NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center – A new study suggests that dark matter could be the key to resolving the final parsec problem, allowing supermassive black holes to merge after a long spiral towards each other. According to researchers from the University of Toronto and McGill University, self-interacting dark matter particles may provide the necessary brake, enabling black holes to close the final distance.
Physicist Gonzalo Alonso-Álvarez and his team propose that dark matter, which clusters around black holes, facilitates the transfer of orbital energy, overcoming a significant barrier. “Our calculations explain how that can occur, in contrast to what was previously thought,” Alonso-Álvarez explained.
Supermassive black holes, found at the centers of galaxies, merge by transferring orbital energy to surrounding stars and gas. However, once they are about one parsec (3.2 light-years) apart, this transfer becomes inefficient, causing their orbits to stabilize. This longstanding puzzle is known as the final parsec problem.
The discovery of a background gravitational wave hum, indicative of supermassive black hole collisions, suggests a missing element in existing models. Alonso-Álvarez’s team designed mathematical models to test the role of dark matter. They found that self-interacting dark matter could remain near merging black holes, absorbing the last bit of orbital energy and allowing the black holes to merge.
Although theoretical, these findings offer observable predictions, such as a softening of the gravitational wave background hum, which has already shown hints. The results also provide insights into the behavior of dark matter halos around galaxies.
“This is a new way to help us understand the particle nature of dark matter,” Alonso-Álvarez stated. “We can use observations of supermassive black hole mergers to better understand these particles.”
The study represents a significant step forward in understanding dark matter and its role in cosmic phenomena, potentially opening new avenues for research in astrophysics and cosmology.
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