David Martinez Caicedo
Education
B.S., Universidad de Nariño
M.S., Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Ph.D., Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Brief Bio
Appointments:
Associate Professor, Physics Department, South Dakota Mines, 2024 - Present
Assistant Professor, Physics Department, South Dakota Mines, 2018 - 2024
Research Associate, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2014 - 2018
Neutrino Physics Center Fellow, Fermilab, 2017
Synergistic Activities:
Co-chair of the 23rd International Workshop on Next Generation Nucleon Decay and Neutrino
Detectors (NNN 2024).
Co-chair of the 20th International Workshop on Next Generation Nucleon Decay and Neutrino
Detectors (NNN19).
Fermilab Users Executive Committe, 2018-2020
Research Expertise
Hello! ¡Hola! Oi!
I have been involved in neutrino physics research for more than a decade. I have participated
in several reactor and accelerator neutrino experiments around the world, and I am
deeply interested in studying the fascinating particles known as neutrinos.
What is so special about neutrinos? Understanding the properties of these tiny, neutral
subatomic particles, how they interact with matter, why the phenomenon of neutrino
oscillations occurs, how neutrinos acquire mass, and how they can provide clues to
the matter–antimatter asymmetry in the universe, is one of the most exciting topics
in modern physics.
My research group is currently participating in three forefront neutrino experiments:
MicroBooNE, DUNE, and T2K. In MicroBooNE, we led the first-ever measurement of charged-current
muon-neutrino–induced kaon production on argon. This measurement can contribute to
improving the accuracy of background estimations for future nucleon decay searches
at DUNE and could provide valuable data constraints to refine neutrino interaction
generator models.
In DUNE, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, we are leading the design,
testing, and integration of optical components of the UV light calibration system.
Furthermore, in collaboration with Fermilab, we are leading the novel application
of Power-over-Fiber (PoF) technology to supply power to photon detectors for the DUNE
far detector.
We are also leading the development of novel particle identification tools to analyze
data collected with a prototype of the T2K SuperFGD detector, which was exposed to
a neutron beam at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
In addition, my group is leading the ongoing development of a DUNE Masterclass program
designed to introduce high school students to the main scientific goals of DUNE, the
operation of liquid argon time projection chambers, and the analysis of cosmic rays
interacting with a DUNE prototype detector.