Search

A scanning helium microscope typically utilises a thermal energy helium atom beam, with an energy and wavelength (<100 meV, ~0.05 nm) particularly sensitive to surface structure. An angular detector stage for a scanning helium microscope is presented that facilitates the in-situ measurement of scattering distributions from a sample. We begin by demonstrating typical elastic and inelastic scattering from ordered surfaces. We then go on to show the role of topography in diffuse scattering from disordered surfaces, observing deviations from simple cosine scattering. In total, these studies demonstrate the wealth of information that is encoded into the scattering distributions obtained with the technique., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

Black holes play an important role in linking microphysics with macrophysics, with those of the Planck mass ($M_P \sim10^{-5}$g) featuring in any theory of quantum gravity. In particular, the Compton-Schwarzschild correspondence posits a smooth transition between the Compton wavelength ($R_C \propto 1/M$) below the Planck mass and the Schwarzschild radius ($R_{\rm S} \propto M$) above it. The duality between $R_{\rm C}$ and $R_{\rm S}$ implies a form of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and suggests that elementary particles may be sub-Planckian black holes. The simplest possibility is that the ADM mass has the form $M + \beta M_P^2/M$ for some constant $\beta$ and this model can be extended to charged and rotating black holes, clearly relevant to elementary particles. Another possibility is that sub-Planckian black holes may arise in loop quantum gravity and this explicitly links black holes and elementary particles. Higher dimensions may modify both proposals. If there are $n$ extra dimensions, all with the same compactification scale, one expects $R_{\rm S} \propto M^{1/(1+n)}$ below this scale but $R_{\rm C}$ depends on the form of the higher-dimensional wave-function. If it is spherically symmetric, then $R_{\rm C} \propto M^{-1}$, so duality is broken and the Planck mass is reduced, allowing the possibility of TeV quantum gravity. If the wave-function is pancaked in the extra dimensions, $R_{\rm C} \propto M^{-1/(1+n)}$ and so duality is preserved but the Planck mass is unchanged., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures

The LIGO discoveries have rekindled suggestions that primordial black holes (BHs) may constitute part to all of the dark matter (DM) in the Universe. Such suggestions came from 1) the observed merger rate of the BHs, 2) their unusual masses, 3) their low/zero spins, and 4) also from the independently uncovered cosmic infrared background (CIB) fluctuations signal of high amplitude and coherence with unresolved cosmic X-ray background (CXB). Here we summarize the prospects to resolve this important issue with electromagnetic observations using the instruments and tools expected in the 2020's. These prospects appear promising to make significant, and potentially critical, advances. We demonstrate that in the next decade, new space- and ground-borne electromagnetic instruments, combined with concurrent theoretical efforts, should shed critical light on the long-considered link between primordial BHs and DM. Specifically the new data and methodologies under this program will involve: I) Probing with high precision the spatial spectrum of source-subtracted CIB with Euclid and WFIRST, and its coherence with unresolved cosmic X-ray background using eROSITA and Athena, II) Advanced searches for microlensing of Galactic stars by the intervening Galactic Halo BHs with OGLE, Gaia, LSST and WFIRST, III) Supernovae (SNe) lensing in the upcoming surveys with WFIRST, LSST and also potentially with Euclid and JWST, IV) Advanced theoretical work to understand the details of PBH accretion and evolution and their influence on cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies in light of the next generation CMB experiments, V) Better new samples and theoretical understanding involving stability and properties of ultra faint dwarf galaxies, pulsar timing, and cosmological quasar lensing., Comment: Science whitepaper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey

We completely classify Friedmann-Lema\^{i}tre-Robertson-Walker solutions with spatial curvature $K=0,\pm 1$ and equation of state $p=w\rho$, according to their conformal structure, singularities and trapping horizons. We do not assume any energy conditions and allow $\rho < 0$, thereby going beyond the usual well-known solutions. For each spatial curvature, there is an initial spacelike big-bang singularity for $w>-1/3$ and $\rho>0$, while no big-bang singularity for $w<-1$ and $\rho>0$. For $K=0$ or $-1$, $-10$, there is an initial null big-bang singularity. For each spatial curvature, there is a final spacelike future big-rip singularity for $w<-1$ and $\rho>0$, with null geodesics being future complete for $-5/3\le w<-1$ but incomplete for $w<-5/3$. For $w=-1/3$, the expansion speed is constant. For $-1-1/3$, the universe contracts from infinity, then bounces and expands to infinity; for $-1

