§ 01People
People
Faculty and emeriti in the Department of Physics, and the postdocs, research scientists and graduate students who work with them at UCSB, KITP and Las Cumbres Observatory.
Faculty
Lars BildstenProfessor; Director, KITPAccreting white dwarfs · Stellar pulsationsStars & transients
Brendan BowlerAssociate ProfessorDirect imaging of exoplanets · Orbital architectures of planetary systemsExoplanets
Caitlin CaseyProfessor; Vice Chair for Undergraduate AffairsMassive galaxies in the early universe · Cold gas and dust in galaxiesGalaxiesCosmic dawn
Joseph HennawiProfessorIntergalactic medium and reionization · Circumgalactic gasCosmic dawn
Andy HowellAdjunct Professor; Senior Staff Scientist, Las Cumbres ObservatorySupernovae · KilonovaeStars & transients
Philip LubinProfessorCosmic microwave background · Directed energy propulsionCosmology
Crystal MartinProfessorGalactic winds · The galaxy and circumgalactic medium ecosystemGalaxiesCosmic dawn
Ben MazinProfessorMicrowave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) · Direct imaging of exoplanetsExoplanets
Max Millar-BlanchaerAssociate ProfessorAstronomical instrumentation · PolarimetryExoplanets
S. Peng OhProfessorGalaxy formation · Physics of diffuse plasmasGalaxies
Tejaswi VenumadhavAssociate ProfessorGravitational waves from compact binary mergers · Neutron stars and magnetarsBlack holes & GWCosmic dawn
Emeriti
- Robert AntonucciProfessor EmeritusActive galactic nuclei · SpectropolarimetryBlack holes & GW
Omer BlaesProfessor EmeritusAccretion onto compact objects · Emission from active galactic nucleiBlack holes & GW- Carl GwinnProfessor EmeritusPulsars · Interstellar scattering and scintillationBlack holes & GW
Stanton J. PealeProfessor Emeritus, 1937–2015Planetary dynamics · Tidal evolution of planets and satellitesExoplanets
§ 02Group
Postdocs, graduate students and research scientists
From the department directory, with postdocs and scientists from KITP and Las Cumbres Observatory added by hand. Names link to directory or institute profiles.
Postdocs 7
KITP Postdoctoral ScholarKITP
Interstellar medium, turbulence, magnetic fields, MHD simulations
Postdoctoral FellowLCO
NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral FellowUCSB
My name is Briley Lewis, and I’m an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSB
NSF Postdoctoral FellowUCSB
I am an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow interested in astronomical instrumentation and the discovery and characterizat
KITP Postdoctoral ScholarKITP
Stellar tides, spins of compact objects, exoplanet orbital migration
Postdoctoral ResearcherUCSB
I work in various aspects of gravitational-wave (GW) astrophysics such as gravitational waveform modeling, strong and microlensing of GWs, tests of general relativity using GWs, compact binary coalescence (CBC) search algorithms, CBC parameter estimation, CBC population analysis, etc.
Research scientists 6
Assistant ResearcherUCSB
Research includes numerical and data analysis w/applications in astronomy, planetary science, geology & infrared imaging
Project ScientistUCSB
My work primarily involves developing high brightness laser sources by Coherent Beam Combination. I develop Yb-doped fiber lasers and amplifiers, photonic systems, Analog and Digital (FPGA) control systems and free space optical systems for Directed Energy Laser Phased Arrays. Applications include deep-space exploration enabled by photon propulsion, wireless power delivery to space craft and rovers to enable space science missions.
Graduate students 31
Graduate StudentUCSB
I am broadly interested in theoretical and computational astrophysics, with an emphasis on galaxy formation and evolution.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I work in the area of theoretical cosmology. I am particularly interested in strong gravitational lensing as a probe for sub-galactic dark matter halos.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I study accretion rates and circumplanetary disk properties of wide-orbit giant planets via direct imaging.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Machine learning applications in cosmology, the intergalactic medium, cosmic reionization, simulation based inference.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Exploring how young planets and brown dwarfs grow by studying their disks and accretion processes.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I am working on the data reduction and operation of the visible-spectrum MKID spectrograph.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Katie is interested in using observations of nearby galaxies, along with theoretical models, to better understand galaxy formation and ev
Graduate StudentUCSB
I leverage Asteroseismology to investigate the tidally induced instability in merging binary neutron stars.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I am interested in observational studies of distant galaxies and active galactic nuclei!
Graduate StudentUCSB
My research focus is primarily on the formation, evolution, and migration of giant planets.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I design and fabricate metasurfaces for direct imaging systems. I also search for variability in exoplanetary signals.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Zixuan is interested in the interface between theoretical and observational work in galaxy formation and evolution. His current research focuses on the dynamics of galactic winds and the chemical evolution of Extreme-Emission-Line Galaxies, which are local analogs of high-redshift galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization.
Graduate StudentUCSB
My research focuses on the inhomogeneous recombination and its implications for the Hubble tension.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Computational Astrophysics/Cosmology, Digital Signal Processing for Astrophysics and Audio/Music applications, Acoustics
Graduate StudentUCSB
Characterizing exoplanet atmospheres with spectroscopic variability measurements.
Graduate StudentUCSB
I'm interested in galaxy formation and evolution, specifically probing these fields through observations of dwarf galaxies.
Graduate StudentUCSB
Processing data from Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors to identify exoplanets.
Alumni Former students and postdocs: list in preparation.