About

David Caratelli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on experimental particle physics with a particular emphasis on studying neutrinos. Through his work, he aims to understand the fundamental laws of nature and the evolution of the universe. Caratelli's research contributes to the broader field of high energy experimental physics, where neutrinos serve as a key probe into the underlying principles governing the cosmos.

Research topics

• Physics
• Particle physics
• Nuclear physics
• Astronomy
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Optics
• Astrophysics
• Engineering
• Atomic physics
• Algorithm
• Systems engineering
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Measurement of single charged pion production in charged-current <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>ν</mml:mi> <mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> -Ar interactions with the MicroBooNE detector

  Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2026-01-02

  articleOpen access

  We present flux-integrated charged-current <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:msub> <a:mi>ν</a:mi> <a:mi>μ</a:mi> </a:msub> </a:math> cross-section measurements on argon for final states containing exactly one <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <c:msup> <c:mi>π</c:mi> <c:mo>±</c:mo> </c:msup> </c:math> and no other hadrons except nucleons. The analysis uses data from the MicroBooNE experiment in the Booster Neutrino Beam, corresponding to <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <e:mn>1.11</e:mn> <e:mo>×</e:mo> <e:msup> <e:mn>10</e:mn> <e:mn>21</e:mn> </e:msup> </e:math> protons on target. Total and single-differential cross-section measurements are provided within a phase space restricted to muon momenta above 150 MeV, pion momenta above 100 MeV, and muon-pion opening angles smaller than 2.65 rad. Differential cross sections are reported with respect to the scattering angles of the muon and pion relative to the beam direction, their momenta, and their combined opening angle. The differential cross section with respect to muon momentum is based on a subset of selected events with the muon track fully contained in the detector, whereas the cross section with respect to pion momentum is based on a subset of selected events rich in pions that have not hadronically scattered on the argon before coming to rest. The latter has not been measured on argon before. The total cross section is measured as <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <g:mo stretchy="false">(</g:mo> <g:mn>3.75</g:mn> <g:mo>±</g:mo> <g:mn>0.07</g:mn> <g:mrow> <g:mo stretchy="false">(</g:mo> <g:mi>stat</g:mi> <g:mo stretchy="false">)</g:mo> </g:mrow> <g:mo>±</g:mo> <g:mn>0.80</g:mn> <g:mrow> <g:mo stretchy="false">(</g:mo> <g:mi>syst</g:mi> <g:mo stretchy="false">)</g:mo> </g:mrow> <g:mo stretchy="false">)</g:mo> <g:mo>×</g:mo> <g:msup> <g:mn>10</g:mn> <g:mrow> <g:mo>−</g:mo> <g:mn>38</g:mn> </g:mrow> </g:msup> <g:mtext> </g:mtext> <g:mtext> </g:mtext> <g:msup> <g:mrow> <g:mi>cm</g:mi> </g:mrow> <g:mn>2</g:mn> </g:msup> <g:mo>/</g:mo> <g:mi>Ar</g:mi> </g:math> at a mean energy of approximately 0.8 GeV. Comparisons of the measured cross sections with predictions from multiple neutrino-nucleus interaction generators show good overall agreement, except at very forward muon angles.

  PublisherDOI

• Optimal Transport for $e/\pi^0$ Particle Classification in LArTPC Neutrino Experiments

  2025-07-14

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The efficient classification of electromagnetic activity from $\pi^0$ and electrons is a notoriously challenging problem in the reconstruction of neutrino interactions in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detectors. We address this problem using the mathematical framework of Optimal Transport (OT), which has been successfully employed for event classification in other HEP contexts and is ideally suited to the high-resolution calorimetry of LArTPCs. Using a publicly available simulated dataset from the MicroBooNE collaboration, we show that OT methods achieve state-of-the-art reconstruction performance in $e/\pi^0$ classification. The success of this first application indicates the broader promise of OT methods for LArTPC-based neutrino experiments. This work motivates integrating OT in the reconstruction frameworks of LArTPC experiments such as SBN and DUNE more broadly. Since $\pi^0$s are a significant background for both oscillation experiments and BSM searches, OT can lead to sizeable improvements in the selection efficiency for these analyses by introducing a novel method with which to achieve $\pi^0$ rejection.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Measurement of single- and double-differential cross sections for mesonless charged-current muon neutrino interactions on argon with final-state protons using the MicroBooNE detector

  Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2025-09-23

  articleOpen access

  Charged-current neutrino interactions with final states containing zero mesons and at least one proton are of high interest for current and future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. Using the Booster Neutrino Beam and the MicroBooNE detector at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, we have obtained the first double-differential cross-section measurements of this channel for muon neutrino scattering on an argon target with a leading proton momentum threshold of <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mrow> <a:mn>0.25</a:mn> <a:mtext> </a:mtext> <a:mtext> </a:mtext> <a:mi>GeV</a:mi> <a:mo>/</a:mo> <a:mrow> <a:mi>c</a:mi> </a:mrow> </a:mrow> </a:math> . We also report a flux-averaged total cross section of <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <c:mrow> <c:mi>σ</c:mi> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mo stretchy="false">(</c:mo> <c:mn>11.8</c:mn> <c:mo>±</c:mo> <c:mn>1.2</c:mn> <c:mo stretchy="false">)</c:mo> <c:mo>×</c:mo> <c:msup> <c:mrow> <c:mn>10</c:mn> </c:mrow> <c:mrow> <c:mo>−</c:mo> <c:mn>38</c:mn> </c:mrow> </c:msup> <c:mtext> </c:mtext> <c:mtext> </c:mtext> <c:msup> <c:mrow> <c:mi>cm</c:mi> </c:mrow> <c:mrow> <c:mn>2</c:mn> </c:mrow> </c:msup> <c:mo>/</c:mo> <c:mi>Ar</c:mi> </c:mrow> </c:math> and several single-differential measurements which extend and improve upon previous results. Statistical and systematic uncertainties are quantified with a full treatment of correlations across 359 kinematic bins, including correlations between distributions describing different observables. The resulting dataset provides the most detailed information obtained to date for testing models of mesonless neutrino-argon scattering.

  PublisherDOI

• Optimal Transport for $e/π^0$ Particle Classification in LArTPC Neutrino Experiments

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2025-06-10

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The efficient classification of electromagnetic activity from $π^0$ and electrons remains an open problem in the reconstruction of neutrino interactions in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detectors. We address this problem using the mathematical framework of Optimal Transport (OT), which has been successfully employed for event classification in other HEP contexts and is ideally suited to the high-resolution calorimetry of LArTPCs. Using a publicly available simulated dataset from the MicroBooNE collaboration, we show that OT methods achieve state-of-the-art reconstruction performance in $e/π^0$ classification. The success of this first application indicates the broader promise of OT methods for LArTPC-based neutrino experiments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• NuGraph2: A Graph Neural Network for Neutrino Event Reconstruction

  2024-07-15

  articleOpen access

  Neutrino experiments are set to probe some of the most important open questions in physics, from CP violation and the nature of dark matter. The technology of choice for many of these experiments is the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). In current LArTPC experiments, reconstruction performance often represents a limiting factor for the sensitivity. New developments are therefore needed to unlock the full potential of LArTPC experiments. NuGraph2 is a state of the art Graph Neural Network for reconstruction of data in LArTPC experiments [https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.11872]. NuGraph2 utilizes a heterogeneous graph structure, with separate subgraphs of 2D nodes (hits in each plane) connected across planes via 3D nodes (space points). The model provides a consistent description of the neutrino interaction across all planes. NuGraph2 is a multi-purpose network, with a common message-passing attention engine connected to multiple decoders with different classification or regression tasks. These include the classification of detector hits according to the particle type that produced them (semantic segmentation) and the separation of hits from the neutrino interaction from hits due to noise or cosmic-ray background. Additional decoders are being developed, performing tasks such as the regression of the neutrino interaction vertex position. Performance results will be presented based on publicly available samples from MicroBooNE. These include both physics performance metrics, achieving 95% accuracy for semantic segmentation and 98% classification of neutrino hits, as well as computational metrics for training and for inference on CPU or GPU. The status of the NuGraph integration in the LArSoft software framework will be presented, as well as initial studies about model interpretability and injection of domain knowledge.