There appears to be a duality between elementary particles, which span the mass range below the Planck scale, and black holes, which span the mass range range above it. In particular, the Black Hole Uncertainty Principle Correspondence posits a smooth transition between the Compton and Schwarzschild scales as a function of mass. This suggests that all black holes are in some sense quantum, that elementary particles can be interpreted as sub-Planckian black holes, and that there is a subtle connection between quantum and classical physics., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2015 Karl Schwarzschild Meeting on Gravitational Physics, eds. P. Nicolini, J. Mureika, M. Kaminski and M. Bleicher

The fraction of the Universe going into primordial black holes (PBHs) with initial mass M_* \approx 5 \times 10^{14} g, such that they are evaporating at the present epoch, is strongly constrained by observations of both the extragalactic and Galactic gamma-ray backgrounds. However, while the dominant contribution to the extragalactic background comes from the time-integrated emission of PBHs with initial mass M_*, the Galactic background is dominated by the instantaneous emission of those with initial mass slightly larger than M_* and current mass below M_*. Also, the instantaneous emission of PBHs smaller than 0.4 M_* mostly comprises secondary particles produced by the decay of directly emitted quark and gluon jets. These points were missed in the earlier analysis by Lehoucq et al. using EGRET data. For a monochromatic PBH mass function, with initial mass (1+\mu) M_* and \mu << 1, the current mass is (3\mu)^{1/3} M_* and the Galactic background constrains the fraction of the Universe going into PBHs as a function of \mu. However, the initial mass function cannot be precisely monochromatic and even a tiny spread of mass around M_* would generate a current low-mass tail of PBHs below M_*. This tail would be the main contributor to the Galactic background, so we consider its form and the associated constraints for a variety of scenarios with both extended and nearly-monochromatic initial mass functions. In particular, we consider a scenario in which the PBHs form from critical collapse and have a mass function which peaks well above M_*. In this case, the largest PBHs could provide the dark matter without the M_* ones exceeding the gamma-ray background limits., Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures, REVTeX 4.1

The claim that an overdense (positive curvature) region in the early universe cannot extend beyond some maximum scale and remain part of our universe, first made 40 years ago, has recently been questioned by Kopp et al. Their analysis is elucidating and demonstrates that one cannot constrain the form of primordial density perturbations using this argument. However, the notion of a separate-universe scale still applies and it places an important upper limit on the mass of primordial black holes forming at any epoch. We calculate this scale for equations of state of the form $p = k \rho c^2$ with $-1

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are of special interest because of the crucial role of quantum effects in their formation and evaporation. This means that they provide a unique probe of the early universe, high-energy physics and quantum gravity. We highlight some recent developments in the subject, including improved limits on the fraction of the Universe going into evaporating PBHs in the mass range $10^{9} - 10^{17}$ g and the possibility of using PBHs to probe a cosmological bounce., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Proceedings of 2013 Karl Schwarzschild Meeting on Gravitational Physics, eds. P. Nicolini, J. Mureika, M. Kaminski, M. Bleicher

The Black Hole Uncertainty Principle correspondence proposes a connection between the Uncertainty Principle on microscopic scales and black holes on macroscopic scales. This is manifested in a unified expression for the Compton wavelength and Schwarzschild radius. It is a natural consequence of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle, which suggests corrections to the Uncertainty Principle as the energy increases towards the Planck value. It also entails corrections to the event horizon size as the black hole mass falls to the Planck value, leading to the concept of a Generalized Event Horizon. One implication of this is that there could be sub-Planckian black holes with a size of order their Compton wavelength. Loop quantum gravity suggests the existence of black holes with precisely this feature. The correspondence leads to a heuristic derivation of the black hole temperature and suggests how the Hawking formula is modified in the sub-Planckian regime., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Proceedings of 2013 Karl Schwarzschild Meeting on Gravitational Physics, eds. P. Nicolini, J. Mureika, M. Kaminski, M. Bleicher

We discuss whether black holes could persist in a universe which recollapses and then bounces into a new expansion phase. Whether the bounce is of classical or quantum gravitational origin, such cosmological models are of great current interest. In particular, we investigate the mass range in which black holes might survive a bounce and ways of differentiating observationally between black holes formed just after and just before the last bounce. We also discuss the consequences of the universe going through a sequence of dimensional changes as it passes through a bounce., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure

