Gravitational-wave constraints on the pair-instability mass gap and nuclear burning in massive stars
Pair instability should prevent the direct formation of black holes above about 50 M⊙, creating a ‘pair-instability’ mass gap. Yet gravitational-wave observations have detected black holes in this mass range. These systems can be explained with uncertainties in massive-star evolution, or hierarchica...
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| Autori principali: | , , , , , , , |
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| Natura: | Article (Journal) |
| Lingua: | inglese |
| Pubblicazione: |
July 2026
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| In: |
Nature astronomy
Year: 2026, Volume: 10, Fascicolo: 7, Pages: 1049-1056 |
| ISSN: | 2397-3366 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41550-026-02847-0 |
| Accesso online: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02847-0 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02847-0 
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| Note sull'autore: | Fabio Antonini, Isobel M. Romero-Shaw, Thomas Callister, Fani Dosopoulou, Debatri Chattopadhyay, Yonadav Barry Ginat, Mark Gieles & Michela Mapelli |
| Riassunto: | Pair instability should prevent the direct formation of black holes above about 50 M⊙, creating a ‘pair-instability’ mass gap. Yet gravitational-wave observations have detected black holes in this mass range. These systems can be explained with uncertainties in massive-star evolution, or hierarchical mergers in stellar clusters, which are expected to produce large spins with isotropic orientations. Here we present evidence for the pair-instability mass gap in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA fourth transient catalogue, with a lower edge at $$44.{3}_{-3.5}^{+5.9}\,{M}_{\odot }$$. We also obtain a measurement of the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rate, yielding an S-factor of $$26{8}_{-116}^{+195}\,{\rm{keV\; b}}$$, a parameter critical for modelling helium burning and stellar evolution. The data reveal two populations: a low-spin group with no black holes above the gap, and a high-spin, isotropic group that extends across the full mass range and occupies the gap, consistent with hierarchical mergers. These findings are consistent with pair instability playing a role in shaping the black hole mass spectrum, point to a connection between gravitational-wave astronomy and nuclear astrophysics, and highlight dense stellar clusters as key environments in the growth of black holes. |
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| Descrizione del documento: | Online veröffentlicht: 07. Mai 2026 Gesehen am 13.08.2026 |
| Descrizione fisica: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2397-3366 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41550-026-02847-0 |