Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer

Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research focuses on developing and applying advanced techniques for directly imaging exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and debris disks. He maintains an active research program utilizing the world's largest telescopes and developing new astronomical instrumentation.

Dr. Millar-Blanchaer specializes in polarimetry, which leverages the wave nature of light to detect faint disks and characterize exoplanetary atmospheres. His work bridges observational astronomy, instrument development, and data analysis techniques. His research interests span exoplanet direct imaging, brown dwarf atmospheres, debris disks, astronomical instrumentation, and infrared astronomy.

His recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on pushing the boundaries of polarimetric techniques for exoplanet detection and characterization. The work spans both theoretical development of new methods and practical applications using major observatories. His research group at UCSB appears to be actively developing software tools for astronomical data analysis and simulation.

Dr. Millar-Blanchaer is actively engaged with students and collaborators, welcoming new research partnerships. His laboratory maintains several software projects related to astronomical instrumentation and data analysis, including tools for Mueller matrix calculations and instrument simulation.