Several authors have claimed that the observable Hawking emission from a microscopic black hole is significantly modified by the formation of a photosphere or chromosphere around the black hole due to QED or QCD interactions between the emitted particles. Analyzing these models we identify a number of physical and geometrical effects which invalidate them. In all cases, we find that the observational signatures of a cosmic or Galactic background of black holes or an individual black hole remain essentially those of the standard Hawking model, with little change to the detection probability., Comment: Twelfth Marcel Grossmann Meeting, Paris 12 - 18 July 2009; 4 pages; additional references added to arXiv version

This review addresses the issue of whether there are physically realistic self-similar solutions in which a primordial black hole is attached to an exact or asymptotically Friedmann model for an equation of state of the form $p=(\gamma-1)\rho c^2$. In the positive pressure case ($1 < \gamma < 2$), there is no such solution when the black hole is attached to an exact Friedmann background via a sonic point. However, it has been claimed that there is a one-parameter family of asymptotically Friedmann black hole solutions providing the ratio of the black hole size to the cosmological horizon size is in a narrow range above some critical value. There are also "universal" black holes in which the black hole has an apparent horizon but no event horizon. It turns out that both these types of solution are only asymptotically {\it quasi}-Friedmann, because they contain a solid angle deficit at large distances, but they are not necessarily excluded observationally. We also consider the possibility of self-similar black hole solutions in a universe dominated by a scalar field. If the field is massless, the situation resembles the stiff fluid case, so any black hole solution is again contrived, although there may still be universal black hole solutions. The situation is less clear if the scalar field is rolling down a potential and therefore massive, as in the quintessence scenario. Although no explicit asymptotically Friedmann black hole solutions of this kind are known, they are not excluded and comparison with the $0 < \gamma < 2/3$ perfect fluid case suggests that they should exist if the black hole is not too large. This implies that a black hole might grow as fast as the cosmological horizon in a quintessence-dominated universe in some circumstances, supporting the proposal that accretion onto primordial black holes may have played a role in the production of the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei., Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures

We update the constraints on the fraction of the Universe going into primordial black holes in the mass range 10^9--10^17 g associated with the effects of their evaporations on big bang nucleosynthesis and the extragalactic photon background. We include for the first time all the effects of quark and gluon emission by black holes on these constraints and account for the latest observational developments. We then discuss the other constraints in this mass range and show that these are weaker than the nucleosynthesis and photon background limits, apart from a small range 10^13--10^14 g, where the damping of cosmic microwave background anisotropies dominates. Finally we review the gravitational and astrophysical effects of nonevaporating primordial black holes, updating constraints over the broader mass range 1--10^50 g., Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures, REVTeX 4.1

Searching for microlensing in M31 using automated superpixel surveys raises a number of difficulties which are not present in more conventional techniques. Here we focus on the problem that the list of microlensing candidates is sensitive to the selection criteria or "cuts" imposed and some subjectivity is involved in this. Weakening the cuts will generate a longer list of microlensing candidates but with a greater fraction of spurious ones; strengthening the cuts will produce a shorter list but may exclude some genuine events. We illustrate this by comparing three analyses of the same data-set obtained from a 3-year observing run on the INT in La Palma. The results of two of these analyses have been already reported: Belokurov et al. (2005) obtained between 3 and 22 candidates, depending on the strength of their cuts, while Calchi Novati et al. (2005) obtained 6 candidates. The third analysis is presented here for the first time and reports 10 microlensing candidates, 7 of which are new. Only two of the candidates are common to all three analyses. In order to understand why these analyses produce different candidate lists, a comparison is made of the cuts used by the three groups..., Comment: 28 pages, 24 figures, 9 tables

Motivated by the cosmological wormhole solutions obtained from our recent numerical investigations, we provide a definition of a wormhole which applies to dynamical situations. Our numerical solutions do not have timelike trapping horizons but they are wormholes in the sense that they connect two or more asymptotic regions. Although the null energy condition must be violated for static wormholes, we find that it can still be satisfied in the dynamical context. Two analytic solutions for a cosmological wormhole connecting two Friedmann universes without trapping horizons are presented., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, published version in Physical Review D

