Some tests perform deep recursion, which requires a larger pthread stack size than the relatively low default of 192 KiB for 64-bit processes on AIX. The AIXTHREAD_STK environment variable provides a non-intrusive way to request a larger pthread stack size for the tests. The required pthread stack size depends on the build configuration.
A 4 MiB default is generous compared to the 512 KiB of macOS; however, it is known that some compilers on AIX produce code that uses comparatively more stack space.