Nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernova explosions triggered by a quark-hadron phase transition

TL;DR

This study investigates how a quark-hadron phase transition in massive star explosions influences heavy element formation, using advanced simulations to analyze nucleosynthesis in different ejecta conditions and compare with stellar observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation framework incorporating a quark-hadron phase transition to study nucleosynthesis in supernova explosions.

Findings

Quark-hadron phase transition triggers supernova explosions.

Ejecta include neutron-rich and proton-rich matter.

Nucleosynthesis results match some observed stellar abundances.

Abstract

We explore heavy element nucleosynthesis in the explosion of massive stars which are triggered by a quark-hadron phase transition during the early post bounce phase of core-collapse supernovae. The present study is based on general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics simulations with three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport in spherical symmetry, which utilize a quark-hadron hybrid equation of state based on the MIT bag model for strange quark matter. The quark-hadron phase transition inside the stellar core forms a shock wave propagating towards the surface of the proto-neutron star. The shock wave results in an explosion and ejects neutron-rich matter which is piled up or accreting on the proto-neutron star. Later, during the cooling phase, the proto-neutron star develops a proton-rich neutrino-driven wind. We present a detailed analysis of the nucleosynthesis outcome in both neutron-rich and proton-rich ejecta and compare our integrated nucleosynthesis with observations of metal poor stars.