Several authors, most notably Heckler, have claimed that the observable Hawking emission from a microscopic black hole is significantly modified by the formation of a photosphere around the black hole due to QED or QCD interactions between the emitted particles. In this paper we analyze these claims and identify a number of physical and geometrical effects which invalidate these scenarios. We point out two key problems. First, the interacting particles must be causally connected to interact, and this condition is satisfied by only a small fraction of the emitted particles close to the black hole. Second, a scattered particle requires a distance ~ E/m_e^2 for completing each bremsstrahlung interaction, with the consequence that it is improbable for there to be more than one complete bremsstrahlung interaction per particle near the black hole. These two effects have not been included in previous analyses. We conclude that the emitted particles do not interact sufficiently to form a QED photosphere. Similar arguments apply in the QCD case and prevent a QCD photosphere (chromosphere) from developing when the black hole temperature is much greater than Lambda_QCD, the threshold for QCD particle emission. Additional QCD phenomenological arguments rule out the development of a chromosphere around black hole temperatures of order Lambda_QCD. In all cases, the observational signatures of a cosmic or Galactic halo background of primordial black holes or an individual black hole remain essentially those of the standard Hawking model, with little change to the detection probability. We also consider the possibility, as proposed by Belyanin et al. and D. Cline et al., that plasma interactions between the emitted particles form a photosphere, and we conclude that this scenario too is not supported., Comment: version published in Phys Rev D 78, 064043; 25 pages, 3 figures; includes discussion on extending our analysis to TeV-scale, higher-dimensional black holes

We discuss a variety of bremsstrahlung processes associated with charged particles emitted by evaporating black holes. We show that such particles produce a negligible number of bremsstrahlung photons from their scattering off each other, though at low frequencies inner bremsstrahlung photons dominate over the direct Hawking emission of photons. This analysis and the further analysis of the accompanying paper invalidate Heckler's claim that sufficiently hot evaporating black holes form QED photospheres., Comment: version published in PRD 78, 064044; 10 pages

We use a combination of numerical and analytical methods, exploiting the equations derived in a preceding paper, to classify all spherically symmetric self-similar solutions which are asymptotically Friedmann at large distances and contain a perfect fluid with equation of state $p=(\gamma -1)\mu$ with $0<\gamma<2/3$. The expansion of the Friedmann universe is accelerated in this case. We find a one-parameter family of self-similar solutions representing a black hole embedded in a Friedmann background. This suggests that, in contrast to the positive pressure case, black holes in a universe with dark energy can grow as fast as the Hubble horizon if they are not too large. There are also self-similar solutions which contain a central naked singularity with negative mass and solutions which represent a Friedmann universe connected to either another Friedmann universe or some other cosmological model. The latter are interpreted as self-similar cosmological white hole or wormhole solutions. The throats of these wormholes are defined as two-dimensional spheres with minimal area on a spacelike hypersurface and they are all non-traversable because of the absence of a past null infinity., Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physical Review D

Based on the asymptotic analysis of ordinary differential equations, we classify all spherically symmetric self-similar solutions to the Einstein equations which are asymptotically Friedmann at large distances and contain a perfect fluid with equation of state $p=(\gamma -1)\mu$ with $0<\gamma<2/3$. This corresponds to a ``dark energy'' fluid and the Friedmann solution is accelerated in this case due to anti-gravity. This extends the previous analysis of spherically symmetric self-similar solutions for fluids with positive pressure ($\gamma>1$). However, in the latter case there is an additional parameter associated with the weak discontinuity at the sonic point and the solutions are only asymptotically ``quasi-Friedmann'', in the sense that they exhibit an angle deficit at large distances. In the $0<\gamma<2/3$ case, there is no sonic point and there exists a one-parameter family of solutions which are {\it genuinely} asymptotically Friedmann at large distances. We find eight classes of asymptotic behavior: Friedmann or quasi-Friedmann or quasi-static or constant-velocity at large distances, quasi-Friedmann or positive-mass singular or negative-mass singular at small distances, and quasi-Kantowski-Sachs at intermediate distances. The self-similar asymptotically quasi-static and quasi-Kantowski-Sachs solutions are analytically extendible and of great cosmological interest. We also investigate their conformal diagrams. The results of the present analysis are utilized in an accompanying paper to obtain and physically interpret numerical solutions., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, final version to appear Physical Review D

