Persistent Gravitational Wave Hum Reveals Supermassive Black Hole Collisions, Solves Astronomy's Final Parsec Problem

July 24, 2024
Persistent Gravitational Wave Hum Reveals Supermassive Black Hole Collisions, Solves Astronomy's Final Parsec Problem
  • A study published in July 2024 in Physical Review Letters was co-authored by Gonzalo Alonso-Álvarez, Professor James Cline, and Caitlyn Dewar from McGill University and CERN.

  • In 2023, a gravitational chirp of gravitational waves in space was discovered.

  • The background hum of gravitational waves from colossal cosmic collisions, detected by the Pulsar Timing Array, consists of longer wavelength waves.

  • The persistent 'hum' of gravitational waves detected in 2023 is attributed to the merging of massive supermassive black hole pairs, each billions of times the mass of the Sun.

  • Pairs of supermassive black holes can merge due to the behavior of dark matter particles, addressing the 'final parsec problem' in astronomy.

  • Insights from research on supermassive black hole mergers and gravitational waves also contribute to understanding dark matter particles.

  • Dark matter particles interact in a way that degrades supermassive black hole orbits, facilitating mergers by maintaining their density.

  • The connection between the persistent hum of gravitational waves and the merging of supermassive black hole pairs has helped solve a long-standing problem in astronomy.

  • Observations from the Pulsar Timing Array support the softened spectrum of gravitational waves predicted by a new model, aligning with current data trends.

Summary based on 4 sources


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