Paolo Desiati is a research professor at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC), a center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on cosmic ray physics through his work with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, and the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), performing experimental analyses and simulation studies of cosmic rays. He collaborates with various teams to create multi-experiment combined analyses, aiming to provide comprehensive insights into the complexities of cosmic rays. Additionally, Paolo conducts numerical calculations of particle trajectories using computational astrophysical magnetic field models to develop theoretical frameworks for testing against observational data.

News

• July 2025: New Results - New preliminary investigations and results on cosmic-ray anisotropy observations with IceCube, IceTop, and HAWC will be presented at the International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2025) to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in July, 2025. These results will be presented by members of the team at Loyola University Chicago, Mercer University, and the University of Wisconsin - Madison - (NSF Awards #2209483 and #2310092).
• June-July 2025: Cosmic-Ray Summer Program - WIPAC hosts the Cosmic-Ray Summer Program, an initiative designed to train the next generation of STEM professionals. Building on the success of the NSF-funded IceCube EPSCoR Initiative (IEI), this summer program provides undergraduate and early graduate students with hands-on research experience in cosmic-ray science. Organized across several institutions within the IceCube Collaboration, the program has become a model for student engagement in cutting-edge astrophysics research. This year, we are excited to welcome 15 students from the University of Delaware, South Dakota School of Mines, University of Alaska, Loyola University Chicago, Mercer University, Marquette University, University of Alabama, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison - (NSF Award #2209483). We also have a visiting student from Stevens Institute of Technology (REU student), one from Harvard University, and a student from Chiang Mai University (Thailand).
• April 2025: Research Paper - The paper on Chaotic Behavior of Trapped Cosmic Rays, based on the research performed in collaboration with colleague Dr. Vanessa López Barquero, was published on The Astrophysics Journal (V. López-Barquero and P. Desiati 2025 ApJ 983 106).
• March 2025: Research Paper - The anisotropy analysis results obtained by the cosmic-ray teams at UW-Madison, Mercer University, and Loyola University Chicago using 12 years of IceCube data (collected from May 2011 to May 2023) was published on The Astrophysical Journal (R. Abbasi et al 2025 ApJ 981 182) - (NSF Award #2209483).
• October 2024: Conference - Organizer of the SuGAR 2024 Symposium, Searching for the sources of galactic cosmic rays, hosted at WIPAC. The symposium aims to investigate the long-standing mystery surrounding the origin of cosmic rays within our galaxy. This event will bring together renowned experts to discuss both experimental and theoretical aspects of cosmic ray physics, with a particular emphasis on galactic sources. Despite ongoing research, the question of where cosmic rays originate within the Milky Way remains unanswered. The symposium will host a number of invited speakers who are experts in various aspects of galactic multi-messenger astrophysics. Furthermore, two dedicated discussion panels will provide opportunities for open discussion. One panel will delve into the current status and challenges of multi-messenger observations and theoretical modeling. The other will address the future of observations and instrumentation required to make a breakthrough in our understanding of the galactic origin of cosmic rays - (partially supported by WIPAC and WARF).