Constraints on stupendously large black holes

2020/08/31 by B. J. Carr, Bernard Carr, Florian Kuhnel +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Annihilation #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Black hole (networking) #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Galactic Center #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Halo #Intermediate-mass black hole #Particle physics #Physics #Population #Primordial black hole #Scalar field dark matter #Spin-flip #Weakly interacting massive particles #astro-ph.CO #gr-qc

paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3651

published as Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 501 2 (2021), 2029-2043 · v2: major revision

arxiv created 2020/09/09 · openalex publication_date 2020/11/20 · arxiv updated 2021/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

ABSTRACT We consider the observational constraints on stupendously large black holes (SLABs) in the mass range M \gtrsim 10¹¹ \mathrm M_\odot. These have attracted little attention hitherto, and we are aware of no published constraints on a SLAB population in the range (1012–10¹⁸) \mathrm M_\odot. However, there is already evidence for black holes of up to nearly 10¹¹ \mathrm M_\odot in galactic nuclei, so it is conceivable that SLABs exist and they may even have been seeded by primordial black holes. We focus on limits associated with (i) dynamical and lensing effects, (ii) the generation of background radiation through the accretion of gas during the pre-galactic epoch, and (iii) the gamma-ray emission from the annihilation of the halo of weakly interacting massive particles expected to form around each SLAB if these provide the dark matter. Finally, we comment on the constraints on the mass of ultralight bosons from future measurements of the mass and spin of SLABs.

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