The final parsec problem is a mystery that is yet to be answered by cosmology. On paper, supermassive black holes shouldn't merge. But yet they do. Why is it happening? What helps them slow down? Could it be dark matter? Looking for answers in this interview. 🟣 Guest: Dr. Gonzalo Alonso Álvarez 📜 Self-Interacting Dark Matter Solves the Final Parsec Problem of Supermassive Black Hole Mergers https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021401 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 02:33 Final parsec problem 10:46 Proposed solution 21:55 Dark matter 26:46 What if it's wrong 37:10 Current obsessions 39:09 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/zAyoAtUUtug 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER [email protected] ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Support Universe Today Podcast