A theoretical 'forbidden' zone of black hole masses has been confirmed by ripples in spacetime, proving how the universe's biggest stars die.
Gravitational wave data has verified the existence of the pair-instability mass gap in black hole populations. This gap is a specific range of weights where black holes should not be able to form through direct stellar collapse. Scientists can now distinguish between black holes born from a single dying star and those created by multiple mergers. This confirmation validates complex models of nuclear burning inside massive stars that were previously just math on a page. It provides a roadmap for understanding the history of the most massive objects in the cosmos. Knowing this gap exists allows us to chart the life and death of the first stars ever born.
Gravitational waves reveal the pair-instability mass gap and constrain nuclear burning in massive stars
research_square · rs-7539007
Abstract Stellar evolution theory predicts that electron–positron pair production in the cores of massive stars triggers unstable thermonuclear explosions that prevent the direct formation of black holes above about 50M?, creating a “pair-instability gap” [1]. Yet black holes have been detected above this mass with gravitational waves; such objects might be explained with uncertainties in the physics of mas28 sive stars and stellar collapse or with hierarchical mergers of black holes in stellar