Gravitational-Wave Merger Rates as a Bound on the Primordial Black Hole Fraction
If primordial black holes populate the tens-of-solar-masses range, some of them must be merging today, and the gravitational-wave observatories measure the merger rate of black holes in exactly that range. The comparison is powerful because it is a counting argument in both directions: too high a primordial fraction overproduces mergers relative to the observed rate, while a fraction tuned to match the observed rate makes definite predictions about masses, spins, and redshift evolution that distinguish primordial binaries from astrophysical ones. The headline computed values are: f max 30Msun = 0.300; R at f1 30 = 500.0. The work is computational throughout: assumptions are stated, the arithmetic is deposited, and no result is presented as a measurement.
Authors
- William Alexander Aldred (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1215-577X)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24147697
- Primary Topic
- Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00