Chennai Mathematical Institute

Seminars




2.00 pm, Lecture Hall 5
Black holes from cosmic inflation

Alexander Vilenkin
Tufts University, USA.
02-03-18


Abstract

High-energy vacuum bubbles can spontaneously nucleate and expand during the inflationary epoch in the early universe. After inflation ends, the bubbles form black holes with a wide spectrum of masses. For some parameter values, these black holes may account for the mergers observed by LIGO and may serve as seeds for supermassive black holes at galactic centers. This mechanism of black hole formation is very generic and has important implications for the global structure of the universe.