Self-Interacting Dark-Matter Spikes and the Final-Parsec Problem: Bayesian constraints from the NANOGrav 15-Year Gravitational-Wave Background
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arXiv
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| Natura: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Tiruvaskar, Shreyas Gordon, Chris |
| author_facet | Tiruvaskar, Shreyas Gordon, Chris |
| contents | A self-interacting dark-matter (SIDM) density spike around merging supermassive black holes (SMBHs) may be able to supply the dynamical friction needed to shrink binaries from $\sim 1\, \mathrm{pc}$ to $\sim 10^{-2} \,\mathrm{pc}$, thereby resolving the long-standing "final-parsec problem". Embedding the binary-halo system in a cosmological population model, we evolve the inspiral under the combined influence of gravitational-wave (GW) emission and SIDM drag, compute the resulting nanohertz GW background, and confront it with the NANOGrav 15-year pulsar-timing data. A six-parameter Bayesian analysis, performed with a Gaussian-process-accelerated Markov chain Monte Carlo, yields posterior constraints on the cross-section per unit mass and maximum circular velocity values that were consistent with independent galaxy-rotation and cluster-lensing limits. Within this parameter space, the SIDM spike remains intact, supplies sufficient friction to overcome the stellar depletion barrier, and produces a characteristic-strain spectrum that matches the NANOGrav signal as well as phenomenological astrophysical models. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_18153 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Self-Interacting Dark-Matter Spikes and the Final-Parsec Problem: Bayesian constraints from the NANOGrav 15-Year Gravitational-Wave Background Tiruvaskar, Shreyas Gordon, Chris Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology A self-interacting dark-matter (SIDM) density spike around merging supermassive black holes (SMBHs) may be able to supply the dynamical friction needed to shrink binaries from $\sim 1\, \mathrm{pc}$ to $\sim 10^{-2} \,\mathrm{pc}$, thereby resolving the long-standing "final-parsec problem". Embedding the binary-halo system in a cosmological population model, we evolve the inspiral under the combined influence of gravitational-wave (GW) emission and SIDM drag, compute the resulting nanohertz GW background, and confront it with the NANOGrav 15-year pulsar-timing data. A six-parameter Bayesian analysis, performed with a Gaussian-process-accelerated Markov chain Monte Carlo, yields posterior constraints on the cross-section per unit mass and maximum circular velocity values that were consistent with independent galaxy-rotation and cluster-lensing limits. Within this parameter space, the SIDM spike remains intact, supplies sufficient friction to overcome the stellar depletion barrier, and produces a characteristic-strain spectrum that matches the NANOGrav signal as well as phenomenological astrophysical models. |
| title | Self-Interacting Dark-Matter Spikes and the Final-Parsec Problem: Bayesian constraints from the NANOGrav 15-Year Gravitational-Wave Background |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.18153 |