online); Journal Volume: 857; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; astroparticle physics; black hole physics; methods: data analysis
Citation Formats
Ackermann, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bissaldi, E., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonino, R., Bottacini, E., Bregeon, J., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Cameron, R. A., Caputo, R., Caraveo, P. A., Cavazzuti, E., Charles, E., Chekhtman, A., Cheung, C. C., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Costantin, D., D’Ammando, F., Palma, F. de, Digel, S. W., Lalla, N. Di, Mauro, M. Di, Venere, L. Di, Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Green, D., Grenier, I. A., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Horan, D., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, C., Kensei, S., Kocevski, D., Kuss, M., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Li, J., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Magill, J. D., Maldera, S., Malyshev, D., Manfreda, A., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Meyer, M., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Moretti, E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Negro, M., Nuss, E., Ojha, R., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Palatiello, M., Paliya, V. S., Paneque, D., Persic, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Principe, G., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ritz, S., Sánchez-Conde, M., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spada, F., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Valverde, J., Vianello, G., Wood, K., Wood, M., and Zaharijas, G. Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaac7b.
Ackermann, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bissaldi, E., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonino, R., Bottacini, E., Bregeon, J., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Cameron, R. A., Caputo, R., Caraveo, P. A., Cavazzuti, E., Charles, E., Chekhtman, A., Cheung, C. C., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Costantin, D., D’Ammando, F., Palma, F. de, Digel, S. W., Lalla, N. Di, Mauro, M. Di, Venere, L. Di, Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Green, D., Grenier, I. A., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Horan, D., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, C., Kensei, S., Kocevski, D., Kuss, M., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Li, J., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Magill, J. D., Maldera, S., Malyshev, D., Manfreda, A., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Meyer, M., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Moretti, E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Negro, M., Nuss, E., Ojha, R., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Palatiello, M., Paliya, V. S., Paneque, D., Persic, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Principe, G., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ritz, S., Sánchez-Conde, M., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spada, F., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Valverde, J., Vianello, G., Wood, K., Wood, M., & Zaharijas, G. Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aaac7b
Ackermann, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bissaldi, E., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonino, R., Bottacini, E., Bregeon, J., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Cameron, R. A., Caputo, R., Caraveo, P. A., Cavazzuti, E., Charles, E., Chekhtman, A., Cheung, C. C., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Costantin, D., D’Ammando, F., Palma, F. de, Digel, S. W., Lalla, N. Di, Mauro, M. Di, Venere, L. Di, Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Green, D., Grenier, I. A., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Horan, D., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, C., Kensei, S., Kocevski, D., Kuss, M., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Li, J., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Magill, J. D., Maldera, S., Malyshev, D., Manfreda, A., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Meyer, M., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Moretti, E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Negro, M., Nuss, E., Ojha, R., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Palatiello, M., Paliya, V. S., Paneque, D., Persic, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Principe, G., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ritz, S., Sánchez-Conde, M., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spada, F., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Valverde, J., Vianello, G., Wood, K., Wood, M., and Zaharijas, G. Tue .
"Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aaac7b. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1434919.
@article{osti_1434919,
title = {Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope},
author = {Ackermann, M. and Atwood, W. B. and Baldini, L. and Ballet, J. and Barbiellini, G. and Bastieri, D. and Bellazzini, R. and Berenji, B. and Bissaldi, E. and Blandford, R. D. and Bloom, E. D. and Bonino, R. and Bottacini, E. and Bregeon, J. and Bruel, P. and Buehler, R. and Cameron, R. A. and Caputo, R. and Caraveo, P. A. and Cavazzuti, E. and Charles, E. and Chekhtman, A. and Cheung, C. C. and Chiaro, G. and Ciprini, S. and Cohen-Tanugi, J. and Conrad, J. and Costantin, D. and D’Ammando, F. and Palma, F. de and Digel, S. W. and Lalla, N. Di and Mauro, M. Di and Venere, L. Di and Favuzzi, C. and Fegan, S. J. and Focke, W. B. and Franckowiak, A. and Fukazawa, Y. and Funk, S. and Fusco, P. and Gargano, F. and Gasparrini, D. and Giglietto, N. and Giordano, F. and Giroletti, M. and Green, D. and Grenier, I. A. and Guillemot, L. and Guiriec, S. and Horan, D. and Jóhannesson, G. and Johnson, C. and Kensei, S. and Kocevski, D. and Kuss, M. and Larsson, S. and Latronico, L. and Li, J. and Longo, F. and Loparco, F. and Lovellette, M. N. and Lubrano, P. and Magill, J. D. and Maldera, S. and Malyshev, D. and Manfreda, A. and Mazziotta, M. N. and McEnery, J. E. and Meyer, M. and Michelson, P. F. and Mitthumsiri, W. and Mizuno, T. and Monzani, M. E. and Moretti, E. and Morselli, A. and Moskalenko, I. V. and Negro, M. and Nuss, E. and Ojha, R. and Omodei, N. and Orienti, M. and Orlando, E. and Ormes, J. F. and Palatiello, M. and Paliya, V. S. and Paneque, D. and Persic, M. and Pesce-Rollins, M. and Piron, F. and Principe, G. and Rainò, S. and Rando, R. and Razzano, M. and Razzaque, S. and Reimer, A. and Reimer, O. and Ritz, S. and Sánchez-Conde, M. and Sgrò, C. and Siskind, E. J. and Spada, F. and Spandre, G. and Spinelli, P. and Suson, D. J. and Tajima, H. and Thayer, J. G. and Thayer, J. B. and Torres, D. F. and Tosti, G. and Troja, E. and Valverde, J. and Vianello, G. and Wood, K. and Wood, M. and Zaharijas, G.},
abstractNote = {Black holes with masses below approximately 1015 g are expected to emit gamma-rays with energies above a few tens of MeV, which can be detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Although black holes with these masses cannot be formed as a result of stellar evolution, they may have formed in the early universe and are therefore called primordial black holes (PBHs). Previous searches for PBHs have focused on either short-timescale bursts or the contribution of PBHs to the isotropic gamma-ray emission. We show that, in cases of individual PBHs, the Fermi-LAT is most sensitive to PBHs with temperatures above approximately 16 GeV and masses 6 × 1011 g, which it can detect out to a distance of about 0.03 pc. These PBHs have a remaining lifetime of months to years at the start of the Fermi mission. They would appear as potentially moving point sources with gamma-ray emission that become spectrally harder and brighter with time until the PBH completely evaporates. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm to detect the proper motion of gamma-ray point sources, and apply it to 318 unassociated point sources at a high galactic latitude in the third Fermi-LAT source catalog. None of the unassociated point sources with spectra consistent with PBH evaporation show significant proper motion. Finally, using the nondetection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on the PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of Earth, ${\dot{\rho }}_{\mathrm{PBH}}\lt 7.2\times {10}^{3}\ {\mathrm{pc}}^{-3}\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aaac7b},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 857,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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