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Observing micro-black-hole dark matter

Manuel Ettengruber1,* and Florian Kühnel2,3,†

  • *Contact author: manuel-meinrad.ettengruber@ipht.fr
  • †Contact author: fkuehnel@mpp.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083009 – Published 5 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rm1g-qtk7

Abstract

Primordial micro black holes can constitute dark matter if short-distance gravity is modified by extra dimensions or a large number of species and if the memory-burden effect sufficiently suppresses Hawking evaporation. The resulting black holes in the transition regime differ from their four-dimensional Einsteinian counterparts through their mass—radius relation, temperature, entropy, and lifetime, which can render even very light objects cosmologically stable. The most promising observational consequences of such micro black hole dark matter are analyzed. Neutron star survival yields the most robust constraints, while a narrow region of parameter space can simultaneously remain viable and address the missing-pulsar problem in the Galactic Center. Diffuse evaporation signals in neutrino telescopes are found to be relevant mainly in extradimensional scenarios, whereas in generic species models, visible emission is strongly suppressed by evaporation into dark sectors. Merger-induced evaporation bursts can provide an additional probe in extradimensional realizations if the postmerger remnant briefly returns to the semiclassical phase. Overall, micro-black-hole dark matter remains phenomenologically viable in constrained regions, with neutron stars, neutrino telescopes, and merger signatures providing complementary tests.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083009– Published 5 October, 2026
  • Received 31 March 2026
  • Accepted 1 September 2026
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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.

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