Probing primordial black hole scenarios with terrestrial gravitational wave detectors

Abstract

Abstract It is possible that primordial black holes (PBHs) constitute (or constituted) a significant fraction of the energy budget of our Universe. Terrestrial gravitational wave detectors offer the opportunity to test the existence of PBHs in two different mass ranges, from 10 2 g − 10 16 g to 10 − 6 M ⊙ − 100 M ⊙ . The first mass window is open via induced gravitational waves, and the second one is by gravitational waves from binary mergers. In this review, we outline and explain the different gravitational wave signatures of PBHs that may be probed by terrestrial gravitational wave detectors, such as the current LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA and future ones like Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. We mainly focus on the associated Gravitational Wave background signals and provide rough estimates for their typical frequency and amplitude. We also discuss complementary probes for these PBH mass ranges.