Looking for black hole morsels in astrophysical mergers via Hawking radiation
Giacomo Cacciapaglia (Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Hautes Énergies (LPTHE), UMR 7589, Sorbonne Université & CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France, Quantum Theory Center ()
; Stefan Hohenegger (Quantum Theory Center (, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I UMR 5822, 4 rue Enrico Fermi, F-69100 Villeurbanne, France, Dept. of Physics E. Pancini, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy); Francesco Sannino (Quantum Theory Center (, Dept. of Physics E. Pancini, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy, INFN sezione di Napoli, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy, Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo S. Marcellino, 10, 80138 Napoli, Italy)![]()
Gravitational wave observation has provided numerous insights into the merger of astrophysical black holes. In contrast to other violent events ( e.g. supernovae), they are, however, not expected to lead to significant emissions of photons and neutrinos. In this paper we discuss a scenario that would lead to characteristic observable gamma ray bursts, which would provide numerous hints to physics beyond General Relativity. Starting from the hypothesis that micro-black holes (called morsels) are formed during the merger process, we show that it is possible to observe their Hawking radiation, which takes the form of gamma ray bursts of a uniquely characteristic form: with energies in the TeV range, their temporal structure is unlike that stemming from any other astrophysical event. Notably, the time delay from the gravitational wave event is correlated to the mass distribution of the morsels. The integrated mass of the morsels, allowed by the unaccounted merger mass, leads to a Hawking radiation in photons that is above the sensitivity of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes such as HESS, LHAASO and HAWC, and gamma ray space telescopes, such as Fermi-LAT. This renders the hypothesis of morsel creation experimentally testable, and we provide the first concrete bounds on the total mass of morsels formed in specific events.
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