Volodymyr Takhistov

Primordial black holes (PBHs) from the early Universe have been connected with the nature of dark matter and can significantly affect cosmological history. We show that coincidence dark radiation and density fluctuation gravitational wave signatures associated with evaporation of ≲109 g PBHs can be used to explore and obtain important hints about the formation mechanisms of spinning and non-spinning PBHs spanning orders of magnitude in mass-range, which is challenging to do otherwise.

Solar-mass black holes with masses in the range of ∼1-2.5 M_{⊙} are not expected from conventional stellar evolution, but can be produced naturally via neutron star (NS) implosions induced by capture of small primordial black holes (PBHs) or from accumulation of some varieties of particle dark matter. We argue that a unique signature of such "transmuted" solar-mass BHs is that their mass distribution would follow that of the NSs. This would be distinct from the mass function of black holes in th

Primordial black holes (PBHs) interacting with stars in binaries lead to a new class of gravity wave signatures that we explore. A small 10^-16-10^-7M_⊙ PBH captured by a neutron star or a white dwarf will eventually consume the host. The resulting black hole will have a mass of only ~0.5-2.5M_⊙, not expected from astrophysics. For a double neutron star binary system this leads to a transmutation into a black hole–neutron star binary, with a gravity wave s

Primordial black holes (PBHs) from the early Universe constitute a viable dark matter (DM) candidate and can span many orders of magnitude in mass. Light PBHs with masses around 1015 g contribute to DM and will efficiently evaporate through Hawking radiation at present time, leading to a slew of observable signatures. The emission will deposit energy and heat in the surrounding interstellar medium. We revisit the constraints from dwarf galaxy heating by evaporating non-spinning PBHs and find tha

If dark matter particles have an electric charge, as in models of millicharged dark matter, such particles should be accelerated in the same astrophysical accelerators that produce ordinary cosmic rays, and their spectra should have a predictable rigidity dependence. Depending on the charge, the resulting “dark cosmic rays” can be detected as muon-like or neutrino-like events in Super-Kamiokande, IceCube, and other detectors. We present new limits and propose several new analyses, in particular,

Baryon number violation appears in many contexts. It is a requirement for baryogenesis and is a consequence of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs), which predict nucleon decay. Nucleon decay searches provide the most direct way to test baryon number conservation and also serve as a unique probe of GUT scale physics around $10^{14-16}$ GeV. Such energies cannot be reached directly by accelerators. However, they can be explored indirectly at large underground water Cherenkov (WC) experiments, which due

We propose several novel scenarios how capture of small sublunar-mass primordial black holes (PBHs) by compact stars, white dwarfs or neutron stars, can lead to distinct short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) as well as microquasars (MQs). In addition to providing new signatures, relativistic jets from these systems will accelerate positrons to high energies. We find that if PBHs constitute a sizable fraction of DM, they can significantly contribute to the excess observed in the positron flux by the Pam

Search results for nucleon decays p→e^{+}X, p→μ^{+}X, n→νγ (where X is an invisible, massless particle) as well as dinucleon decays np→e^{+}ν, np→μ^{+}ν, and np→τ^{+}ν in the Super-Kamiokande experiment are presented. Using single-ring data from an exposure of 273.4 kton·yr, a search for these decays yields a result consistent with no signal. Accordingly, lower limits on the partial lifetimes of τ_{p→e^{+}X}>7.9×10^{32} yr, τ_{p→μ^{+}X}>4.1×10^{32} yr, τ_{n→νγ}>5.5×10^{32} yr, τ_{np→e^{+}ν}>2.6×