English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

In standard stellar evolution, stars with masses ranging from approximately$150$ to $240 M_\odot$ are expected to evolve to a pair instability supernovawith no black hole (BH) remnant. This evolutionary behavior leads to apredicted gap in the black hole mass function from approximately $50$ to $140M_\odot$. Yet the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations[1] recently discovered blackholes of masses $66 M_\odot$ and $85 M_\odot$ in the gravitational wave eventGW190521. We propose a new method to populate the BH mass gap. If an energysource is added throughout the star in addition to nuclear fusion, it ispossible for the altered evolution to avoid the complete destruction of a pairinstability supernova, and instead a BH remnant is left behind. An example ofan extra energy source is dark matter annihilation within the star, but ourresults hold more generally. We show this phenomenon by exploring the effect ofadding an energy source independent of temperature and density to a $180M_\odot$ star, using the MESA one-dimensional stellar evolution software. If$\sim50$\% of the star's energy is due to this new source, the star is capableof avoiding the pair instability entirely and evolving towards a core-collapsesupernova and ultimately a BH remnant with mass $\sim 120 M_\odot$.

Filling the Black Hole Mass Gap: Avoiding Pair Instability in Massive Stars through Addition of Non-Nuclear Energy