Institut für Theoretische Physik / Astrophysik

The Theoretical Astrophysics group is associated with the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. Our areas of research include compact stars and physics of dense matter, astroparticle physics, and cosmology. We place strong emphasis on interdisciplinary approach to astrophysics and maintain close ties with other groups at the Institute for Theoretical Physics.

The Crab Nebula formed from a star that was seen to explode in a supernova about 1000 years ago. This two color composite image taken with the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope shows in great detail filamentary structure of the glowing hydrogen gas. Also known as M1, the center is home to a dense neutron star, a star as massive as our Sun but only the size of a city!

Currently research projects are available in the fields of (i) nuclear physics of supernova matter, (ii) thermal and magnetic evolution of neutron stars (iii) QCD phase diagram and compact star phenomenology (iv) neutrino astrophysics (v) physics of black holes and extra dimensions