In collaboration with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Chungwon University, the University of Seoul announced a significant breakthrough today in addressing the final parsec problem, which affects the formation of supermassive black holes. Their research, which utilizes ultra-light dark matter, potentially offers the first viable solution to the bottleneck encountered during black hole formation. These findings have been published in the international journal <em>Physics Letters B</em>.

The final parsec problem describes a scenario where two black holes cannot approach each other closer than approximately 1 parsec (about 3.26 light-years). To draw nearer, black holes depend on nearby stars or gas. However, at a distance of 1 parsec, these stellar objects and gas are scarce, halting further gravitational attraction between the black holes and causing a bottleneck in their formation.

The researchers resolved this issue using ultra-light dark matter. Composed of exceptionally lightweight particles that move collectively, ultra-light dark matter successfully mitigated the limitations of conventional dark matter.

The team anticipates that these findings will also impact collaborative research on the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies and studies on gravitational wave observations.

In collaboration with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Chungwon Univer …

New Breakthrough Could Unlock the Secrets of Supermassive Black Holes