Synthesis of superheavy elements in the outer crust of a magnetar

Abstract

A theoretical understanding of a possible mechanism for synthesizing superheavy elements in the outer crust of magnetars is presented. We demonstrate that such a mechanism can be present whenever the baryon density in the outer crust of a neutron star reaches values around $10^{-2}$ fm${}^{-3}$. This scenario could be realized in magnetars with hypothetical large magnetic fields, $B\ge 10^{18}$ G. Under such conditions, the Coulomb lattice, formed by ionized nuclei, enables a mechanism that synthesizes superheavy elements.