We consider the possible existence of self-similar solutions containing black holes in a Friedmann background with a stiff fluid or a scalar field. We carefully study the relationship between the self-similar equations in these two cases and emphasize the crucial role of the similarity horizon. We show that there is no self-similar black hole solution surrounded by an exact or asymptotically flat Friedmann background containing a massless scalar field. This result also applies for a scalar field with a potential, providing the universe is decelerating. However, if there is a potential and the universe is accelerating (as in the quintessence scenario), the result only applies for an exact Friedmann background. This extends the result previously found in the stiff fluid case and strongly suggests that accretion onto primordial black holes is ineffective even during scalar field domination. It also contradicts recent claims that such black holes can grow appreciably by accreting quintessence. Appreciable growth might be possible with very special matter fields but this requires {\it ad hoc} and probably unphysical conditions., Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for Publication in Phys. Rev. D, Minor Correction

Recent developments in the study of primordial black holes (PBHs) are reviewed, with particular emphasis on their formation and evaporation. It is still not clear whether PBHs formed but, if they did, they could provide a unique probe of the early Universe, gravitational collapse, high energy physics and quantum gravity. Indeed their study may place interesting constraints on the physics relevant to these areas even if they never existed., Comment: 21 pages. 6 figures. To appear in Proceedings of "Inflating Horizon of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology", Universal Academy Press Inc and Yamada Science Foundation (2005)

We report the results of our statistical study of the POINT-AGAPE CNe catalogue. The first Sloan $r'$ and $i'$ analysis of the MMRD relationship in M31 is performed using the resulting POINT-AGAPE CN catalogue. Good fits are produced to the MMRD in the two filters. However, we are unable to verify the $t_{15}$ relationship for either Sloan filter. The subsequent analysis of our automated CN detection pipeline has provided us with the most thorough knowledge of the completeness of a CN survey to-date. In addition, the large field of view of the survey has permitted us to probe the outburst rate well into the galactic disk, unlike previous CCD imaging surveys. Using this analysis we are able to probe the CN distribution of M31 and evaluate the global nova rate. Using models of the galactic surface brightness of M31, we show that the observed CN distribution consists of a separate bulge and disk population. We also show that the M31 bulge CN eruption rate per unit $r'$ flux is more than five times greater than that of the disk. We deduce a global M31 CN rate of $65^{+16}_{-15}$ year$^{-1}$, a value much higher than found by previous surveys. Using the global rate, we derive a M31 bulge rate of $38^{+15}_{-12}$ year$^{-1}$ and a disk rate of $27^{+19}_{-15}$ year$^{-1}$. Given our understanding of the completeness and an analysis of other sources of error, we conclude that the true global nova rate of M31 is at least 50% higher than was previously thought and this has consequent implications for the presumed CN rate in the Milky Way. We deduce a Galactic bulge rate of $14^{+6}_{-5}$ year$^{-1}$, a disk rate of $20^{+14}_{-11}$ year$^{-1}$ and a global Galactic rate of $34^{+15}_{-12}$ year$^{-1}$., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted for publication in MNRAS

Self-similar models are important in general relativity and other fundamental theories. In this paper we shall discuss the ``similarity hypothesis'', which asserts that under a variety of physical circumstances solutions of these theories will naturally evolve to a self-similar form. We will find there is good evidence for this in the context of both spatially homogenous and inhomogeneous cosmological models, although in some cases the self-similar model is only an intermediate attractor. There are also a wide variety of situations, including critical pheneomena, in which spherically symmetric models tend towards self-similarity. However, this does not happen in all cases and it is it is important to understand the prerequisites for the conjecture., Comment: to be submitted to Gen. Rel. Grav

We discuss a new class of solutions to the Einstein equations which describe a primordial black hole (PBH) in a flat Friedmann background. Such solutions arise if a Schwarzschild black hole is patched onto a Friedmann background via a transition region. They are possible providing the black hole event horizon is larger than the cosmological apparent horizon. Such solutions have a number of strange features. In particular, one has to define the black hole and cosmological horizons carefully and one then finds that the mass contained within the black hole event horizon decreases when it is larger than the Friedmann cosmological apparent horizon, although its area always increases. These solutions involve two distinct future null infinities and are interpreted as the conversion of a white hole into a black hole. Although such solutions may not form from gravitational collapse in the same way as standard PBHs, there is nothing unphysical about them, since all energy and causality conditions are satisfied. Their conformal diagram is a natural amalgamation of the Kruskal diagram for the extended Schwarzschild solution and the conformal diagram for a black hole in a flat Friedmann background. In this paper, such solutions are obtained numerically for a spherically symmetric universe containing a massless scalar field, but it is likely that they exist for more general matter fields and less symmetric systems., Comment: 17 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review D, minor correction

