Unveiling the Dark Matter Solution to Black Hole's Final Parsec Problem

A new study suggests that fuzzy dark matter, a variation of standard cold dark matter made of low-mass scalar particles, could potentially help solve the final parsec problem of black hole mergers. Computer simulations currently fail to show black holes merging, instead stabilizing when they are about a parsec apart. Fuzzy dark matter, with its more "fuzzy" distribution, could increase the rate of orbital decay for black holes, particularly supermassive ones. However, further observations of supermassive black holes are needed to confirm or rule out this idea.