About Me

Paolo Desiati is a research professor at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He investigates cosmic rays—high-energy particles from space—using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, and the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO). His work spans experimental analyses, large-scale simulations, and multi-experiment data combinations that sharpen our understanding of cosmic-ray origins and transport. He also performs numerical calculations of particle trajectories in astrophysical magnetic-field models, building theoretical frameworks that can be tested directly against observations. By bridging instruments and methods, Desiati aims to disentangle the complex processes that shape the cosmic-ray sky.

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Interests
  • Astrophysics
  • Cosmic Rays
  • Heliosphere
  • Magnetic fields
Education

  • PhD Physics

    Sapienza - Università di Roma (Italy)

  • MSc Physics

    Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy)

My Research

IceCube: Leading the cosmic-ray analyses in IceCube since 2006. Co-PI of the current IceCube Cosmic Ray Analysis sub-award (funded by NSF; UW–Madison PI: Desiati). I lead a working group on cosmic-ray anisotropy analyses at UW-Madison in collaboration with Dr. Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez (WIPAC), Prof. Rasha Abbasi (Loyola University Chicago), Prof. Frank McNally (Mercer University).

Collaboration with Prof. Julia Becker Tjus (University of Bochum, Germany) and the Bochum group on the observation of the cosmic-ray shadow cast by the Moon and the Sun using IceCube data and the numerical calculation of cosmic-ray particle trajectories around the Sun at different phases of the solar cycle.

HAWC: Combined analysis of 10 TeV cosmic-ray anisotropy with the HAWC and the IceCube neutrino observatories (with Dr. Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez). I am working on an overhaul of cosmic-ray anisotropy analysis in the 1-100 TeV energy range, using eight years of HAWC data. And on the HAWC/IceCube combined analysis in the 10-100 TeV energy range (funded by NSF grant; PI: Desiati). An MoU between IceCube and HAWC was established.

SWGO: Collaboration member of the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) and member of the Cosmic Ray task force aimed to establish requirements for high-energy cosmic anisotropy observations.

GRAPES-3: Collaboration with the GRAPES-3 extensive air shower experiment (located in Ooty, India) aimed to perform a combined analysis of cosmic-ray anisotropy with IceCube in the energy range of 10-100 TeV. An MoU between IceCube and GRAPES-3 was established.

Numerical Calculations: Paolo Desiati and Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez (UW-Madison) collaborate with Prof. Nikolai Pogorelov (Univ. of Alabama - Huntsville), Prof. Zhang Ming (Florida Institute of Technology), and Dr. Vanessa López Barquero (University of Maryland) on the heliosphere’s distortion effects on the arrival direction distribution of TeV cosmic rays and the unfolding of the interstellar diffusion properties.

