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arXiv · 2510.20005

Eppur non si trovano: Comments on the Primordial Black Hole Limits in the Galactic Halo

P. Mróz·A. Udalski·M. K. Szymański·I. Soszyński·Ł. Wyrzykowski·P. Pietrukowicz·S. Kozłowski·R. Poleski·J. Skowron·D. Skowron·K. Ulaczyk·M. Gromadzki·K. Rybicki·P. Iwanek·M. Wrona·M. Ratajczak
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Abstract

In a recent arXiv post, Hawkins & Garcia-Bellido raised doubts on the results of 20-yr long OGLE photometric monitoring, which did not find a large number of gravitational microlensing events in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds. These results implied that primordial black holes and other compact objects with masses from 10^{-8} to 10^3 M_solar cannot comprise a substantial fraction of the Milky Way dark matter halo. Unfortunately, the Hawkins & Garcia-Bellido post contained a number of scientific misrepresentations of our work. Here, we demonstrate that their arguments lack a solid basis or are simply incorrect. As we show below, "and yet they are not found" - compact objects (including primordial black holes) in the dark halo of the Milky Way remain undetected, despite extensive searches.

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P. Mróz, A. Udalski, M. K. Szymański, I. Soszyński, Ł. Wyrzykowski, P. Pietrukowicz, S. Kozłowski, R. Poleski, J. Skowron, D. Skowron, K. Ulaczyk, M. Gromadzki, K. Rybicki, P. Iwanek, M. Wrona, M. Ratajczak. 2025-10-22. Eppur non si trovano: Comments on the Primordial Black Hole Limits in the Galactic Halo. https://doi.org/10.32023/0001-5237/75.3.1

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