Hunt for Light Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter with Ultra-High-Frequency Gravitational Waves

Abstract

Light primordial black holes may comprise a dominant fraction of the dark matter in our Universe. This paper critically assesses whether planned and future gravitational wave detectors in the ultra-high-frequency band could constrain the fraction of dark matter composed of sub-solar primordial black holes. Adopting the state-of-the-art description of primordial black hole merger rates, we compare various signals with currently operating and planned detectors. As already noted in the literature, our findings confirm that detecting individual primordial black hole mergers with currently existing and operating proposals remains difficult. Current proposals involving gravitational wave to electromagnetic wave conversion in a static magnetic field and microwave cavities feature a technology gap with respect to the loudest gravitational wave signals from primordial black holes of various orders of magnitude. However, we point out that one recent proposal involving resonant LC circuits represents the best option in terms of individual merger detection prospects in the range $(1÷100) \, \text{MHz}$. In the same frequency range, we note that alternative setups involving resonant cavities, whose concept is currently under development, might represent a promising technology to detect individual merger events. We also show that a detection of the stochastic gravitational wave background produced by unresolved binaries is possible only if the theoretical sensitivity of the proposed Gaussian beam detector is achieved. Such a detector, whose feasibility is subject to various caveats, may be able to rule-out some scenarios for asteroidal mass primordial black hole dark matter. We conclude that pursuing dedicated studies and developments of gravitational wave detectors in the ultra-high-frequency band remains motivated and may lead to novel probes on the existence of light primordial black holes.