Featured Publications
Chaotic Behavior of Trapped Cosmic Rays
Observation of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy in the Southern Hemisphere with 12 yr of Data Collected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Using TeV Cosmic Rays to probe the Heliosphere's Boundary with the Local Interstellar Medium
CREW HaT: A Magnetic Shielding System for Space Habitats
All-sky Measurement of the Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays at 10 TeV and Mapping of the Local Interstellar Magnetic Field
TeV Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy from the Magnetic Field at the Heliospheric Boundary
Cosmic-Ray Small-Scale Anisotropies and Local Turbulent Magnetic Fields
Recent Publications
Vanessa López-Barquero, Paolo Desiati (2025). Chaotic Behavior of Trapped Cosmic Rays. Astrophysical Journal.
Cite Project DOI URL
R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, J. Adams, S. K. Agarwalla, T. Aguado, J. A. Aguilar, M. Ahlers, J. M. Alameddine, N. M. Amin, K. Andeen, C. Argüelles, Y. Ashida, S. Athanasiadou, S. N. Axani, R. Babu, X. Bai, A. Balagopal V., M. Baricevic, S. W. Barwick, S. Bash, V. Basu, R. Bay, J. J. Beatty, J. Becker Tjus, J. Beise, C. Bellenghi, S. BenZvi, D. Berley, E. Bernardini, D. Z. Besson, E. Blaufuss, L. Bloom, S. Blot, F. Bontempo, J. Y. Book Motzkin, C. Boscolo Meneguolo, S. Böser, O. Botner, J. Böttcher, J. Braun, B. Brinson, Z. Brisson-Tsavoussis, J. Brostean-Kaiser, L. Brusa, R. T. Burley, D. Butterfield, M. A. Campana, I. Caracas, K. Carloni, J. Carpio, S. Chattopadhyay, N. Chau, Z. Chen, D. Chirkin, S. Choi, B. A. Clark, C. Cochling, A. Coleman, P. Coleman, G. H. Collin, A. Connolly, J. M. Conrad, R. Corley, D. F. Cowen, C. De Clercq, J. J. DeLaunay, D. Delgado, S. Deng, A. Desai, Paolo Desiati, K. D. De Vries, G. De Wasseige, T. DeYoung, A. Diaz, J. C. Díaz-Vélez, P. Dierichs, M. Dittmer, A. Domi, L. Draper, H. Dujmovic, D. Durnford, K. Dutta, M. A. DuVernois, T. Ehrhardt, L. Eidenschink, A. Eimer, P. Eller, E. Ellinger, S. El Mentawi, D. Elsässer, R. Engel, H. Erpenbeck, J. Evans, P. A. Evenson, K. L. Fan, K. Fang, K. Farrag, A. R. Fazely, A. Fedynitch, N. Feigl, S. Fiedlschuster, C. Finley, L. Fischer, D. Fox, A. Franckowiak, S. Fukami, P. Fürst, J. Gallagher, E. Ganster, A. Garcia, M. Garcia, G. Garg, E. Genton, L. Gerhardt, A. Ghadimi, C. Girard-Carillo, C. Glaser, T. Glüsenkamp, J. G. Gonzalez, S. Goswami, A. Granados, D. Grant, S. J. Gray, S. Griffin, S. Griswold, K. M. Groth, K. Gruchot, D. Guevel, C. Günther, P. Gutjahr, C. Ha, C. Haack, A. Hallgren, L. Halve, F. Halzen, L. Hamacher, H. Hamdaoui, A. Hardy, W. Hayes, M. Ha Minh, M. Handt, K. Hanson, J. Hardin, A. A. Harnisch, P. Hatch, A. Haungs, J. Häussler, K. Helbing, J. Hellrung, J. Hermannsgabner, L. Heuermann, N. Heyer, S. Hickford, A. Hidvegi, C. Hill, G. C. Hill, R. Hmaid, K. D. Hoffman, S. Hori, K. Hoshina, M. Hostert, W. Hou, T. Huber, K. Hultqvist, M. Hünnefeld, R. Hussain, K. Hymon, A. Ishihara, W. Iwakiri, M. Jacquart, S. Jain, O. Janik, M. Jansson, M. Jeong, M. Jin, B. J. P. Jones, N. Kamp, D. Kang, W. Kang, X. Kang, A. Kappes, D. Kappesser, L. Kardum, T. Karg, M. Karl, A. Karle, A. Katil, U. Katz, M. Kauer, J. L. Kelley, M. Khanal, A. Khatee