Application of peaks theory to the abundance of primordial black holes
  We consider the application of peaks theory to the calculation of the number
density of peaks relevant for primordial black hole (PBH) formation. For PBHs,
the final mass is related to the amplitude and scale of the perturbation from
which it forms, where the scale is defined as the scale at which the compaction
function peaks. We therefore extend peaks theory to calculate not only the
abundance of peaks of a given amplitude, but peaks of a given amplitude and
scale. A simple fitting formula is given in the high-peak limit relevant for
PBH formation. We also adapt the calculation to use a Gaussian smoothing
function, ensuring convergence regardless of the choice of power spectrum.
