Primordial Black Holes and the First Stars

Abstract

Primordial black holes (PBHs) constitute a compelling dark matter candidate whose gravitational effects could significantly influence early cosmic structure formation. We investigate the impact of PBHs on Population III star formation through detailed $N$-body and hydrodynamic simulations, extending beyond previous semi-analytical approaches. Our results reveal a mass-dependent dichotomy in PBH effects: massive PBHs ($M_{\rm PBH} \gtrsim 10^2 M_\odot$) with sufficient abundance can accelerate structure formation and shift Pop III formation to higher redshifts, potentially conflicting with observational constraints from high-redshift galaxy surveys. Conversely, lower-mass PBHs can induce tidal disruption of gas-rich minihalos, suppressing star formation and delaying the cosmic dawn depending on their abundance. We quantify these competing effects to derive new constraints on the PBH mass function and their contribution to the total dark matter density, with implications for forthcoming observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and 21-cm cosmology experiments.