About

Paolo Privitera is a professor affiliated with the Department of Physics, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at The University of Chicago. His research focuses on building qubit-based neutrino detectors and exploring dark matter through specialized detection methods, such as using a 'camera' deep beneath the French Alps. He has been recognized for his contributions to physics, as evidenced by recent news highlights and his active engagement in advancing experimental physics and cosmology. His work involves developing innovative detection technologies and investigating fundamental questions in astrophysics and particle physics.

Research topics

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Computer Science
• Particle physics
• Atomic physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Geology
• Nuclear physics
• Optics
• Astronomy

Selected publications

• First Production of Skipper-CCD Modules for the DAMIC-M Experiment

  ArXiv.org · 2025-09-08

  preprintOpen access

  The DAMIC-M experiment will search for sub-GeV dark matter particles with a large array of silicon skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) at the Modane Underground Laboratory (LSM) in France. After five years of development, we recently completed the production of 28 CCD modules at the University of Washington, each consisting of four 9-megapixel skipper CCDs. Material screening and background controls were implemented to meet stringent radio-purity targets, while extensive testing was employed to select science-grade CCDs for the modules and confirm their excellent performance after fabrication. Further testing at LSM will select 26 of these modules (${\sim}$350 g active mass) to be installed and operated in the DAMIC-M detector in early 2026.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Progress towards stereo observation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes

  2025-09-24

  articleOpen access

  Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are the most energetic particles ever detected. Cosmic rays that achieve the highest energies are rare, and their flux at Earth is extremely low. As a result, next-generation experiments with large effective areas are required and under development. The Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) is one such project. Although observation time is limited compared with ground particle detectors, it enables direct measurements of $X_\mathrm{max}$, a crucial parameter sensitive to the primary cosmic-ray composition. FAST will achieve large-area coverage by significantly reducing the cost of telescopes. This necessitates a simplified telescope compared to conventional designs. Demonstrating the feasibility of our telescope and observational method is essential. To validate the FAST concept, prototype telescopes have been deployed at the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array experiment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Latest updates and results from the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST)

  2025-03-21

  articleOpen access

  The Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) is a next-generation cosmic ray experiment aiming to observe cosmic rays above 30 EeV with unprecedented statistics. To achieve this, FAST will utilise low-cost, easily deployable, autonomous fluorescence telescopes spread over a detecting area an order of magnitude larger than those of current observatories. We present the analysis of data taken by the current FAST prototypes in the northern and southern hemispheres between 2018 and 2024, including preliminary measurements of the energy spectrum and elongation rate from events observed in time coincidence with the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array experiment. We also briefly report on the development of the second-generation prototype telescopes and their scheduled installation as part of the FAST mini-array.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Daily Modulation Constraints on Light Dark Matter with DAMIC-M

  ArXiv.org · 2025-11-17

  articleOpen access

  International audience

  PublisherOA PDF

• Search for Daily Modulation of MeV Dark Matter Signals with DAMIC-M

  Physical Review Letters · 2024-03-07 · 18 citations

  articleOpen access

  Dark matter (DM) particles with sufficiently large cross sections may scatter as they travel through Earth's bulk. The corresponding changes in the DM flux give rise to a characteristic daily modulation signal in detectors sensitive to DM-electron interactions. Here, we report results obtained from the first underground operation of the DAMIC-M prototype detector searching for such a signal from DM with MeV-scale mass. A model-independent analysis finds no modulation in the rate of 1 e^{-} events with sidereal period, where a DM signal would appear. We then use these data to place exclusion limits on DM in the mass range [0.53,2.7] MeV/c^{2} interacting with electrons via a dark photon mediator. Taking advantage of the time-dependent signal we improve by ∼2 orders of magnitude on our previous limit obtained from the total rate of 1 e^{-} events, using the same dataset. This daily modulation search represents the current strongest limit on DM-electron scattering via ultralight mediators for DM masses around 1 MeV/c^{2}.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The DAMIC-M Low Background Chamber

  Journal of Instrumentation · 2024-11-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The DArk Matter In CCDs at Modane (DAMIC-M) experiment is designed to search for light dark matter (m χ < 10 GeV/c 2 ) at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) in France. DAMIC-M will use skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) as a kg-scale active detector target. Its single-electron resolution will enable eV-scale energy thresholds and thus world-leading sensitivity to a range of hidden sector dark matter candidates. A DAMIC-M prototype, the Low Background Chamber (LBC), has been taking data at LSM since 2022. The LBC provides a low-background environment, which has been used to characterize skipper CCDs, study dark current, and measure radiopurity of materials planned for DAMIC-M. It also allows testing of various subsystems like readout electronics, data acquisition software, and slow control. This paper describes the technical design and performance of the LBC.

