Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae.

Abstract

The role of Type I and Type II supernovae in nucleosynthesis is treated in some detail. It is concluded that e-process formation of the iron-group elements takes place in Type II supernovae, while r-process formation of the neutron-rich isotopes of the heavy elements takes place in Type I supernovae. The explosion of Type II supernovae is shown to follow implosion of the non-degenerate core material. The explosion of Type I supernovae results from the ignition of degenerate nuclear fuel in stellar material.