Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Ultralight Dark Matter

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bromley, Benjamin C., Sandick, Pearl, Haghi, Barmak Shams Es
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Bromley, Benjamin C.
Sandick, Pearl
Haghi, Barmak Shams Es
author_facet Bromley, Benjamin C.
Sandick, Pearl
Haghi, Barmak Shams Es
contents We investigate the evolution of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries and the possibility that their merger is facilitated by ultralight dark matter (ULDM). When ULDM is the main dark matter (DM) constituent of a galaxy, its wave nature enables the formation of massive quasiparticles throughout the galactic halo. Here we show that individual encounters between quasiparticles and a SMBH binary can lead to the efficient extraction of energy and angular momentum from the binary. The relatively short coherence time of ULDM provides a steady-state population of massive quasiparticles, and consequently a potential solution to the final parsec problem. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, in the presence of stars, ULDM quasiparticles can also act as massive perturbers to enhance the stellar relaxation rate locally, replenish the stellar loss cone efficiently, and consequently resolve the final parsec problem.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_18013
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Ultralight Dark Matter
Bromley, Benjamin C.
Sandick, Pearl
Haghi, Barmak Shams Es
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We investigate the evolution of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries and the possibility that their merger is facilitated by ultralight dark matter (ULDM). When ULDM is the main dark matter (DM) constituent of a galaxy, its wave nature enables the formation of massive quasiparticles throughout the galactic halo. Here we show that individual encounters between quasiparticles and a SMBH binary can lead to the efficient extraction of energy and angular momentum from the binary. The relatively short coherence time of ULDM provides a steady-state population of massive quasiparticles, and consequently a potential solution to the final parsec problem. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, in the presence of stars, ULDM quasiparticles can also act as massive perturbers to enhance the stellar relaxation rate locally, replenish the stellar loss cone efficiently, and consequently resolve the final parsec problem.
title Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Ultralight Dark Matter
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.18013