Maximum black hole mass across cosmic time

At the end of its life, a very massive star is expected to collapse into a black hole (BH). The recent detection of an 85M(circle dot) BH from the gravitational wave event GW190521 appears to present a fundamental problem as to how such heavy BHs exist above the approximately 50 M-circle dot pair-instability (PI) limit where stars are expected to be blown to pieces with no remnant left. Using mesa, we show that for stellar models with non-extreme assumptions, 90-100 M-circle dot stars at reduced metallicity (Z/Z(circle dot) <= 0.1) can produce blue supergiant progenitors with core masses sufficiently small to remain below the fundamental PI limit, yet at the same time lose an amount of mass via stellar winds that is small enough to end up in the range of an 'impossible' 85M(circle dot) BH. The two key points are the proper consideration of core overshooting and stellar wind physics with an improved scaling of mass-loss with iron (Fe) contents characteristic for the host galaxy metallicity. Our modelling provides a robust scenario that not only doubles the maximum BH mass set by PI, but also allows us to probe the maximum stellar BH mass as a function of metallicity and cosmic time in a physically sound framework.

Automated summary

Recent detection of a 85M(circle dot) BH challenges the theory of pair-instability limit. Using mesa simulations, it is found that 90-100 M(circle dot) stars at reduced metallicity can produce BH within the 'impossible' range by proper consideration of core overshooting and stellar wind physics. This modeling doubles the maximum BH mass set by pair-instability and opens up possibilities for probing stellar BH mass as a function of metallicity and cosmic time.