• Featured in Physics
  • Editors' Suggestion
  • Open Access

What If Planet 9 Is a Primordial Black Hole?

Jakub Scholtz and James Unwin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 051103 – Published 29 July 2020
Physics logo See synopsis: Could Planet Nine Be a Black Hole?
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We highlight that the anomalous orbits of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and an excess in microlensing events in the 5-year Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment data set can be simultaneously explained by a new population of astrophysical bodies with mass several times that of the Earth (M). We take these objects to be primordial black holes (PBHs) and point out the orbits of TNOs would be altered if one of these PBHs was captured by the Solar System, inline with the Planet 9 hypothesis. Capture of a free floating planet is a leading explanation for the origin of Planet 9, and we show that the probability of capturing a PBH instead is comparable. The observational constraints on a PBH in the outer Solar System significantly differ from the case of a new ninth planet. This scenario could be confirmed through annihilation signals from the dark matter microhalo around the PBH.

  • Received 13 November 2019
  • Revised 10 February 2020
  • Accepted 26 June 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.051103

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsParticles & Fields

synopsis

Key Image

Could Planet Nine Be a Black Hole?

Published 29 July 2020

While astronomers look for a ninth planet to explain orbits in the outer solar system, a duo explores the possibility that the mystery object is a primordial black hole.

See more in Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Jakub Scholtz1 and James Unwin2

  • 1Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley and Theoretical Physics Group, LBNL and Mathematics Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

Article Text

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 125, Iss. 5 — 31 July 2020

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×