Zathul, A. Kheirandish, J. Kiryluk, S. R. Klein, Y. Kobayashi, A. Kochocki, R. Koirala, H. Kolanoski, T. Kontrimas, L. Köpke, C. Kopper, D. J. Koskinen, P. Koundal, M. Kowalski, T. Kozynets, N. Krieger, J. Krishnamoorthi, K. Kruiswijk, E. Krupczak, A. Kumar, E. Kun, N. Kurahashi, N. Lad, C. Lagunas Gualda, M. Lamoureux, M. J. Larson, F. Lauber, J. P. Lazar, J. W. Lee, K. Leonard DeHolton, A. Leszczyńska, J. Liao, M. Lincetto, Y. T. Liu, M. Liubarska, C. Love, L. Lu, F. Lucarelli, W. Luszczak, Y. Lyu, J. Madsen, E. Magnus, K. B. M. Mahn, Y. Makino, E. Manao, S. Mancina, A. Mand, W. Marie Sainte, I. C. Mariş, S. Marka, Z. Marka, M. Marsee, I. Martinez-Soler, R. Maruyama, F. Mayhew, F. McNally, J. v. Mead, K. Meagher, S. Mechbal, A. Medina, M. Meier, Y. Merckx, L. Merten, J. Mitchell, T. Montaruli, R. W. Moore, Y. Morii, R. Morse, M. Moulai, A. Moy, T. Mukherjee, R. Naab, M. Nakos, U. Naumann, J. Necker, A. Negi, L. Neste, M. Neumann, H. Niederhausen, M. U. Nisa, K. Noda, A. Noell, A. Novikov, A. Obertacke Pollmann, V. O’Dell, A. Olivas, R. Orsoe, J. Osborn, E. O’Sullivan, V. Palusova, H. Pandya, N. Park, G. K. Parker, V. Parrish, E. N. Paudel, L. Paul, C. Pérez De Los Heros, T. Pernice, J. Peterson, A. Pizzuto, M. Plum, A. Pontén, Y. Popovych, M. Prado Rodriguez, B. Pries, R. Procter-Murphy, G. T. Przybylski, L. Pyras, C. Raab, J. Rack-Helleis, N. Rad, M. Ravn, K. Rawlins, Z. Rechav, A. Rehman, E. Resconi, S. Reusch, W. Rhode, B. Riedel, A. Rifaie, E. J. Roberts, S. Robertson, S. Rodan, G. Roellinghoff, M. Rongen, A. Rosted, C. Rott, T. Ruhe, L. Ruohan, D. Ryckbosch, I. Safa, J. Saffer, D. Salazar-Gallegos, P. Sampathkumar, A. Sandrock, M. Santander, S. Sarkar, J. Savelberg, P. Savina, P. Schaile, M. Schaufel, H. Schieler, S. Schindler, L. Schlickmann, B. Schlüter, F. Schlüter, N. Schmeisser, E. Schmidt, T. Schmidt, J. Schneider, F. G. Schröder, L. Schumacher, S. Schwirn, S. Sclafani, D. Seckel, L. Seen, M. Seikh, M. Seo, S. Seunarine, P. Sevle Myhr, R. Shah, S. Shefali, N. Shimizu, M. Silva, A. Simmons, B. Skrzypek, B. Smithers, R. Snihur, J. Soedingrekso, A. Søgaard, D. Soldin, P. Soldin, G. Sommani, C. Spannfellner, G. M. Spiczak, C. Spiering, J. Stachurska, M. Stamatikos, T. Stanev, T. Stezelberger, T. Stürwald, T. Stuttard, G. W. Sullivan, I. Taboada, S. Ter-Antonyan, A. Terliuk, M. Thiesmeyer, W. G. Thompson, A. Thorpe, J. Thwaites, S. Tilav, K. Tollefson, C. Tönnis, S. Toscano, D. Tosi, A. Trettin, R. Turcotte, M. A. Unland Elorrieta, A. K. Upadhyay, K. Upshaw, A. Vaidyanathan, N. Valtonen-Mattila, J. Vandenbroucke, N. Van Eijndhoven, D. Vannerom, J. Van Santen, J. Vara, F. Varsi, J. Veitch-Michaelis, M. Venugopal, M. Vereecken, S. Vergara Carrasco, S. Verpoest, D. Veske, A. Vijai, C. Walck, A. Wang, C. Weaver, P. Weigel, A. Weindl, J. Weldert, A. Y. Wen, C. Wendt, J. Werthebach, M. Weyrauch, N. Whitehorn, C. H. Wiebusch, D. R. Williams, L. Witthaus, H. Woodward, M. Wolf, G. Wrede, X. W. Xu, J. P. Yanez, E. Yildizci, S. Yoshida, R. Young, S. Yu, T. Yuan, A. Zegarelli, S. Zhang, Z. Zhang, P. Zhelnin, P. Zilberman, M. Zimmerman, (IceCube Collaboration) (2025). Observation of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy in the Southern Hemisphere with 12 yr of Data Collected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The Astrophysical Journal.
