A unified nucleosynthetic site for the production of heavy isotopes and p-nuclei

Abstract

Current r-process models under-produce A<130 nuclei. P-process models either underproduce A<100 and 150<A<165 p-nuclei, or have other limitations. We argue that the puzzles in these two mechanisms can be solved by heavy-ion spallation. Spallation happens in the explosive phase transition from a neutron star to a quark star - the quark-nova. The quark-nova triggers the r-process which creates abundant A>130 nuclei, and spallation fragments these isotopes into A<130 nuclei and all 35 p-nuclei. Our model is universal in relation to a star's age, metallicity, and chemistry.