New study suggests that large massive black holes can form from dark matter

A new theoretical study has proposed a new mechanism to create supermassive black holes from dark matter. The international team finds that supermassive black holes, instead of the conventional formation scenarios with ‘normal’ matter, can form directly from dark matter in high-density regions in the centers of galaxies. The result has important implications for cosmology in the early universe, and is published in Monthly notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.

Exactly how supermassive black holes were initially formed is one of the biggest problems in the study of the evolution of the galaxy. Supermassive black holes have been observed 800 million years after the big bang, and how they could grow so fast remains unexplained.

Standard formation models involve normal baronic matter – the atoms and elements that make up stars, planets, and all visible objects – that collapse under gravity to form black holes, which then grow over time. However, the new work investigates the possible existence of stable galactic nuclei made of dark matter, and surrounded by a dilute dark matter halo, and finds that the centers of these structures can become so concentrated that they also appear in a supermassive black holes can fall if it is a critical threshold. achieved.

According to the model, this could happen much faster than other proposed formation mechanisms, and would allow supermassive black holes to form in the early universe in front of the galaxies in which they live, contrary to current understanding.

Carlos R. Argüelles, the researcher at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and ICRANet, who led the study, comments: ‘This new formation scenario could provide a natural explanation for how supermassive black holes formed in the early Universe, without prior notice. to require star formation or to be required to induce seed black holes with unrealistic growth. ‘

Another interesting consequence of the new model is that the critical mass for collapse in a black hole cannot be reached for smaller dark matter radiations, for example those around some dwarf systems. The authors suggest that smaller dwarf systems may then leave a central core of dark matter, rather than the expected black hole. Such a dark matter core can still mimic the gravitational signatures of a conventional central black hole, while the outer halo of dark matter can also explain the observed galaxy curves.

“This model shows how dark matter hauls can contain dense concentrations in their centers, which can play a crucial role in understanding the formation of supermassive black holes,” Argüelles added.

“Here we have proven for the first time that such a nuclear halo distribution of dark matter can form in a cosmological framework and remain stable for the life of the universe.”

The authors hope that further studies will shed more light on supermassive formation of black holes in the very earliest days of our universe, as well as to investigate whether the centers of inactive galaxies, including our own Milky Way, can host this dense dark saakkern.