  Observationally, two main spectral states, i.e., the low/hard state and the
high/soft state, are identified in black hole X-ray binaries (BH-XRBs).
Meanwhile, the transitions between the two states are often observed. In this
paper, we re-investigate the transition luminosities in the framework of the
self-similar solution of the advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF).
Specifically, we search for the critical mass accretion rate $\dot m_{\rm
crit}$ of ADAF for different radii $r$ respectively. It is found that $\dot
m_{\rm crit}$ decreases with decreasing $r$. By testing the effects of BH mass
$m$, the magnetic parameter $\beta$ and the viscosity parameter $\alpha$, it is
found that only $\alpha$ has significant effects on $\dot m_{\rm crit}-r$
relation. We define the minimum $\dot m_{\rm crit}$ (roughly at the innermost
stable circular orbit) as the hard-to-soft transition rate $\dot m_{\rm tr:
H\rightarrow S}$, above which BH will gradually transit from the low/hard state
to the high/soft state, and $\dot m_{\rm crit}$ at $30$ Schwarzschild radii as
the soft-to-hard transition rate $\dot m_{\rm tr: S\rightarrow H}$, below which
BH will gradually transit from the high/soft state to the low/hard state. We
derive fitting formulae of $\dot m_{\rm tr: H\rightarrow S}$ and $\dot m_{\rm
tr: S\rightarrow H}$ as functions of $\alpha$ respectively. By comparing with
observations, it is found that the mean value of $\alpha$ are $\alpha \sim
0.85$ and $\alpha \sim 0.33$ for the hard-to-soft transition and the
soft-to-hard transition respectively, which indicates that two classes of
$\alpha$ are needed for explaining the hysteresis effect during the state
transition. Finally, we argue that such a constrained $\alpha$ may provide
valuable clues for further exploring the accretion physics in BH-XRBs.
