2024A&A...688L..10V

We analyse the current knowledge and uncertainties in detailed stellar evolution and wind modelling to evaluate the mass of the most massive stellar black hole (BH) at solar metallicity. Contrary to common expectations that it is the most massive stars that produce the most massive BHs, we find that the maximum $ M_{\mathrm{BH}}^{\mathrm{Max}} \simeq 30 \pm 10\,M_{\odot} $ is found in the canonical intermediate range between M_ZAMS ≃ 30 and 50 M_⊙ instead. The prime reason for this seemingly counter-intuitive finding is that very massive stars (VMS) have increasingly high mass-loss rates that lead to substantial mass evaporation before they expire as stars and end as lighter BHs than their canonical O-star counterparts.