Dr. Michael Politano

Dr. Michael PolitanoMarquette University

Wehr Physics Building, 323

MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America(414) 288-1402michael.politano@marquette.edu

Associate Professor

Physics

Dr. Politano does research in theoretical astrophysics with an emphasis on interacting binary stars. His interests include stellar mergers, common envelope evolution, and post-common envelope binary systems.  He is currently working on modeling populations of planetary nebulae that contain binary stars.

He has had several undergraduate students work with him in his research, including a student who was a co-author on two papers that were published in major refereed journals. Dr. Politano has made presentations at several international conferences on binary stars, most recently in Mongolia and Armenia. His most recent paper has just been published in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters.  Dr. Politano's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.

In addition to his research in theoretical astrophysics, Dr. Politano is an educational consultant for McGraw-Hill and Pearson Publishers.  He has contributed to the development of online materials for several textbooks in physics and astronomy.

Dr. Politano has served as the Assistant Chair of the Physics Department, a faculty advisor for physics majors and a former pre-major advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Courses Taught

• General Physics
• Physics Major Courses
• Astronomy