The DeHolton Research Group
Studying neutrino oscillations
at the South Pole and beyond
Embedded Files
Figure Credit: IceCube Collaboration.
Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations
Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations
Neutrinos are tiny fundamental particles, one million times smaller than an electron. They can travel through almost anything without being stopped. In fact, billions of neutrinos pass through you every second, completely undetected. But something very strange happens as they travel -- they can mysteriously change their type, or "flavor". This peculiar phenomenon is known as "neutrino oscillations". Our research group measures the properties of these oscillations, in search of answers to many unanswered questions about the nature of these elusive particles.
Figure Credit: IceCube Collaboration.
IceCube Neutrino Observatory
IceCube Neutrino Observatory
IceCube is a cubic-kilometer detector located in Antarctica at the South Pole. The detector's primary purpose is to measure high energy neutrino interactions at the TeV-PeV energy scale. Within IceCube is a dense sub-detector that lowers the energy threshold down to GeV energies. At these energies, neutrinos that are produced in Earth's atmosphere in the muon flavor have a high chance of oscillating to the tau flavor. The IceCube DeepCore sub-detector has been collecting data for more than a decade, and has made the most precise measurement of atmospheric neutrino oscillations to date [PRL 134, 091801 (2025)]. In 2026, we completed a $40 million upgrade, known as the IceCube Upgrade, to enhance detector performance for these GeV neutrinos. This new sub-detector is expected to significantly improve our sensitivity to measuring atmospheric neutrino oscillations [PRD 113, 072009 (2026)].
Data Analysis & Machine Learning
Data Analysis & Machine Learning
Measuring atmospheric neutrino oscillations requires percent-level precision and identifying very small signals underneath an overwhelming amount of background. Therefore, much of the "day-to-day" work involves sophisticated data analysis and machine learning techniques, such as graph neural networks, to identify the signal in a robust way and reconstruct the properties of the incoming neutrino.
N E U T R I N O O S C I L L A T I O N
a quantum mechanical phenomenon where a neutrino created with a specific flavor (electron, muon, or tau) changes into different flavors as it travels
Group Members
PI
PI
Prof. Kayla DeHolton
?
Postdoc, Grad Students, Undergrads
Postdoc, Grad Students, Undergrads
This could be you!
Reach out to deholton at olemiss.edu to inquire
Publications
selected publications written by or using samples co-developed by Dr. DeHolton
selected publications written by or using samples co-developed by Dr. DeHolton
Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations
Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations
Physics potential of the IceCube Upgrade for atmospheric neutrino oscillations. PRD 113, 072009 (2026).
Measurement of Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillation Parameters Using Convolutional Neural Networks with 9.3 Years of Data in IceCube DeepCore. PRL 134, 091801 (2025).
Measurement of atmospheric neutrino mixing with improved IceCube DeepCore calibration and data processing. PRD 108, 012014 (2023).
Additional measurements using the IceCube DeepCore data sample
Additional measurements using the IceCube DeepCore data sample
Search for GeV-scale dark matter from the Galactic Center with IceCube-DeepCore. PRD 113, 122004 (2026).
Search for Heavy Neutral Leptons with IceCube DeepCore. Submitted to PRD. arXiv:2502.09454.
Search for High-Energy Neutrinos From the Sun Using Ten Years of IceCube Data. Submitted to PRL. arXiv:2507.08457.
Measurement of the inelasticity distribution of neutrino-nucleon interactions for 80 GeV<E𝜈<560 GeV with IceCube DeepCore. PRD 111, 112001 (2025).
Search for a light sterile neutrino with 7.5 years of IceCube DeepCore data. PRD 110, 072007 (2024).
Additional sensitivities using the IceCube Upgrade simulated sample
Additional sensitivities using the IceCube Upgrade simulated sample
Sensitivity Projections for Low-Mass Dark Matter Annihilation with the IceCube Upgrade. Submitted to JCAP. arXiv:2605.06600.
Astrophysical Sensitivity Projections for the IceCube Upgrade. Submitted to PRD. arXiv:2608.28395.
Reconstruction & Machine Learning ("AI/ML")
Reconstruction & Machine Learning ("AI/ML")
A Sub-TeV IceCube neutrino reconstruction model for astrophysical analysis. In preparation for submission to JINST.
GraphNeT: Graph neural networks for neutrino telescope event reconstruction. Journal of Open Source Software 8(85), 4971 (2023).
Low energy event reconstruction in IceCube DeepCore. EPJC 82, 807 (2022).
Our lab in Action
Dr. DeHolton on site at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in 2024/2025
Dr. DeHolton on site at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in 2024/2025
2026 Nobel Prize in Physics
2026 Nobel Prize in Physics
Awarded to Francis Halzen, principal investigator of IceCube!
Read more about our experiment and the amazing science here:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2026/popular-information/
The DeHolton Research Group
Department of Physics and Astronomy
108 Lewis Hall · University, MS 38677 · olemiss.edu
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