Constraints on the Abundance of Primordial Black Holes from X-Ray Quasar Microlensing Observations: Substellar to Planetary Mass Range

Abstract

We thank the anonymous referee for the valuable comments that helped improve this paper. This research was supported by the Spanish projects PID2020-118687GB-C33, PID2020-118687GB-C32 and PID2020-118687GB-C31 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. J.J.V. is also supported by projects FQM-108, P20_00334 and A-FQM-510-UGR20/FEDER financed by Junta de Andalucía. J.A.M. is also supported by the Generalitat Valenciana with the project of excellence Prometeo/2020/085. A.E.G. thanks the support from grant FPI-SO from the Spanish MINECO (research project SEV-2015-0548-17-4 and predoctoral contract BES-2017-082319) and acknowledges support from ANID Fondecyt Postdoctorado with grant No. 3230554.We use X-ray observations of quasar microlensing (sensitive to smaller compact objects than in the optical) to study the possible presence of a population of low mass black holes (BHs; from ∼10−3 M ⊙ to 10−1 M ⊙) in lens galaxies. We compare these observations with microlensing magnification simulations of a mixed population of stars and BHs plus a smooth matter component. We estimate the individual mass fractions of both stars and BHs for three different BH masses in the range of substellar to planetary masses. Our Bayesian analysis indicates that the contribution of BHs is negligible in the substellar mass range but that a population of BHs of planetary mass (M ≲ 10−3 M ⊙) could pass unnoticed to X-ray microlensing. We provide new upper limits to the contribution of BHs to the fraction of dark matter based on both, the quasar microlensing data in the X-ray band, and our previous estimates in the optical of intermediate-mass BHs with an additional upper limit at M = 3M ⊙MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033: PID2020-118687GB-C33, PID2020-118687GB-C32, PID2020-118687GB-C31Junta de Andalucía FQM-108, P20_00334, A-FQM-510-UGR20/FEDERGeneralitat Valenciana Prometeo/2020/085Spanish MINECO FPI-SO: SEV-2015-0548-17-4, BES-2017-082319ANID Fondecyt Postdoctorado 323055

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