A groundbreaking study conducted by astronomers from the University of California, Riverside, Sam Houston State University, and the University of Oklahoma indicates that the collapse of dark matter may have significantly accelerated the collapse of early gas clouds, facilitating the rapid formation of supermassive black holes, contrary to existing theories.
Agarwal et al. revealed that the energy released from dark matter collapse significantly changed the chemistry of early galaxies, allowing for direct black hole formation. Image credit: Agarwal et al., doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/034.
“Our findings suggest that dark matter collapse could drastically influence the evolution of the universe’s first stars and galaxies,” stated Yash Agarwal, a graduate student from the University of California, Riverside.
“As the James Webb Space Telescope uncovers more supermassive black holes from the early universe, this mechanism may help reconcile theory with observation.”
In their research, Agarwal and colleagues demonstrated that as dark matter—comprising approximately 85% of the universe’s unseen mass—decays, it releases a small fraction of energy that accelerates the decay of gas clouds.
Notably, each dark matter particle decaying only needs to “inject energy equivalent to one billionth that of a standard AA battery.”
“The primordial galaxies were essentially massive hydrogen gas balls, and their chemistry was extremely sensitive to atomic-scale energy fluctuations,” explained Dr. Flip Tanedo from the University of California, Riverside.
“These are characteristics we search for in dark matter detectors. The ‘detector’ properties could potentially explain the existence of supermassive black holes observed today.”
The team modeled the thermochemical dynamics of gas influenced by a decaying axion, uncovering a specific dark matter mass range between 24 and 27 electron volts, which creates conditions suitable for black hole formation.
“This research emerged from a series of fortunate events that united the right experts—including particle physicists, cosmologists, and astrophysicists—in workshops to address pivotal questions in the field,” Dr. Tanedo remarked.
“We’ve demonstrated that an optimal dark matter environment makes the direct collapse of black holes considerably more probable.”
“Additionally, support for interdisciplinary research allowed for the ‘serendipity’ that fueled this investigation.”
Read more about the study published on April 14, 2026, in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.
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Yash Agarwal et al. 2026. A black hole candidate that collapses directly from collapsing dark matter. JCAP 04:034; Doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2026/04/034
Source: www.sci.news
