Prof. Dr. Andreas Sander
Institut für Theoretische Physik & Astrophysik, CAU Kiel
Research Interests
- Massive Stars and their role in shaping our Universe
- Expanding Stellar Atmospheres
- Radiative Transfer
- Stellar Feedback
- High Mass X-ray Binaries
- Gravitational Wave Progenitors
My Scientific Vita
About Me
I am a professor and research group leader with scientific expertise in stellar atmospheres, in particular for hot and massive stars. These stars are shaping their environment via their ionizing radiation and strong stellar wind, which is typically a billion times stronger than our solar wind. To get a physical insight of these highly impactful stars, we need to understand the light they are sending us. Therefore, I am actively developing PoWR, a leading code in simulating the complex atmospheres of hot stars with radiatively driven winds. Located at the conjunction of theory, numerics, and observations, my group and collaborators use atmosphere models to quantify the physical properties of massive stars and their winds. This includes the analysis of observations from modern, large-scale telescopes as well as providing predictions for mass-loss rates, stellar spectra and feedback, crucial ingredients to better understand stellar populations and the origin of massive black holes and gravitational waves.
After five years at ZAH/ARI, I was offered a professorship at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU). Since September 2026, I am therefore mainly at the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics (ITAP) at CAU. My group is gradually also moving to Kiel, while we keep close scientific collaborations with Heidelberg.
Postdoctoral Career
Academic Education