  PublisherDOI

• Demonstration of neutron identification in neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-06-15

  preprintOpen access

  A significant challenge in measurements of neutrino oscillations is reconstructing the incoming neutrino energies. While modern fully-active tracking calorimeters such as liquid argon time projection chambers in principle allow the measurement of all final state particles above some detection threshold, undetected neutrons remain a considerable source of missing energy with little to no data constraining their production rates and kinematics. We present the first demonstration of tagging neutrino-induced neutrons in liquid argon time projection chambers using secondary protons emitted from neutron-argon interactions in the MicroBooNE detector. We describe the method developed to identify neutrino-induced neutrons and demonstrate its performance using neutrons produced in muon-neutrino charged current interactions. The method is validated using a small subset of MicroBooNE's total dataset. The selection yields a sample with $60\%$ of selected tracks corresponding to neutron-induced secondary protons.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• First Measurement of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>η</mml:mi></mml:math> Meson Production in Neutrino Interactions on Argon with MicroBooNE

  Physical Review Letters · 2024-04-10 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  We present a measurement of $\ensuremath{\eta}$ production from neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector. The modeling of resonant neutrino interactions on argon is a critical aspect of the neutrino oscillation physics program being carried out by the DUNE and Short Baseline Neutrino programs. $\ensuremath{\eta}$ production in neutrino interactions provides a powerful new probe of resonant interactions, complementary to pion channels, and is particularly suited to the study of higher-order resonances beyond the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}(1232)$. We measure a flux-integrated cross section for neutrino-induced $\ensuremath{\eta}$ production on argon of $3.22\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.84(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.86(\mathrm{syst})$ ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}41}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}/\text{nucleon}$. By demonstrating the successful reconstruction of the two photons resulting from $\ensuremath{\eta}$ production, this analysis enables a novel calibration technique for electromagnetic showers in GeV accelerator neutrino experiments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Measurement of ambient radon progeny decay rates and energy spectra in liquid argon using the MicroBooNE detector

  OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 2024 · 11 citations

  • Nuclear physics
  • Physics
  • Environmental science

  We report measurements of radon progeny in liquid argon within the MicroBooNE time projection chamber (LArTPC). The presence of specific radon daughters in MicroBooNE’s 85 metric tons of active liquid argon bulk is probed with newly developed charge-based low-energy reconstruction tools and analysis techniques to detect correlated <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mrow><a:mmultiscripts><a:mrow><a:mi>Bi</a:mi></a:mrow><a:mprescripts/><a:none/><a:mrow><a:mn>214</a:mn></a:mrow></a:mmultiscripts><a:mtext>−</a:mtext><a:mrow><a:mmultiscripts><a:mrow><a:mi>Po</a:mi></a:mrow><a:mprescripts/><a:none/><a:mrow><a:mn>214</a:mn></a:mrow></a:mmultiscripts></a:mrow></a:mrow></a:math> radioactive decays. Special datasets taken during periods of active radon doping enable new demonstrations of the calorimetric capabilities of single-phase neutrino LArTPCs for <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mi>β</c:mi></c:math> and <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:mi>α</e:mi></e:math> particles with electron-equivalent energies ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 MeV. By applying <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mrow><g:mmultiscripts><g:mrow><g:mi>Bi</g:mi></g:mrow><g:mprescripts/><g:none/><g:mrow><g:mn>214</g:mn></g:mrow></g:mmultiscripts><g:mtext>−</g:mtext><g:mrow><g:mmultiscripts><g:mrow><g:mi>Po</g:mi></g:mrow><g:mprescripts/><g:none/><g:mrow><g:mn>214</g:mn></g:mrow></g:mmultiscripts></g:mrow></g:mrow></g:math> detection algorithms to data recorded over a 46-day period, no statistically significant presence of radioactive <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mrow><i:mmultiscripts><i:mrow><i:mi>Bi</i:mi></i:mrow><i:mprescripts/><i:none/><i:mrow><i:mn>214</i:mn></i:mrow></i:mmultiscripts></i:mrow></i:math> is detected, and a limit on the activity is placed at <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><k:mo form="prefix">&lt;</k:mo><k:mn>0.35</k:mn><k:mtext> </k:mtext><k:mtext> </k:mtext><k:mi>mBq</k:mi><k:mo>/</k:mo><k:mi>kg</k:mi></k:math> at the 95% confidence level. This bulk <n:math xmlns:n="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><n:mrow><n:mmultiscripts><n:mrow><n:mi>Bi</n:mi></n:mrow><n:mprescripts/><n:none/><n:mrow><n:mn>214</n:mn></n:mrow></n:mmultiscripts></n:mrow></n:math> radiopurity limit—the first ever reported for a liquid argon detector incorporating liquid-phase purification—is then further discussed in relation to the targeted upper limit of <p:math xmlns:p="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><p:mrow><p:mn>1</p:mn><p:mtext> </p:mtext><p:mtext> </p:mtext><p:mi>mBq</p:mi><p:mo>/</p:mo><p:mi>kg</p:mi></p:mrow></p:math> on bulk <r:math xmlns:r="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><r:mrow><r:mmultiscripts><r:mrow><r:mi>Rn</r:mi></r:mrow><r:mprescripts/><r:none/><r:mrow><r:mn>222</r:mn></r:mrow></r:mmultiscripts></r:mrow></r:math> activity for the DUNE neutrino detector. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• First Simultaneous Measurement of Differential Muon-Neutrino Charged-Current Cross Sections on Argon for Final States with and without Protons Using MicroBooNE Data

