Probing Inflationary Origins of Primordial Black Holes with LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data
Abstract
Large primordial curvature perturbations not only produce primordial black holes (PBHs) but also inevitably source a scalar-induced stochastic gravitational-wave background upon horizon reentry. We analyze the combined LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data to constrain two representative inflationary mechanisms for generating such perturbations: ultra-slow-roll inflation and an inflationary phase transition. Detecting no evidence for either scenario, we place 95% credible upper limits on the curvature-spectrum amplitude across the frequency range accessible to ground-based interferometers. Translated into the PBH context, these limits already exceed conventional constraints, probing abundance fractions far below unity. Our results remain robust even when the PBHs themselves are too rare to be directly detected or have evaporated. This work demonstrates that stochastic gravitational-wave observations offer a powerful and complementary probe of small-scale inflationary physics and PBH formation, with upcoming interferometers promising to extend sensitivity to a wider range of inflationary epochs and PBH masses.
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BibTeX
@misc{an2026probing,
title = {{Probing Inflationary Origins of Primordial Black Holes with LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data}},
author = {Haipeng An and Huai-Ke Guo and Mai Qiao and Lian-Tao Wang and Chen Yang and Yue Zhao},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.12867},
eprint = {2609.12867},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.12867},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Probing Inflationary Origins of Primordial Black Holes with LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data
AU - Haipeng An
AU - Huai-Ke Guo
AU - Mai Qiao
AU - Lian-Tao Wang
AU - Chen Yang
AU - Yue Zhao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/11
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.12867
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.12867
AB - Large primordial curvature perturbations not only produce primordial black holes (PBHs) but also inevitably source a scalar-induced stochastic gravitational-wave background upon horizon reentry. We analyze the combined LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA O1--O4a data to constrain two representative inflationary mechanisms for generating such perturbations: ultra-slow-roll inflation and an inflationary phase transition. Detecting no evidence for either scenario, we place 95% credible upper limits on the curvature-spectrum amplitude across the frequency range accessible to ground-based interferometers. Translated into the PBH context, these limits already exceed conventional constraints, probing abundance fractions far below unity. Our results remain robust even when the PBHs themselves are too rare to be directly detected or have evaporated. This work demonstrates that stochastic gravitational-wave observations offer a powerful and complementary probe of small-scale inflationary physics and PBH formation, with upcoming interferometers promising to extend sensitivity to a wider range of inflationary epochs and PBH masses.
ER -