Paper
Constraints on the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O and $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O Reaction Rates from Binary Black Holes Detected via Gravitational Wave Signals
Authors
Wenyu Xin, Xiaokun Hou, Xianfei Zhang, Shaolan Bi, Gang Zhao
Abstract
Gravitational-wave observations of binary black hole (BH) mergers provide a novel avenue for testing massive-star evolution and the resulting BH mass spectrum. Recent population analyses under the hierarchical-merger hypothesis have offered evidence for the BH mass gap and inferred its lower edge to $\sim 44 - 68$ M$_\odot$. Motivated by these findings, we compute low-metallicity ($Z=10^{-5}$) helium star models with MESA and systematically explore the effect of uncertainties in the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O and $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O reaction rates on the final fate. Varying the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O reaction rate by $-3 σ$ to $+3σ$, we find that the predicted BH mass gap shifts from $\sim104 - 184$ M$_\odot$ to $\sim45 - 135$ M$_\odot$. In contrast, scaling the $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O reaction rate by global factors of 0.1, 1, and 10 has only a modest effect on the lower edge of the BH mass gap (less than 5 M$_\odot$), and shifts the upper edge by more than 10 M$_\odot$. Using the predictions of our models together with the literature estimates for the lower edge of the BH mass gap, we constrain the astrophysical S factor of $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O reaction at 300 keV of $S_{300} \simeq$ 137.6 - 263.4 keV barn.
Metadata
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Raw Data (Debug)
{
"raw_xml": "<entry>\n <id>http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.19883v1</id>\n <title>Constraints on the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O and $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O Reaction Rates from Binary Black Holes Detected via Gravitational Wave Signals</title>\n <updated>2026-03-20T11:48:24Z</updated>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.19883v1' rel='alternate' type='text/html'/>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.19883v1' rel='related' title='pdf' type='application/pdf'/>\n <summary>Gravitational-wave observations of binary black hole (BH) mergers provide a novel avenue for testing massive-star evolution and the resulting BH mass spectrum. Recent population analyses under the hierarchical-merger hypothesis have offered evidence for the BH mass gap and inferred its lower edge to $\\sim 44 - 68$ M$_\\odot$. Motivated by these findings, we compute low-metallicity ($Z=10^{-5}$) helium star models with MESA and systematically explore the effect of uncertainties in the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O and $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O reaction rates on the final fate. Varying the $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O reaction rate by $-3 σ$ to $+3σ$, we find that the predicted BH mass gap shifts from $\\sim104 - 184$ M$_\\odot$ to $\\sim45 - 135$ M$_\\odot$. In contrast, scaling the $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O reaction rate by global factors of 0.1, 1, and 10 has only a modest effect on the lower edge of the BH mass gap (less than 5 M$_\\odot$), and shifts the upper edge by more than 10 M$_\\odot$. Using the predictions of our models together with the literature estimates for the lower edge of the BH mass gap, we constrain the astrophysical S factor of $^{12}$C$(α, γ)^{16}$O reaction at 300 keV of $S_{300} \\simeq$ 137.6 - 263.4 keV barn.</summary>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='astro-ph.SR'/>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='astro-ph.HE'/>\n <published>2026-03-20T11:48:24Z</published>\n <arxiv:primary_category term='astro-ph.SR'/>\n <author>\n <name>Wenyu Xin</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Xiaokun Hou</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Xianfei Zhang</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Shaolan Bi</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Gang Zhao</name>\n </author>\n </entry>"
}