  Physical Review Letters · 2024-07-24 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access

  We report the first double-differential neutrino-argon cross section measurement made simultaneously for final states with and without protons for the inclusive muon neutrino charged-current interaction channel. The proton kinematics of this channel are further explored with a differential cross section measurement as a function of the leading proton's kinetic energy that extends across the detection threshold. These measurements use data collected with the MicroBooNE detector from 6.4×10^{20} protons on target from the Fermilab booster neutrino beam with a mean neutrino energy of ∼0.8 GeV. Extensive data-driven model validation utilizing the conditional constraint formalism is employed. This motivates enlarging the uncertainties with an empirical reweighting approach to minimize the possibility of extracting biased cross section results. The extracted nominal flux-averaged cross sections are compared to widely used event generator predictions revealing severe mismodeling of final states without protons for muon neutrino charged-current interactions, possibly from insufficient treatment of final state interactions. These measurements provide a wealth of new information useful for improving event generators which will enhance the sensitivity of precision measurements in neutrino experiments.

  PublisherDOI

• Measurement of the differential cross section for neutral pion production in charged-current muon neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector

  Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2024-11-19 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  We present a measurement of neutral pion production in charged-current interactions using data recorded with the MicroBooNE detector exposed to Fermilab’s booster neutrino beam. The signal comprises one muon, one neutral pion, any number of nucleons, and no charged pions. Studying neutral pion production in the MicroBooNE detector provides an opportunity to better understand neutrino-argon interactions, and is crucial for future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. Using a dataset corresponding to <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mn>6.86</a:mn><a:mo>×</a:mo><a:msup><a:mn>10</a:mn><a:mn>20</a:mn></a:msup></a:math> protons on target, we present single-differential cross sections in muon and neutral pion momenta, scattering angles with respect to the beam for the outgoing muon and neutral pion, as well as the opening angle between the muon and neutral pion. Data extracted cross sections are compared to generator predictions. We report good agreement between the data and the models for scattering angles, except for an over-prediction by generators at muon forward angles. Similarly, the agreement between data and the models as a function of momentum is good, except for an underprediction by generators in the medium momentum ranges, 200–400 MeV for muons and 100–200 MeV for pions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• S. Gollapinni

  Los Alamos National Laboratory

  156 shared

• A. P. Furmanski

  University of Minnesota System

  153 shared

• A. Ereditato

  University of Chicago

  144 shared

• J. I. Crespo-Anadón

  Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas

  141 shared

• J. Spitz

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  138 shared

• M. Söderberg

  Syracuse University

  138 shared

• X. Qian

  137 shared

• F. Cavanna

  Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

  135 shared

Labs

• David Caratelli's LabPI

  Not provided