Cite Project DOI URL
R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J.C. Arteaga-Velázquez, D. Avila Rojas, H.A. Ayala Solares, E. Belmont-Moreno, A. Bernal, K.S. Caballero-Mora, T. Capistrán, A. Carramiñana, S. Casanova, J. Cotzomi, S. Coutiño De León, E. De La Fuente, D. Depaoli, P. Desiati, N. Di Lalla, R. Diaz Hernandez, M.A. DuVernois, J.C. Díaz-Vélez, K. Engel, T. Ergin, K.L. Fan, N. Fraija, J.A. García-González, A. Gonzalez Muñoz, M.M. González, J.A. Goodman, J.P. Harding, S. Hernández-Cadena, I. Herzog, D. Huang, F. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, P. Hüntemeyer, A. Iriarte, A. Lara, W.H. Lee, H. León Vargas, A.L. Longinotti, G. Luis-Raya, K. Malone, O. Martinez, J. Martínez-Castro, H. Martínez-Huerta, J.A. Matthews, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, J.A. Morales-Soto, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, M. Najafi, L. Nellen, R. Noriega-Papaqui, N. Omodei, Y. Pérez Araujo, E.G. Pérez-Pérez, C.D. Rho, D. Rosa-González, H. Salazar, A. Sandoval, M. Schneider, J. Serna-Franco, A.J. Smith, Y. Son, R.W. Springer, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, R. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, F. Ureña-Mena, E. Varela, L. Villaseñor, X. Wang, I.J. Watson, H. Wu, S. Yu, H. Zhou, C. De León (2025). A measurement of the all-particle energy spectrum of cosmic rays from 1013 to 1015eV using HAWC. Astroparticle Physics.
Cite DOI URL
A.U. Abeysekara, R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J.C. Arteaga-Velázquez, D. Avila Rojas, H.A. Ayala Solares, R. Babu, E. Belmont-Moreno, A. Bernal, K.S. Caballero-Mora, T. Capistrán, A. Carramiñana, S. Casanova, U. Cotti, J. Cotzomi, S. Coutiño De León, E. De La Fuente, D. Depaoli, P. Desiati, N. Di Lalla, R. Diaz Hernandez, M.A. DuVernois, J.C. Díaz-Vélez, K. Engel, T. Ergin, K.L. Fan, K. Fang, N. Fraija, S. Fraija, J.A. García-González, F. Garfias, M.M. González, J.A. Goodman, J.P. Harding, S. Hernández-Cadena, D. Huang, F. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, A. Iriarte, S. Kaufmann, D. Kieda, A. Lara, J. Lee, H. León Vargas, J.T. Linnemann, A.L. Longinotti, G. Luis-Raya, K. Malone, O. Martinez, J. Martínez-Castro, J.A. Matthews, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, J.A. Morales-Soto, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, M. Najafi, L. Nellen, M. Newbold, M.U. Nisa, R. Noriega-Papaqui, N. Omodei, Y. Pérez Araujo, E.G. Pérez-Pérez, C.D. Rho, D. Rosa-González, E. Ruiz-Velasco, M.A. Roth, H. Salazar, A. Sandoval, J. Serna-Franco, Y. Son, R.W. Springer, O. Tibolla, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, R. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, F. Ureña-Mena, E. Varela, L. Villaseñor, X. Wang, Z. Wang, I.J. Watson, H. Wu, S. Yu, C. De León (2025). Absence of TeV halos around millisecond pulsars. Physical Review D.
Cite DOI URL
Vanessa López-Barquero, Paolo Desiati (2025). Chaotic Behavior of Trapped Cosmic Rays. Astrophysical Journal.
Cite DOI URL
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