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    Dark ages bounds on nonaccreting massive compact halo objects

    Vivekanand Mohapatra* and Alekha C. Nayak†

    • *Contact author: vivekanandmohapatra@gmail.com
    • †Contact author: alekhanayak@nitm.ac.in

    Phys. Rev. D 114, 063533 – Published 18 September, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vhs3-f8dc

    Abstract

    We derive a complementary cosmological upper bound on the fraction of dark matter residing inside nonaccreting massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) using the cosmic dawn and dark ages global 21-cm signal (T21). MACHOs of mass M≳103M⊙ moving through the baryonic fluid during postrecombination transfer kinetic energy to the intergalactic medium via dynamical friction, thereby raising the gas temperature and distorting the 21-cm signal predicted in the Λ cold dark matter framework. We consider both a monochromatic distribution of MACHOs and two extended mass distributions: log-normal and critical collapse. Imposing the conditions that the deviation in the global 21-cm signal ΔT21 does not exceed 50 mK at z∼17 or 15 mK at z∼89, and that no emission signal appears at z≳300, we derive upper bounds on the MACHO fraction fM across the mass range 103≲Mc/M⊙≲107. The dark ages and z≳300 criterion yield constraints that are both tighter and free from astrophysical uncertainties associated with star formation, particularly fM=0.03 for Mc=107M⊙, providing a complementary cosmological window. The extended mass distributions yield bounds that are less stringent than those of their monochromatic counterparts.

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