Black holes with masses below approximately 1015g 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 ×1011g, 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. Using the nondetection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on the PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of Earth, PPBH < 7.2 × 103pc-3yr-1. This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.

Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Local Primordial Black Holes with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Baldini, L.;BELLAZZINI, RONALDO;BREGEON, JOHAN;DI LALLA, NICCOLO';GARGANO, FRANCESCO PAOLO;Johnson Jr, Charles Richard;LOPARCO, FRANCESCO;MANFREDA, ALBERTO;MORETTI, EVA;DEL PRINCIPE, GIULIA;Razzano, M.;SGRO', CARMELO;SPADA, SUSANNA FRANCESCA;Spandre, G.;
2018-01-01

Abstract

Black holes with masses below approximately 1015g 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 ×1011g, 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. Using the nondetection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on the PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of Earth, PPBH < 7.2 × 103pc-3yr-1. This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.
2018
Ackermann, M.; Atwood, W. B.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bellazzini, Ronaldo; Berenji, B.; Bissaldi, E.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bonino, R.; Bottacini, E.; Bregeon, Johan; 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.; DI LALLA, Niccolo'; Mauro, M. Di; Venere, L. Di; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Focke, W. B.; Franckowiak, A.; Fukazawa, Y.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, FRANCESCO PAOLO; Gasparrini, D.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Green, D.; Grenier, I. A.; Guillemot, L.; Guiriec, S.; Horan, D.; Jóhannesson, G.; Johnson Jr, Charles Richard; Kensei, S.; Kocevski, D.; Kuss, M.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Li, J.; Longo, F.; Loparco, Francesco; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Magill, J. D.; Maldera, S.; Malyshev, D.; Manfreda, Alberto; Mazziotta, M. N.; Mcenery, J. E.; Meyer, M.; Michelson, P. F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Monzani, M. E.; Moretti, Eva; 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.; DEL PRINCIPE, Giulia; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Razzano, M.; Razzaque, S.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Ritz, S.; Sánchez-Conde, M.; Sgro', Carmelo; Siskind, E. J.; Spada, SUSANNA FRANCESCA; 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.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/924369
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