The POINT-AGAPE collaboration surveyed M31 with the primary goal of optical detection of microlensing events, yet its data catalogue is also a prime source of lightcurves of variable and transient objects, including classical novae (CNe). A reliable means of identification, combined with a thorough survey of the variable objects in M31, provides an excellent opportunity to locate and study an entire galactic population of CNe. This paper presents a set of 440 neural networks, working in 44 committees, designed specifically to identify fast CNe. The networks are developed using training sets consisting of simulated novae and POINT-AGAPE lightcurves, in a novel variation on K-fold cross-validation. They use the binned, normalised power spectra of the lightcurves as input units. The networks successfully identify 9 of the 13 previously identified M31 CNe within their optimal working range (and 11 out of 13 if the network error bars are taken into account). They provide a catalogue of 19 new candidate fast CNe, of which 4 are strongly favoured., Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, The Astronomical Journal (in press)

The POINT-AGAPE collaboration is carrying out a search for gravitational microlensing toward M31 to reveal galactic dark matter in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) in the halos of the Milky Way and M31. A high-threshold analysis of 3 years of data yields 6 bright, short--duration microlensing events, which are confronted to a simulation of the observations and the analysis. The observed signal is much larger than expected from self lensing alone and we conclude, at the 95% confidence level, that at least 20% of the halo mass in the direction of M31 must be in the form of MACHOs if their average mass lies in the range 0.5-1 M$_\odot$. This lower bound drops to 8% for MACHOs with masses $\sim 0.01$ M$_\odot$. In addition, we discuss a likely binary microlensing candidate with caustic crossing. Its location, some 32' away from the centre of M31, supports our conclusion that we are detecting a MACHO signal in the direction of M31.

Recent developments in the study of primordial black holes (PBHs) will be reviewed, with particular emphasis on their formation and evaporation. PBHs could provide a unique probe of the early Universe, gravitational collapse, high energy physics and quantum gravity. Indeed their study may place interesting constraints on the physics relevant to these areas even if they never formed. In the "early Universe" context, particularly useful constraints can be placed on inflationary scenarios, especially if evaporating PBHs leave stable Planck-mass relicts. In the "gravitational collapse" context, the existence of PBHs could provide a unique test of the sort of critical phenomena discovered in recent numerical calculations. In the "high energy physics" context, information may come from gamma-ray bursts (if a subset of these are generated by PBH explosions) or from cosmic rays (if some of these derive from evaporating PBHs). In the "quantum gravity" context, the formation and evaporation of small black holes could lead to observable signatures in cosmic ray events and accelerator experiments, providing there are extra dimensions and providing the quantum gravity scale is around a TeV., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 22nd Texas Symposium at Stanford 12-17 December 2004

The evolution of primordial black holes in a flat Friedmann universe with a massless scalar field is investigated in fully general relativistic numerical relativity. A primordial black hole is expected to form with a scale comparable to the cosmological apparent horizon, in which case it may go through an initial phase with significant accretion. However, if it is very close to the cosmological apparent horizon size, the accretion is suppressed due to general relativistic effects. In any case, it soon gets smaller than the cosmological horizon and thereafter it can be approximated as an isolated vacuum solution with decaying mass accretion. In this situation the dynamical and inhomogeneous scalar field is typically equivalent to a perfect fluid with a stiff equation of state $p=\rho$. The black hole mass never increases by more than a factor of two, despite recent claims that primordial black holes might grow substantially through accreting quintessence. It is found that the gravitational memory scenario, proposed for primordial black holes in Brans-Dicke and scalar-tensor theories of gravity, is highly unphysical., Comment: 24 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review D

We provide precise constraints on the size of any black holes forming in the early Universe for a variety of formation scenarios. In particular, we prove that the size of the apparent horizon of a primordial black hole formed by causal processes in a flat Friedmann universe is considerably smaller than the cosmological apparent horizon size for an equation of state $p=k\rho$ ($1/3

