Probing primordial black holes with the distortion of stochastic gravitational wave background
Abstract
The stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB), arising from the incoherent superposition of numerous compact binary coalescences, serves as a powerful probe of both astrophysical populations and fundamental physics. In this work, we investigate the influence of gravitational lensing on the SGWB, focusing on primordial black holes (PBHs) as potential lenses. Assuming PBHs as dark matter candidates with a broad cosmic distribution, we show that their lensing optical depth can be significantly enhanced, producing pronounced effects with relative deviations at the 10^-1 level. By systematically varying the PBH mass (M_PBH) and abundance (f_PBH), we demonstrate that the mass predominantly determines the frequency-dependent diffraction features of the spectrum, while the abundance primarily amplifies the overall lensing-induced deviation. Although the SGWB from binary black holes has not yet been observed, our analytical results provide theoretical insight into the possible imprint of lensing on its spectrum and suggest that future detections could offer a novel avenue to constrain dark matter scenarios.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
Relativity and Gravitational Theory
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 2
- Publication date
- 12 January 2026
- Language
- EN