  PublisherDOI

• Searching for millicharged particles with 1 kg of Skipper-CCDs using the NuMI beam at Fermilab

  Journal of High Energy Physics · 2024-02-13 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access

  A bstract Oscura is a planned light-dark matter search experiment using Skipper-CCDs with a total active mass of 10 kg. As part of the detector development, the collaboration plans to build the Oscura Integration Test (OIT), an engineering test with 10% of the total mass. Here we discuss the early science opportunities with the OIT to search for millicharged particles (mCPs) using the NuMI beam at Fermilab. mCPs would be produced at low energies through photon-mediated processes from decays of scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector mesons, or direct Drell-Yan productions. Estimates show that the OIT would be a world-leading probe for mCPs in the ∼MeV mass range.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Detecting ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with prototypes of the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) in both hemispheres

  2023-07-27 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), whose energy are beyond $10^{18}~\mathrm{eV}$, are the most energetic particles we have ever detected. The latest results seem to indicate a heavier composition at the highest energies, complicating the search for their origins. Due to the limited number of UHECR events, we need to build an instrument with an order of magnitude larger effective-exposure to collect UHECRs in future decades. The Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) is a proposed low-cost, easily deployable UHECR detector suitable for a future ground array. It is essential to validate the telescope design and autonomous observational techniques using prototypes located in both hemispheres. Here we report on the current status of observations, recent performance results of prototypes, and developments towards a future mini-array.

  PublisherDOI

• Searching for millicharged particles with 1 kg of Skipper-CCDs using the NuMI beam at Fermilab

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2023-04-17 · 3 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Oscura is a planned light-dark matter search experiment using Skipper-CCDs with a total active mass of 10 kg. As part of the detector development, the collaboration plans to build the Oscura Integration Test (OIT), an engineering test with 10% of the total mass. Here we discuss the early science opportunities with the OIT to search for millicharged particles (mCPs) using the NuMI beam at Fermilab. mCPs would be produced at low energies through photon-mediated processes from decays of scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector mesons, or direct Drell-Yan productions. Estimates show that the OIT would be a world-leading probe for mCPs in the MeV mass range.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Skipper-CCD Sensors for the Oscura Experiment: Requirements and Preliminary Tests

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2023-04-10 · 4 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Oscura is a proposed multi-kg skipper-CCD experiment designed for a dark matter (DM) direct detection search that will reach unprecedented sensitivity to sub-GeV DM-electron interactions with its 10 kg detector array. Oscura is planning to operate at SNOLAB with 2070 m overburden, and aims to reach a background goal of less than one event in each electron bin in the 2-10 electron ionization-signal region for the full 30 kg-year exposure, with a radiation background rate of 0.01 dru. In order to achieve this goal, Oscura must address each potential source of background events, including instrumental backgrounds. In this work, we discuss the main instrumental background sources and the strategy to control them, establishing a set of constraints on the sensors' performance parameters. We present results from the tests of the first fabricated Oscura prototype sensors, evaluate their performance in the context of the established constraints and estimate the Oscura instrumental background based on these results.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• The Highest Energy Astroparticle Physics

  NSF · $826k · 2014–2017

• The Highest Energy Astroparticle Physics

  NSF · $534k · 2017–2020

• Collaborative Research: The DAMIC-M Detector to Search for Light Dark Matter

  NSF · $2.5M · 2018–2025

• DAMIC-100: Low-Mass Dark Matter Particles Detection with CCDs

  NSF · $549k · 2015–2018

• The Search for Light Dark Matter with DAMIC

  NSF · $839k · 2018–2022

Frequent coauthors

• D. Góra

  2148 shared

• A. Letessier‐Selvon

  Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

  1293 shared

• F. Salamida

  1217 shared

• M. Palatka

  1215 shared

• Dušan Mandát

  1206 shared

• P. Schovánek

  1204 shared

• M. Pech

  1204 shared

• P. Trávnı́ček

  1200 shared