The consensus model of thermonuclear supernovae postulates that the white dwarf explodes after exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit by the accretion of matter because the contraction and heating ignites explosive carbon burning under degenerate conditions. A nuclear burning front runs through the white dwarf from the inside out and tears it apart. Then the outermost layers closely beneath the surface of the white dwarf (containing 0.05 solar masses of matter) exhibit the right conditions for a γ-process.