An automated search is carried out for microlensing events using a catalogue of 44554 variable superpixel lightcurves derived from our three-year monitoring program of M31. Each step of our candidate selection is objective and reproducible by a computer. Our search is unrestricted, in the sense that it has no explicit timescale cut. So, it must overcome the awkward problem of distinguishing long-timescale microlensing events from long-period stellar variables. The basis of the selection algorithm is the fitting of the superpixel lightcurves to two different theoretical models, using variable star and blended microlensing templates. Only if microlensing is preferred is an event retained as a possible candidate. Further cuts are made with regard to (i) sampling, (ii) goodness of fit of the peak to a Paczynski curve, (iii) consistency of the microlensing hypothesis with the absence of a resolved source, (iv) achromaticity, (v) position in the colour-magnitude diagram and (vi) signal-to-noise ratio. Our results are reported in terms of first-level candidates, which are the most trustworthy, and second-level candidates, which are possible microlensing but have lower signal-to-noise and are more questionable. The pipeline leaves just 3 first-level candidates, all of which have very short full-width half-maximum timescale (<5 days) and 3 second-level candidates, which have timescales of 31, 36 and 51 days respectively. We also show 16 third-level lightcurves, as an illustration of the events that just fail the threshold for designation as microlensing candidates. They are almost certainly mainly variable stars. Two of the 3 first-level candidates correspond to known events (PA 00-S3 and PA 00-S4) already reported by the POINT-AGAPE project. The remaining first-level candidate is new., Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, MNRAS, to appear

The POINT-AGAPE survey is an optical search for gravitational microlensing events towards the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). As well as microlensing, the survey is sensitive to many different classes of variable stars and transients. Here we describe the automated detection and selection pipeline used to identify M31 classical novae (CNe) and we present the resulting catalogue of 20 CN candidates observed over three seasons. CNe are observed both in the bulge region as well as over a wide area of the M31 disk. Nine of the CNe are caught during the final rise phase and all are well sampled in at least two colours. The excellent light-curve coverage has allowed us to detect and classify CNe over a wide range of speed class, from very fast to very slow. Among the light-curves is a moderately fast CN exhibiting entry into a deep transition minimum, followed by its final decline. We have also observed in detail a very slow CN which faded by only 0.01 mag day$^{-1}$ over a 150 day period. We detect other interesting variable objects, including one of the longest period and most luminous Mira variables. The CN catalogue constitutes a uniquely well-sampled and objectively-selected data set with which to study the statistical properties of classical novae in M31, such as the global nova rate, the reliability of novae as standard-candle distance indicators and the dependence of the nova population on stellar environment. The findings of this statistical study will be reported in a follow-up paper., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, re-submitted for publication in MNRAS, typos corrected, references updated, figures 5-9 made clearer

The POINT-AGAPE collaboration has been monitoring M31 for three seasons with the Wide Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope. In each season, data are taken for one hour per night for roughly sixty nights during the six months that M31 is visible. The two fields of view straddle the central bulge, northwards and southwards. We have calculated the locations, periods and amplitudes of 35414 variable stars in M31 as a by-product of our microlensing search. The variables are classified according to their period and amplitude of variation. They are classified into population I and II Cepheids, Miras and semi-regular long-period variables. The population I Cepheids are associated with the spiral arms, while the central concentration of the Miras and long-period variables varies noticeably, the stars with brighter (and shorter) variations being much more centrally concentrated. A crucial role in the microlensing experiment is played by the asymmetry signal. It was initially assumed that the variable stars would not be a serious problem as their distributions would be symmetric. We demonstrate that this assumption is not correct. We find that differential extinction associated with the dust lanes causes the variable star distributions to be asymmetric. The size and direction of the asymmetry of the variable stars is measured as a function of period and amplitude of variation. The implications of this discovery for the successful completion of the microlensing experiments towards M31 are discussed. (Abridged), Comment: To appear in MNRAS. Revised version including additional discussion on color of variables. Additional data table will be available once the paper is published

Recent developments in the study of primordial black holes (PBHs) will be reviewed, with particular emphasis on their formation and evaporation. PBHs could provide a unique probe of the early Universe, gravitational collapse, high energy physics and quantum gravity. Indeed their study may place interesting constraints on the physics relevant to these areas even if they never formed., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. To appear in "Quantum Gravity: From Theory to Experimental Search", ed. D.Giulini, C.Kiefer, C.Lammerzahl, 2003, Kluwer