Abstract
Pregalactic black holes accrete matter in the early universe and produce copious amounts of x radiation. By using observations of the background radiation in the x and γ wavebands we have been able to impose a strong new constraint upon their possible abundance. If pregalactic black holes are actually present, several outstanding problems of cosmogony can be resolved with typical pregalactic black hole masses of 100M⊙. Significantly more massive holes cannot constitute an appreciable mass fraction of the universe and are limited by ΩPGBH(M)<10(M ⊙ JM)Ω−1.
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This essay received an honorable mention (1978) from the Gravity Research Foundation.
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Barrow, J.D., Silk, J. Pregalactic black holes: A new constraint. Gen Relat Gravit 10, 633–638 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00757214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00757214