Black holes created in the early universe can make up all or part of dark matter. Production of primordial black holes (PBH) could take place in a variety of ways, and some recently discovered mechanisms are very generic. In particular, supersymmetry or any other theory with scalar fields is likely to produce a population of PBH. I will review the observational constraints, novel production mechanisms, and astrophysical effects of PBH, including their possible role in the synthesis of the heavy elements (r-process nucleosynthesis).
This is a joint GRECO - VP^3 seminar.